Knowledge sharing of academic staff: A comparison between private and public universities in Malaysia

The aim of this study is to build upon Jain et al.'s (2007) work by investigating the knowledge-sharing barriers and strategies of academic staff in public and private universities in Malaysia which have received relatively little research attention to date.

A survey of 502 questionnaires was collected on both public and private universities in Malaysia. Data were analysed using SPSS.

The overall findings show that private universities are more effective and are more willing to share knowledge. Linking knowledge sharing with non-monetary rewards and fair performance appraisals are strongly recommended in private universities, while monetary rewards, recognitions, publication of knowledge on websites and newsletters and the use of appropriate technology tools and systems are strongly recommended in public universities.

Top management in Malaysian public and private universities must play their role and put in more effort to ensure academics have the proper platform and support to share their knowledge.

This study is perhaps one of the first to address the comparison between knowledge sharing among lecturers in private and public universities in Malaysia.