A RESEARCH ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE KNOWLEDGE SHARING BEHAVIOR AND GOSSIP AT WORK

Abstract

Knowledge which became the most powerful weapon of creating values creates even more values when being shared. This characteristic of knowledge has ended the past “Knowledge is power” paradigm and validated the “Knowledge sharing is power” perception. It has been generally approved that individuals may have prejudgments or opposite behaviors when they do not have enough amount of knowledge of a subject. The general suspicion and fear against the unknown may also affect the individual’s attitudes and behaviors.
The gossip or the gossip communication is known as the unofficial message exchange amongst workers. With its bad reputation amongst a lot of establishments, gossip is also believed to be a system that spreads the rumors between people. This might be proved to be true yet at the same time gossip also contains good news that may be helpful to workers and employers. Gossip forms at anywhere that there is no formal communication system. It is a social need. This way of communication is not poor but humorous and flexible. It can infiltrate anywhere and has an important value between the relationships of workers. It replies to people’s demands. It has been seen that the gossip increases especially when the individuals in an organization are not informed well enough about the subjects that matters to them the most.
Depending on the research result, when the relationships between factors are being inspected, with being not too high, there is a meaningful relationship between the attitudes against gossip and rumor (Corporate Reasons of Gossip (CR), Feelings and Attitudes against Gossip (FA) and General Thoughts about Gossip (GT)) and Knowledge Sharing (KS) behavior.