Dual allegiance, knowledge sharing, and knowledge protection: An empirical examination

Abstract

Earlier research has put forward the theoretical proposition that R&D employees exhibit different patterns of allegiance — they tend to either develop a unilateral allegiance (to their own firm or to the inter-firm collaboration), a dual low allegiance or a dual high allegiance. It has also been proposed that each particular allegiance type influences these employees' knowledge sharing behaviour. The present paper empirically tests these claims. Analysing original data collected through 50 interviews that took place in 2011 and 2012 in the R&D units of two global firms in Finland, the United States, and China, we confirm that these allegiance patterns exist and there is a relationship between allegiance and knowledge sharing behaviour. We also extend the previous theoretical framework on which the study is based and analyse not only knowledge sharing, but also knowledge protection behaviour.