Knowledge Sharing Matters: A Mixed Methods Study on Knowledge Practices Among University Presses

Knowledge sharing in an organization helps improving its organizational performance (Walczak, 2008). Knowledge flows from various sources in various ways (Ahmed & Ahsan, 2014). Without effective knowledge sharing among employees, organizations cannot remain competitive in the ever-changing environments they face. The capturing of knowledge and human capital management are strategically important in a climate of retiring baby boomer workers and millennial workers' behavior of working for a short term with each employer (Liebowitz, 2008).This study adapted Brenda Dervin’s Sense-Making Metaphor and Weick’s Organizational Sensemaking Theory to identify and explore the current knowledge-sharing practices of university presses. Since 2016, the not-for-profit university publishers have experienced alarming declines in their sales data and are struggling for survival. Acquiring an understanding of their current knowledge practices is a productive first step in their strategic planning process. It is time for university publishers to reinvent themselves strategically. This research used a sequential mixed methods study to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data were gathered using a five-issue survey of university press employees. Qualitative data were gleaned from interviews of university press directors to understand top management’s perceptions of their organizations’ knowledge sharing practices. A major finding of this study is that the information behavior of the members of the university press organizations is strongly tied to social norms. Implications for knowledge management studies in Information Science contexts are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research.