Knowledge Sharing Practices among Lecturers in Nigerian Universities: A Case Study

The study investigated knowledge sharing practices among lecturers in Nigerian Universities: A case study of Kwara State University, Malete. The objectives of the study were to: examine the perceptions of lecturers about knowledge sharing; identify the benefits of knowledge sharing among lecturers; identify ways used in sharing knowledge by lecturers; and investigate the barriers militating against knowledge sharing among lecturers. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised the entire lecturers in Kwara State University, Malete numbering 413 lecturers. A simple random technique was used to select 217 lecturers from the 7 faculties in the university. A self-designed questionnaire was used for the collection of data. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentage. Findings of the study revealed that lecturers have positive perceptions toward knowledge sharing. It also revealed that there are numerous benefits of sharing knowledge by lecturers. The study further highlighted the various ways of sharing knowledge by lecturers. The study also revealed the barriers militating against knowledge sharing by lecturers in Nigerian universities. It is recommended that university management should create massive campaigns on the need for lecturers to embrace knowledge sharing among peers. This can be done through training, conferences, and seminars etc on the need for knowledge sharing among them.


Introduction
Today's economy has been describe by many scholars as knowledge-based economy. In many developed countries, competition is no longer restricted to cost but the production and development of knowledge-based products and services (Kamal, Manjit & Gurvinder, 2007). Knowledge is a tactical resource that gives an organisation a viable advantage over its competitors if properly managed (Halawi, Aronson, and McCarthy, 2005). Success in today`s global, interconnected economy springs from the fast and efficient exchange of information. Sustainable viable benefit is no longer noted in physical assets and financial capital, but in effective channeling of intellectual capital (Halawi, Aronson, and McCarthy, 2005). Makambe (2014) argued that knowledge management is an essential competence that organisations must develop in order to succeed in the 21st century dynamic global economy. The importance of leveraging on knowledge to increase efficiency and effectiveness within the organisation is now widely acknowledged not only among large corporations and small business enterprises, but also among educational institutions. Valuable human and knowledge resources will be wasted unless management openly accepts and supports efforts to gather, transform, record and share knowledge (Haslinda & Sarinah, 2009). Knowledge is an essential commodity that promotes organizational effectiveness and growth (Lawal, Oriogu & Ogbuiyi, 2017). According to Grubić-Nešić, Matić and Mitrović (2014), knowledge can be defined as a combination of experience, contextual information that provides a framework for the evaluation and application of new information and newly acquired experiences. One of the key factor of knowledge management is knowledge sharing. It helps to facilitate the access and use of knowledge in any organizations (Lawal, Oriogu & Ogbuiyi, 2017). It is a means by which, organizational member can contribute to knowledge application, innovation, and ultimately the competitive advantage of the organization (Jackson, 2006). Knowledge sharing is becoming increasingly a vital source of growth in any organization whose goal is to achieve high production and contribute meaningfully to national development. Lawal, Agboola, Aderibigbe, Owolabi and Bakare (2014) stated that the role of knowledge sharing in Nigerian universities cannot be over emphasized. Knowledge sharing has increasingly become an invaluable asset in education, research, teaching and learning. Its roles in information dissemination cannot be over emphasized because it has transformed the conduct of research and teaching institutions by allowing academic staff a wide range of opportunities for accessing accurate and timely information as well as providing a medium for communication of their research findings. Adamseged and Hong (2018) argued that higher education does not operate in isolation. They argued further that universities are not run by robots; universities are instituted, managed and run by human beings who themselves have been and are beneficiaries of knowledge sharing. But to carry out this duty of transforming others' minds, which is done through knowledge sharing, higher education faculty members too, need to be equipped, prepared and willing to disseminate knowledge appropriately. How well these lecturers are capable, competent and proficient in the performance of their duties is absolutely important not only to the institutions in which they work, but also to the global community. Simply put, the effective and proficient services of university faculty members serve as antecedents of a healthy and wholesome society. However, if lecturers do not perform accordingly, the image of the institution becomes tarnished. Hence, universities should pull their resources in terms of human expertise, skills and competencies as a means of improving academic excellence, innovation in research and critical engagement with society. However, it is practically impossible to pull out what an individual does not possess as people can only give what they have (Adamseged & Hong, 2018).
Unfortunately, many universities have not embraced the need for knowledge sharing among lecturers as an inevitable effort to their survivability. Suhaimee, Bakar and Alias (2006) reported that the existence of knowledge sharing culture in Malaysian higher education institutions was very low as only 29.4% of faculty members had this positive culture in their routine work. Maponya (2005) pointed out that in higher education; knowledge management has not been widely explored. As Bello and Oyekunle (2014) stressed, there is a need for higher institutions in Nigeria to strengthen organizational culture that promotes individuals to create, store and share knowledge. Bello and Oyekunle lamented that if academics are not willing to share knowledge across the institution, the effort of knowledge management will fail because knowledge sharing is more of a people-process practice than a technology-driven process. Omotayo (2015) argued that in order for organisations to manage knowledge efficiently, attention must be given to three key components -people, processes and technology. Omotayo added that in order to ensure organization's success, prominence should be to connect people, processes, and technology for the purpose of leveraging knowledge. The intensity of knowledge sharing behaviors has a positive influence on the innovative capabilities of a university (Iqbal, Rasli, Heng, Ali, Hassan, & Jolaee, 2011).

Problem Statement
Knowledge sharing is generally accepted to be a remedy for meeting academic needs in the face of declining resources. Regardless of the importance of the role of individual knowledge and the need for this knowledge to be shared effectively, relatively little empirical research sheds light on the nature of individual knowledge in Nigerian universities and how lecturers in their work settings share this knowledge. In line with these trends, knowledge sharing among lecturers in Nigeria universities has been rigorously slowed down due to inadequate awareness about the significance of knowledge sharing in academic community and poor attitude of lecturers to the ideal of sharing knowledge with one another.

Objectives of the Study
The specific objectives of the study are to: i. examine the perceptions of lecturers about knowledge sharing; ii.
identify the benefits of knowledge sharing among lecturers; iii.
identify ways used in sharing knowledge by lecturers; and iv.
investigate the barriers militating against knowledge sharing among lecturers.

Research Questions i.
What are your perceptions about knowledge sharing? ii.
What are the benefits of knowledge sharing among lecturers? iii.
What are the ways used in sharing knowledge by lecturers? iv.
What are the barriers militating against knowledge sharing among lecturers?

Review of Related Literature
Knowledge management is a systematic process of acquiring, organizing, sustaining, applying, sharing and renewing both tacit and explicit knowledge to enhance the performance, increase adaptability and increase values. One aspect of managing knowledge is knowledge sharing. The creation and acquisition of more and more new knowledge alone without sharing it cannot make any organization successful. Knowledge is not a thing or commodity that an individual can take as his own possession, it is a thing to share.
According to Lawal, Agboola, Aderibigbe, Owolabi and Bakare (2014), there is no single universal definition for Knowledge Sharing; various scholars look at Knowledge Sharing from different angles based on their professional background. Also the scope of Knowledge Sharing is also a factor in defining it. That is, whether knowledge is shared internally within the organization or externally outside the organization. However, Knowledge Sharing has been defined as the extent to which knowledge is being shared (Shapira, Youtie, Yogeesvaran & Jaafar, Information and Knowledge Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5758 (Paper) ISSN 2224-896X (Online) Vol.10, No.6, 2020 37 2005). Knowledge sharing is seen as individuals disseminating the knowledge they have acquired and distributing them within organizations (Ryu, Ho & Han, 2003). Wilem (2003) defined knowledge sharing as the exchange of knowledge between two parties in a reciprocal process allowing reshape and sense making of the knowledge. Knowledge sharing refers to the willingness of individuals in an organization to share whatever knowledge they have or created (Gibbert & Krause, 2002). According to Lawal et al. (2014), knowledge sharing can be described as a process in which knowledge and information skills is been exchanged. Cheng, Ho, and Lau (2009) identified two approaches to knowledge sharing among academic staff which are; close network model which is person to person knowledge sharing and open network sharing that is sharing through an open repository.
Knowledge sharing is mandatory for institutional growth and societal development (Adamseged & Hong, 2018). Hussein and Nassuora (2011) stated that knowledge enables improved ability to develop new and marketfocused strategic plans and competitiveness and responsiveness for research grants, contracts, and commercial opportunities. According to Hussein and Nassuora, knowledge management brings together three core organizational resources; people, processes and technologies to enable an organization to use and share information effectively. As the driver of knowledge sharing, higher education needs to be fully aware of the critical importance to enable its faculty members to perform more effectively.
Knowledge sharing in the university has become a major subject of debate. For instance, Matins and Marion (2005) upheld that universities work as the basis for researches, teaching and learning, as a result, there is need for constant knowledge sharing among the lecturers because the lecturers are the major player in the knowledge based society. Yang (2007) studied the behavior of academic staff from Information Management Departments with regard to knowledge sharing at Technological Universities. The influence of self-motivation and incentive mechanism on academic staff individual knowledge sharing and obstacles encountered while sharing knowledge were investigated in the study. The results showed that information management staff encounters some problems when sharing knowledge with others; they showed negative consensus on issues such as individual job security, academic promotion and intellectual property rights, making colleagues unwilling to share knowledge. Shinn, Ramayah and Jahami (2008) explained intention to share knowledge among lecturers by using the Theory of Reason Action. The study was done in governmental institution of higher learning and target respondents were academic staff from the position of instructors to professors. The results showed that there was a strong positive relationship between attitude towards sharing and the intention to share knowledge.
The essence of knowledge sharing is even more desired in universities (Lawal, Oriogu & Ogbuiyi, 2017). Universities need to share knowledge held by employees if they want to benefit from their intellectual capital and compete effectively in the global marketplace (Swart & Kinnie, 2003). In the same vein, Steyn (2004) claimed that, to harness the power of knowledge in universities; management should give an equal importance to people, technology, and structures. Hence, there is a need for the careful transmission and absorption by the sender and potential receiver respectively for such knowledge sharing to be effective (Hawamdeh, 2003).
Knowledge sharing is a key process in translating individual learning into organizational capability. But facilitating knowledge sharing is a difficult task. The willingness of individual to share and integrate their knowledge is one of the central barriers (Lemmetyinen, 2007). Knowledge sharing not only increases competence of the employees that are involved in the process but it also benefits the establishments by speeding up the utilization of knowledge (Shih & Lou, 2011). Research productivity is the extent to which lecturers engage in their own research and publish scientific articles in refereed journals, conference proceedings, writing a book or a chapter, gathering and analyzing original evidence, working with postgraduate students on dissertations and class project, obtaining research grants, carrying out editorial duties, obtaining patents and licenses, writing monographs, developing experimental designs, producing works of an artistic or a creative nature, engaging in public debates and commentaries. Academic staff members conduct research and their productivity is measured in various ways (Middaugh, 2001). Matins and Marion (2005) maintained that universities work as the basis for researches, teaching and learning, as a result there is need for constant knowledge sharing among the faculty members because the academic staff are the major player in the knowledge based society. Nassuora (2011) identified the following benefits of sharing knowledge: i.
Knowledge Sharing is about breaking down barriers within the organization. ii.
Raised competitiveness and responsiveness for research grants, contracts, and commercial opportunities. iii.
Decreased circle time for research. iv.
Reduced attachment of research resources to administrative tasks. v.
Controlling of previous research and proposal efforts. vi.
Enhanced both of external and internal services and usefulness. vii.
Enhanced administrative services related to learning and teaching with technology. viii.
Interdisciplinary syllabus design and increase facilitated by navigating across departmental boundaries.
Enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of advising efforts (to integrate fragmented efforts currently undertaken by faculty, academic support staff, student services staff, and student affairs staff. x.
Enhanced ability to support the trend toward decentralized strategic planning and decision making.
Better information leads to better decisions. xi.
Improved sharing of external and internal information to reduce superfluous efforts and lessen the reporting load plaguing many institutions today xii.
Improved ability to develop new and market-focused strategic plans. xiii.
Shared knowledge from a diversity of elements to begin to create a "learning organization" which is open to market trends. Riege (2005) identified over twelve potential barriers to knowledge sharing. Some of the barriers identified by the author includes lack of time to share, apprehension of fear of job security, low awareness, dominance in sharing, use of strong hierarchy, insufficient capture of past mistakes differences in experience levels, lack of contact time, poor verbal/written communication, age differences, gender differences, lack of social network, differences in education levels, taking ownership of intellectual properties, lack of trust in people and differences in national culture or ethnic background. Hong, Suh and Koo (2011) also highlighted the barriers impeding knowledge sharing as individual barriers which include internal resistance, trust, motivation, gap in awareness and knowledge as well organization barriers which include language, conflicts of avoidance, bureaucracy and distance. Bell, Lee and Yeung (2006) in their study proposed a model to overcome barriers such as lack of leadership, lack of appropriate reward system and lack of sharing system. Barriers such as lack of top management commitment lack of proper understanding of knowledge sharing, lack of management commitment and politics. These barriers can be grouped into individual, technological, and organizational as reported by (Lin, 2007;Kukko, 2013). The authors grouped barriers such as, lack of time, past mistakes, differences in levels of experience, lack of interaction, differences of education levels and difference in national culture as individual. Organizational barriers include lack of leadership, lack of formal and informal space to share, physical work environment, existing corporate culture and deficiency of company while the barriers associated with technological factors include unrealistic expectations of employees, lack of compatibility, mismatch, reluctance to use IT systems, lack of training and lack of communications. The impact of barrier on employee attitudes to knowledge sharing could differ from one organization to another.

Methodology
This study adopted a pure quantitative method. A survey design was adopted in the conduct of the study because it had been used in earlier related studies (Anasi, Akpan and Adedokun, 2012; Lawal, Agboola, Aderibigbe, Owolabi and Bakare, 2014). The target population of the study comprised the entire lecturers in Kwara State University, Malete numbering 413 lecturers. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 217 lecturers from the 7 faculties in the university based on the recommendation of a Research Advisor. A self-designed questionnaire was used for the collection of data. The instrument was reviewed by three experts to ensure the reliability of the questionnaire. It was administered to twenty lecturers from University of Ilorin. A test -re-test reliability of the questionnaire method of two weeks interval was used and responses collected were subjected to Cronbach alpha. The overall reliability of the questionnaire returned an r = 0.87 which exceed the minimum standard of 0.80 suggested for basic research (Wang and Tang, 2003). The administration of the questionnaire was done online using academic staff WhatsApp forum. Descriptive statistics which include percentage and frequency count were used for the analysis of the data.  Knowledge sharing seems to be an additional responsibility 96 44 121 56 10

Results Gender Distribution of the Respondents
Knowledge sharing must be compensated. 13 1 189 87 Table 3 shows the results of analysis of data on the perception of lecturers about knowledge sharing. Table  3 reveals that majority of the respondents 217(100%) agree with the perception that it is important to share knowledge with other lecturers for the benefit of all, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that lecturers should voluntarily share their knowledge with peers, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that knowledge sharing is a good habit, 215(99%) of the respondents agreed that sharing knowledge reduces competitiveness among peers, 212(98%) of the respondents agreed that sharing knowledge is caring for colleagues. However, 207(95%) of the respondents disagreed with the perception that it is better to avoid sharing information with peers whenever possible, 189(87%) of the respondents disagreed with the perception that knowledge sharing must be compensated, while 177(82%) of the respondents disagreed with the perception that knowledge sharing is time consuming.
Research Question 2: What are the benefits of knowledge sharing among lecturers?   Vol.10, No.6, 2020 40 that majority of the respondents 217(100%) agreed that knowledge sharing enhances personal growth, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that knowledge sharing increases research productivity, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that knowledge sharing increases research productivity, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that knowledge sharing increases academic productivity, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that knowledge sharing aids teaching, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that knowledge sharing promotes unity and collaboration among faculty members, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that knowledge sharing helps lecturers to identify gaps and opportunities, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that knowledge sharing provides quality higher education and ensuring better world and 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that knowledge sharing helps to build university's image.
Research Question 3: What are the ways used in sharing knowledge by lecturers? Publishing articles in magazines 100 46 117 54 Table 5 shows the results of analysis of data on the ways of sharing knowledge by lecturers. The results reveal that majority of the respondents 217(100%) agreed to sharing knowledge by publishing textbooks and chapters in books, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed to publishing articles in journals, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed to sharing their experiences in seminars and workshops, 200(92%) of the respondents agreed to participating in video conferencing, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed to discussing projects with peers within and outside the university, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed to presenting their knowledge in conferences, symposiums and public lectures, 198(91%) of the respondents agreed to sharing knowledge on social media, 201(93%) of the respondents agreed to sharing knowledge in departmental, faculty and other universitybased meetings, 196(90%) of the respondents agreed to sharing teaching materials, 215(99%) of the respondents agreed to sharing knowledge when on national assignments and 210(97%) of the respondents agreed to sharing knowledge through mobile phones Research Question 4: What are the barriers militating against knowledge sharing among lecturers? Information and Knowledge Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5758 (Paper) ISSN 2224-896X (Online) Vol.10, No.6, 2020 Table 6 show the results of analysis on the barriers militating against knowledge sharing by lecturers. Table 6 shows that majority of the respondents 198 (91%) agreed that there is general lack of trust among staff in my university/faculty, 191(88%) of the respondents agreed that their colleagues in the university/faculty do not share knowledge because they think having knowledge portray them as powerful, 217(100%) of the respondents agreed that there is lack of formal and informal activities to cultivate knowledge sharing in their university/faculty, 185(85%) of the respondents agreed that it is difficult to convince colleagues on the value and the benefits of the knowledge that they may possess, 185(85%) of the respondents agreed that the physical work environment and layout of work areas restrict effective knowledge sharing in their workplace, 199(91%) of the respondents agreed that the existing university/faculty culture does not provide sufficient support for sharing knowledge and 177(82%) of the respondents agreed that there is lack of rewards and recognition systems that would motivate people to share their knowledge.

Discussion of Findings
Findings of this study have revealed that many lecturers have positive perceptions towards knowledge sharing. They all agreed that it is important to share knowledge with other lecturers for the benefit of all and that knowledge sharing should be voluntary. This shows that lecturers will be willing to share whatever knowledge they possess. This finding is in agreement with that of Ziaei (2014) which reported that majority of faculty members had positive attitude towards the knowledge sharing.
The study also revealed numerous benefits of sharing knowledge by lecturers. Knowledge sharing enhances personal growth, increases research productivity, academic productivity, aids teaching, promotes unity and collaboration among lecturers and helps lecturers to identify gaps and opportunities among other benefits. This finding is supported by that of Adamseged and Hong (2018) which stated that knowledge shared with one individual in one environment could impact the entire globe and lead to the betterment of the society.
The study revealed the various ways lecturers share their knowledge. They publish textbooks and chapters in books, they publish articles in journals, they share their experiences in seminars and workshops, they discuss their projects with peers within and outside the university, they present their knowledge in conferences, symposiums and public lectures, they share knowledge on social media, they share knowledge in departmental, faculty and other university-based meetings, they share teaching materials, they sharing knowledge when on national assignments and share knowledge through mobile phones. This finding is in conformity with that of Lawal, Oriogu and Ogbuiyi (2017) which revealed that the major methods of knowledge sharing among the respondents are through seminars, training, workshop, conferences, social media and online search engines.
The study further identified the barriers militating against knowledge sharing by lecturers. there is general lack of trust among staff in the university/faculty, colleagues in the university/faculty do not share knowledge because they think having knowledge portray them as powerful, there is lack of formal and informal activities to cultivate knowledge sharing in their university/faculty, it is difficult to convince colleagues on the value and the benefits of the knowledge that they may possess, the physical work environment and layout of work areas restrict effective knowledge sharing in their workplace, the existing university/faculty culture does not provide sufficient support for sharing knowledge and there is lack of rewards and recognition systems that would motivate people to share their knowledge. This finding agrees with that of Sai and Sheng (2006) which stated that individuals are unwilling to share their knowledge except there are obvious benefits for them. In this regard, Garfield (2006) outlines 10 reasons that may prevent people from sharing knowledge in organisations: people are unwilling to share knowledge when they do not know why they should share it; when they do not know how to do it; when they do not know what they are supposed to do; when they think the recommended way will not work; when they think their way is better; when they think something else is more important; when there is no positive consequence to them for doing it; when they are rewarded for not sharing and when they are punished for doing it.

Conclusion
The study investigated knowledge sharing among lecturers in Nigerian Universities: a case study of Kwara State University, Malete. The findings of the study have far reaching implications for lecturers' growth in Nigeria because of the need for lecturers to be current and be at par with their colleagues in other part of the world. It is important that academic staff engage in knowledge sharing particularly in this era of information age. The study revealed that lecturers have positive perceptions towards knowledge sharing. It also revealed the numerous benefits of sharing knowledge by lecturers. The study further highlighted the various ways of sharing knowledge by lecturers. The study also investigated the barriers militating against knowledge sharing by lecturers in Nigerian universities.

Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made: i. The university management should create massive campaigns on the need for lecturers to embrace knowledge sharing among peers. This can be done through training, conferences, and seminars etc on the need for knowledge sharing among them. ii.
Lecturers should be encouraged to publish their research findings in the institution repository in order for others to have access to them. iii.
University management should encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing among academic staff by providing an enabling environment and eliminating the barriers militating against knowledge sharing by lecturers.