To answer the above presented research questions a research model has been created.
The research model which can be seen in Figure 23 demonstrates each presumed element of the research and their presumed relationships.
Figure 23. Research Model
Earlier research has investigated mainly the behavioural components of employees regarding knowledge sharing while I have aimed to investigate the middle managers and certain criteria in connection with them: where they work, for how long they work there, and how old they are, consequently the following categories and indicators have been created and these do not influence behaviours and emotions.
Thus individual characteristics regarding the middle manager in my categorization contain the middle manager’s functional area, the middle manager’s active working years which are spent at the investigated organization, and the middle manager’s age.
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The category of the middle manager’s functional area asks about the working field in which the middle manager works. The middle manager’s ‘active working years’
category reveals how long the middle managers have been working at the given organization. The category regarding the middle manager’s age asks about how old the middle manager is.
Although previous research has investigated other organizational features regarding knowledge sharing, in this research I have aimed to investigate the middle manager’s organization and the facts in connection with these organizations: the type of the investigated organization, the kind of activities the investigated organization can be characterized by, and the kind of customer claims these organizations fulfil. Thus the following categories and indicators have been created as facts in connection with the investigated organizations.
Accordingly organizational characteristics regarding the middle manager’s organization in my classification consist of the type of the investigated organization, the activity of the investigated organization, and the customer claims fulfilled by the investigated organization.
The category regarding the type of the middle manager’s organization asks about which of the following combination the organization is characterized by: national or foreign owned, privately or state owned. The activity of the middle manager’s organization aims to reveal which activity dominates within the organization: the service or the production. Only the categories concerning customer claims fulfilled by the middle manager’s organization, that refers to the demand by the customer, consists of questions containing answers based on a 5-point Likert scale in which the two extremes are not changing and fix customer claims, and often changing and complex customer claims.
Regarding middle managers’ knowledge sharing I was looking for an expression that investigated the development level of not only the vertical but also the horizontal relationships of middle managers. Examing these relations draws attention to the fact that my research is not an investigation regarding middle managers’ leadership function in which only middle manager-subordinate relationships are examined. This research investigates the knowledge sharing function and focuses on how mature the function of knowledge sharing is. Furthermore the development level of this knowledge sharing function is called maturity. The elements defining middle managers’ maturity of knowledge sharing are examined by categories called availability and the usefulness of knowledge.
Availability in this research is measured from the following standpoints:
• the investigated middle managers’ availability to other middle managers working on the same organizational level when the investigated middle managers are asked for help,
• other middle managers’ availability working on the same organizational level to the investigated middle managers when the investigated middle managers ask for help;
• the investigated middle managers’ availability to their subordinates when the investigated middle managers are asked for help;
• the availability of the investigated middle managers’ subordinates to the investigated middle managers when the investigated middle managers ask for help.
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The usefulness of knowledge is measured from the following standpoints in this research:
• the usefulness of the knowledge given by the investigated middle managers to other middle managers working on the same organizational level;
• the usefulness of the knowledge given by other middle managers working on the same organizational level to the investigated middle managers;
• the usefulness of the knowledge given by the investigated middle managers to their subordinates;
• the usefulness of the knowledge given by the investigated middle managers’
subordinates to the investigated middle managers.
In my opinion the maturity of knowledge sharing can be revealed best with the above presented elements. Furthermore, these elements can also be measured on a so-called relative scale by using the individual and organizational characteristics.
This research regarding competences has adapted Sonntag and Schäfer-Rauser’s (1993), Kuhl and Fuhrmann’s (1997), and Forgács et al.‘s (2002) classification of competences, since I have found their categorisation the best for revealing those competences that middle managers find important for sharing knowledge. To reveal as much competences as possible concerning competences found important for knowledge sharing by middle managers I have extended these categories with an additional category as well, which is called ‘other characteristics and competences’. In addition, these competence groups can also be measured on a so-called relative scale by using the individual and organizational characteristics.
Accordingly based on prior literature reviews seven competence groups were determined which have been used to reveal the competences found important for knowledge sharing by middle managers. These competence groups include:
• methodological competences needed for thinking;
• methodological competences used for work method and style;
• social competences connected with communication skills,
• social competences connected with co-operational skills;
• professional competences;
• personal competences;
• other characteristics and competences.
Methodological competences contain competences connected to creative ways of thinking that can handle situations and problems in a comprehensive way.
Methodological competences have two types which are methodological competences needed for thinking and methodological competences used for work method and style.
Social competences include competences regarding communicative and co-operational behaviour techniques which are used when goals need to be achieved. Social competences also have two types which are social competences connected with communication skills and social competences connected with co-operational skills.
Professional competences consist of competences needed to fulfil a given professional task. Personal competences contain the complexity of those personal qualities and competences that define the individual performance. Besides the above mentioned competences the competence groups include other characteristics and competences as well that can influence knowledge sharing.
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The indicators of each presumed research element can be found in Appendix 1.