Knowledge sharing behavior among community members in professional research information centers

South Korea is a world leader in human capital and research investment. However, compared to other countries with similar levels of resource input, Korea has relatively weaker output performance. This is a concern for the Korean government and the funding agencies that invest heavily in R&D activities. Since knowledge sharing among members influences the output performance within an R&D sector, this paper investigates the factors that affect the knowledge sharing intention and behavior among members of a national R&D center in Korea. A total of 286 members in the Biology Research Information Center participated in a survey. The results show that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations significantly influence the members’ intention to share knowledge. Cognitive and relational capital also exert significant effects on the members’ knowledge sharing intention. Structural capital, however, does not have any significant effect on intention. The members’ intention to share knowledge links significantly to their actual knowledge sharing behavior.