An integrated understanding of academics knowledge sharing behaviour

Reviewing the critical challenges that influence the adoption of the e-learning system in higher educational institutions in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose

This paper aims to review the critical challenges and factors influencing the successful adoption of electronic learning (e-learning) systems in higher educational institutions before and during the current propagation of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

This study undertook a literature review concerning the in-depth revision of previous studies published in 2020 and 2021. A total of 100 out of 170 selected research papers were adopted to identify and recognise the factors restricting the application of e-learning systems.

Findings

The findings determine and illuminate the most challenging factors that impact the successful application of online learning, particularly during the wide propagation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The review of the literature provides evidence that technological, organisational and behavioural issues constitute significant drivers that frontier the facilitation of the e-learning process in higher educational institutions.

Practical implications

The current paper suggests a guide for managers and scholars in educational institutions and acts as a roadmap for practitioners and academics in the educational field and policymakers as this research spotlights the significant factors challenging the e-learning process before and during the pandemic crisis.

Originality/value

The provided in-depth literature review in this research will support the researchers and system designers with a comprehensive review and recent studies conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic considering the factors limiting the e-learning process. This paper formulates a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge that will assist the stakeholders in the higher educational institutions' context.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-02-2022-0085.

Adapting and validating global knowledge branding scales in the education services sector

Purpose

The education services sector faces ever-changing global market dynamics with creative disruptions. Building knowledge brands can push the higher education sector beyond its geographical boundaries into the global arena. This study aims to identify key constructs, their theoretical background and dimensions that aid in building a global knowledge brand. The authors' research focuses on adapting and validating scales for global knowledge and education services brands from well-established academic literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have adopted a mixed methodology approach and a systematic literature review. Authors interviewed 18 subject matter experts as part of content and face validity to arrive at select constructs, dimensions and items. Quantitative methods with random sampling were adopted as the primary methodology. Initially, the survey was administered to 390 students to test preliminary results. The survey was also administered to 5,112 students at a later part of this study. Valid responses stood at 3,244 with a 63% response rate. Further, the authors conducted confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the reliability and validity of scales. This study analyzed composite reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity to finalize items for scales. The authors also validated the hypotheses based on the discriminant validity assessment scores.

Findings

Authors' key research findings are that academic stimulus, campus infrastructure and student intent play a significant role in campus culture and events design and experience at campus. Authors were able to bring out 16 key constructs and 55 critical dimensions vital to global education services brand building. This study also adapted and validated 99 items that meet construct validity and composite reliability criteria. This study also highlights that constructs such as student intent, academic stimulus, campus infrastructure scalability, selection mechanism, pedagogical content knowledge, brand identity, events experience and campus culture play a vital role in global brand recognition.

Research limitations/implications

The authors' work is fairly generalizable to education services and the higher education sector. However, this study must be extrapolated and empirically validated in other industry sectors. The research implications of this study are that it aided the authors in building theoretical background for student brand loyalty theory, student expectation theory and study loyalty theory. This study adds to the body of knowledge by contributing to theoretical concepts on students, knowledge culture, events, infrastructure and branding. Researchers can adopt the scales proposed in this study to build research models in higher education branding. This study acts as a catalyst for building theories in education services areas. Researchers can delve deep into proposed research aspects of campus infrastructure, knowledge infrastructure, campus knowledge culture, events design and events experience.

Practical implications

This study aids educators and brand managers to develop global education services and optimize their effort and budget. Administrators in the education services sector must focus on practical aspects of student perception, campus infrastructure, culture and events experience. Practically administrators can reorient their efforts based on this study to achieve global brand recognition.

Social implications

This study highlights that students are not customers but are co-creators of value in the education sector. This study provides scales and dimensions needed to build co-creation frameworks and models.

Originality/value

Most research in higher education branding has not covered wider aspects of global brand building. Existing theories proposed in higher education and education services articles cover only narrower aspects of campus infrastructure, culture, events design and branding. This study presents a comprehensive list of critical factors that play a vital role in global knowledge brand building. This study highlights the constructs and scales integral to building a global education services brand.

How knowledge sharing encourages innovative work behavior through occupational self-efficacy? The moderating role of entrepreneurial leadership

Purpose

Innovation has become a necessity for the information technology (IT) sector, especially during COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how knowledge sharing affects employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB). Specifically, the study examined occupational self-efficacy (as mediating mechanism) and entrepreneurial leadership (as boundary condition) to encourage IWB.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used social media platforms to collect data from 270 employees working in the IT sector through “google forms” on convenience basis between March and August, 2021. The study applied structural equation modeling in two stages to examine the measurement model (for uni-dimensionality) and the structural model (for hypotheses testing).

Findings

The study noted that knowledge sharing positively affects employees’ IWB and occupational self-efficacy positively explains this association. In addition, employees’ perception of entrepreneurial leadership strengthens the association between knowledge sharing and IWB.

Research limitations/implications

The study collected data from a developing country during COVID-19 by using a cross-sectional design that may restrict causality. However, the findings suggest the management not only encourages knowledge sharing environment but also engages employees in various training that motivate them to experiment with new ideas and techniques.

Originality/value

This study extends the existing literature on knowledge sharing and IWB by exploring occupational self-efficacy as mediating mechanism and entrepreneurial leadership as a boundary condition.

Knowledge management systems usage: application of diffusion of innovation theory

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of technological antecedents on the usage of decision makers for the implemented knowledge management system (KMS) amongst Jordanian banks. This study extends the investigation by assessing the influence of knowledge or information quality on KMS usage. This study aims to assess whether knowledge or information quality is significantly correlated to system compatibility, relative advantage and complexity (technological antecedents).

Design/methodology/approach

The study model was developed by using Rogers’ diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, on which seven hypotheses were developed. To examine these research hypotheses, a self-administered questionnaire was carried out with 341 decision makers who are using the KMS to perform their job-related activities. Structural equation modelling analysis of moment structures software was used for data analysis.

Findings

The findings revealed that decision makers usage of the implemented KMS’s is affected significantly by relative advantages, system complexity and knowledge quality, but not system compatibility. Moreover, the findings showed that knowledge quality is significantly correlated with DOI technological antecedents.

Practical implications

Bank managements are now in a better position to understand what kind of resources and supports are needed to achieve the maximum pay-off from KMS usage within their banks. This study has proved that it is not sufficient for Jordanian banks to focus solely on the system quality; they must also take the quality of knowledge or information (system output) as a critical factor that can affect their investments in KMS’s.

Originality/value

This study is one of the limited conducted studies to investigate the importance of KMS usage and related antecedents in the Arab world; particularly, in the context of the Jordanian banking sector. The findings of this study have contributed to the Jordanian financial sector for its vital evaluation of the KMS actual usage behaviour. Findings can be used by the Jordanian ministry of finance to improve the understanding of the factors influencing KMS usage in the financial sector. This study has contributed to reducing the gap of DOI literature amongst developed and developing countries, particularly in the Jordanian context.

Public health awareness: knowledge, attitude and behaviors of the public on health risks during COVID-19 pandemic in sultanate of Oman

Purpose

This study aims to measure the level of public awareness about the threat of the emerging coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic among the Omani population. It also aims to investigate the mediating effect of the Omanis’ attitudes and behaviors with underlying conditions of COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data via an online survey of Omani citizens and residents from various geographic areas in Oman, 305 responses were received. SPSS and partial least square-structural equation modeling were used for data analysis.

Findings

The study revealed that public awareness regarding the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly influenced by people’s perceived risk, information source and health-related knowledge. Further, preventive behavior during the disease spread has a significant direct and indirect impact on their awareness. However, an insignificant mediation effect of public attitude was found between the source of information and public awareness.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited by the scarcity of related literature in the Omani context. It is recommended that future research complete an in-depth study of public awareness regarding COVID-19, using other constructs and/or other data collection techniques.

Practical implications

This research will provide governmental health authorities and policymakers with a guideline to establish more efficient pandemic containment strategies to control public behavior toward the COVID-19 pandemic and curb viral prevalence.

Social implications

This research will help in improving prevention measures against COVID-19 are recommended to be more educated through a more effective mechanism to raise public attitude regarding pandemic prevalence positively.

Originality/value

The originality of this research can be drawn from key findings that indicate that people overall gained knowledge about how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and the accuracy of information significantly impacts public awareness.

Determinants of knowledge-sharing behaviour among students at higher educational institutions in Oman: a planned behaviour theoretical perspective of knowledge sharing

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate how students’ attitude (SA), students’ subjective norms (SN), students’ knowledge sharing intentions (KSI) can contribute to the enhancement of knowledge sharing behaviour (KSB) among students at higher education institutes (HEI) in Oman.

Design/methodology/approach

This study follows the quantitative methodology and the deductive causal research approach. The data were conveniently collected through a Web-based questionnaire (Google forms) from 285 active students who are affiliated to Omani universities. SPSS was used to statistically analyse the collected data, including partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM V3.3) to draw the results.

Findings

The study concluded that SA has both direct and indirect positive impact on SN, KSI and KSB. Moreover, the result revealed that there is a mediation effect between SA and KSB through KSI, SA and KSI when SN is playing as a mediation role.

Research limitations/implications

Although this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge, this study is limited by the scarcity of the related literature in the Omani context. It is recommended that these shortfalls be addressed together while improving the knowledge-sharing behaviour among students and administrative staff. Furthermore, the potential variation between academic staff and students in terms of factors affecting their intentions to share knowledge within HEIs should be explored.

Practical implications

This research provides policymakers in academic fields with the appropriate approaches to leverage the knowledge-sharing behaviour amongst Omani students with the understanding of the main factors affecting individuals’ knowledge-sharing behaviours.

Social implications

This will help in improving the means of employing and practising knowledge-sharing strategies within HEIs, which can generate competitive advantages amongst students and institutions while benefiting knowledge management strategies and its members.

Originality/value

The importance of the study stems from its context being conducted in Oman as a developing country. In addition, this study is one of the initial attempts to investigate KSB by considering SA, SN and KSI and its applicability on HEI in Oman. The findings of the study can serve as inputs to HEI in developing best practices across KSB dimensions and expanding the knowledge-sharing culture amongst HEI’s students in Oman. One of the developed strategies is the spreading of the knowledge-sharing culture among students by positively directing their attitude towards the practices of knowledge exchange.