An empirical study on investigating the role of KMS in promoting trust within GSD teams

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which KMS usage helps in developing and maintaining trust within GSD project's team members- an area that is very important but has, to date, not been addressed adequately. Design/methodology/approach -- A survey instrument comprising of 7 factors and 35 elements was developed based on tested questions and literature review. Through a web-based survey, data were collected from GSD employees working in different countries that are using KMS for knowledge management. Findings -- The results of the survey revealed that KMS usage is positively related with employee's propensity to trust and cooperative behavior. There exist an indirect positive relationship between KMS and perceived trustworthiness. Further, Leadership support help in promoting the use of KMS for knowledge seeking and contribution within GSD organizations employees. However, the KMS usage is negatively related with monitoring behavior exist within GSD teams. Research limitations/implications -- The number of responses received was rather small since GSD and KMS are both new and emerging disciplines, and not many organizations are formally using KMS for this purpose. Practical implications -- The results of the study suggest that KMS if implemented and used properly helps the GSD organizations in getting the desired benefits of GSD. Further, leaders play an important role in the success of KMS by motivating the employees towards KMS usage. The findings of this study, we hope, will help and facilitate the organizations in making their GSD projects successful. Academics can use the results to build models that further enhance the KMS domain and propose the strategies for improving KMS usage in order to get maximum benefits through KMS.