Interaction between Job Design and Extrinsic Motivation in KnowledgeManagement Behavior: A Comparison Study

本研究旨在探讨工作设计如何影响员工使用知识管理系统。这是第一个研究，从理论和实证上研究的作用，工作设计对知识管理系统的使用。对日本和新加坡的调查数据进行多项式回归和响应面分析表明，工作设计通过增强员工的情感承诺来影响知识管理系统的使用。具体而言，工作自主性，技能多样性，任务身份和任务意义的工作设计方面有显着的影响。有趣的是，除了工作自主性，这些方面都有非线性的影响。当他们的水平超过员工的喜好，他们产生的压力，减少情感承诺和知识管理系统的使用。结果表明，在日本，技能多样性对员工的影响更大，而在新加坡，工作自主性对员工的影响更大。此外，研究结果还表明，当存在奖金和更高的晋升机会等外部激励时，工作自主性、技能多样性和任务认同感的影响更大。然而，这种增强效果的外在动机是弱于新加坡相比，在日本。总体而言，这项研究突出了哪些方面的工作设计的重点，以及应该如何管理，以促进知识管理系统的使用。关键的发现是，职务设计是一把双刃剑，在促进知识管理系统的使用，必须小心管理。

This study examined how job design influences employees’ use of knowledge management (KM) systems. This is one of the first studies to theoretically and empirically examine the role of job design on KM system use. For practitioners, the findings indicate how jobs can be designed to promote KM system use.Polynomial regression and response surface analysis of data collected from Japan and Singapore has shown that job design influences KM system use through enhancing employees’ affective commitment. Specifically, the job design aspects of job autonomy, skill variety, task identity, and task significance have significant effects. Interestingly, except for job autonomy, these aspects have non-linear effects. When their levels exceed employees’ preferences, they generate stress and decrease affective commitment and KM system use. Their effects differ across cultures: skill variety has stronger influence on employees in Japan while job autonomy has stronger influence on employees in Singapore.Further, the results have shown that when extrinsic motivation such as bonus and higher chance for promotion is present, the effects of job autonomy, skill variety, and task identity are stronger. However, this enhancing effect of extrinsic motivation is weaker in Japan compared to Singapore.Overall, this study highlights which aspects of job design to focus on and how they should be managed to promote KM system use. The key finding is that job design is a double-edged sword in promoting KM system use that must be managed carefully.