Abstract
The strategic importance of knowledge especially under dynamic business conditions makes it imperative to primarily understand the creation of the knowledge base. This paper employs mixed-method approach to understand the various triggers that motivate the knowledge sharing behavior of the IT employees working in Indian firms. Firstly, a qualitative study that comprised of thirteen in-depth interviews aimed to capture the participants’ understanding of, the context and the factors that trigger knowledge-sharing behavior. The fairness in performance appraisal, manager’s support, and career success were found to be the key triggers. Then, a quantitative study of 105 IT professionals examined the effect of the identified variables. Results suggested a positive relationship between perceived fairness in performance appraisal and knowledge-sharing behavior and the mediating role of career and hierarchical success between perceived fairness in performance appraisal system and knowledge-sharing behavior. The implications for both theory and practice have also been discussed in detail.