Predictors of knowledge sharing behaviour on Sustainable Development Goals among library personnel in Nigeria

Abstract

The study was carried out to investigate the predictors of library personnel’s knowledge sharing behaviours and its implication for achieving sustainable development goals, using the theory of planned behaviour. Survey research design was adopted for the study whereby a structured questionnaire was used to elicit data from 100 registered library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria. Total enumeration was adopted as the sampling technique to obtain the population sample. The study revealed that attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norm had a significant influence on knowledge sharing intention at P < 0.05. Also, knowledge sharing intention had a positive and significant influence on SDGs actualization. The study concluded that for library personnel to contribute greatly to the realization of Sustainable Development Goals, they must ensure effective knowledge sharing behaviour on Sustainable Development Goals-related information. Therefore, management of libraries should set up structures that foster knowledge sharing. Also, library personnel should develop themselves with the required skills and knowledge on Sustainable Development Goals, which will stimulate a high rate of knowledge sharing.

Keywords

Attitude knowledge sharing Nigeria perceived behavioural control subjective norm Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

The United Nations adopted a set of goals at the general assembly on 25 September 2015. These goals known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) consist of 17 goals and 169 targets (available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs). SDGs are transformation from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The objective of the global agenda is to make the world a better place by stimulating development actions over the next 15 years in areas of critical importance. Igbinovia (2016) reported that the 103rd session of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) conference held in 2015 was on the contribution and mission of libraries and information services to sustainable development. According to Bradley (2014), libraries contribute to sustainable development by providing access to data and knowledge that support informed research which is instrumental in achieving these goals. Moreover, over the years, libraries have continued to champion the course for information literacy, which according to Chingono et al. (2015) fosters socio-economic development and by extension, SDGs. Thus, libraries and librarians have been doing much to achieve sustainable development.

The SDGs have resulted in a shift in scholarship to pertinent issues necessary to spur development in line with the agenda. The result of this shift is an upsurge in the level of knowledge generated and/or created in areas of sustainable development. As the amount of available knowledge increases, there is need for knowledge Management (KM) practices, with knowledge sharing as a key concept which allows the leveraging of knowledge for possible gains (Alegbeleye, 2010). One objective of KM according to Rowley and Farrow (2000) is to improve and provide access to knowledge in order to enhance its transfer among individuals. This is pertinent to increase the level of SDGs awareness among stakeholders. Igbinovia (2016) opines that libraries and librarians have been doing much in creating awareness of SDGs, which corroborates previous findings that librarians share knowledge on new trends (Awodoyin et al., 2016; Okonedo and Popoola, 2012). While UN Women (2015) advocates sharing of SDGs knowledge with a wider audience, they added that the purpose of KM strategy for SDGs is to ensure that knowledge generated and innovations are properly documented, analysed and widely disseminated for uptake and replication.

Knowledge sharing is a key aspect of KM which refers to the exchange of acquired information, knowledge, ideas, skills and experience, among people, organizations and institutions (Ikenwe and Igbinovia, 2015). In the context of libraries, it can be noted that a great deal of knowledge sharing is entirely uncoordinated (Maponya, 2004). Van Den Hooff and De Ridder (2004) assert that the intention of individuals to mutually exchange their knowledge and create new knowledge (regardless of the platform or level of coordination) is considered knowledge sharing behaviour (KSB).

On the relevance of knowledge sharing to ensure sustainable development, the African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) (2015) emphasized the need to address access to information as a key development issue and as such encouraged information and knowledge sharing. This seems to align with Urama et al. (2014) who opine that knowledge sharing that will enable government advance development planning and implementation, cannot be over-emphasized. Also, its outcome will be establishing communities of practice (CoPs) comprised of people put together by institutions or organizations, to accomplish certain functions or who have a common goal or problem for which they can share knowledge for collaborative research and development. The implication is that through knowledge sharing, common goals and targets are ensured by proffering solutions to problems that underlie the SDGs.

Several factors could impede or facilitate an individual’s intention to share knowledge (Boateng et al., 2015). However, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is a widely accepted theory that reflects the factors likely to influence KSB using three conceptually independent determinants of intention, i.e. attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. According to Ajzen (1991), the prediction of intention by these three variables vary across behaviours and situations. Thus, for the purpose of this study, TPB which is a model that explains the behavioural intentions of individuals will be considered in order to determine factors likely to affect library personnel’s intention to share knowledge in the context of sustainable development goals.

Statement of the problem

Librarians, by virtue of their profession, are rightly positioned to share information and knowledge on SDGs. At a time like this, when the focus of nations, organizations and institutions is tilted towards ensuring a sustained development as outlined in the United Nations’ global agenda; librarians as information professionals are key players in creating awareness of these 17 goals and 169 targets identified in the development framework. However, how effective their knowledge sharing on SDGs will be, is predicted or influenced by several factors which require scholarly attention. Meanwhile, Biranvand et al. (2015) note that the most important reason behind a KM system’s lack of success in sharing knowledge, is lack of information on the factors affecting knowledge sharing.

Moreover, there is a dearth of literature on the varied factors affecting the KSB of librarians. Identifying these factors is significant in ensuring that awareness of these goals is effectively carried out by all stakeholders, invariably increasing the chances of actualizing them by the end of 2030, if not completely, to a large extent. Hence this study aims to investigate the predictors of library personnel’s KSBs and their implications for achieving SDGs.

Theoretical framework

The study is anchored on the TPB, propounded by Ajzen (1985), which provides a useful conceptual framework for dealing with the complexities of human social behaviour. It is an extension of the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), which was unable to cater for behaviour over which people lack control or with incomplete volitional control (Ajzen, 1991). Thus, the theory of reasoned action (TRA) was the basis of TPB, as it incorporates the perceived behavioural control (PBC) variable to cater for situations where people lack complete control over the behaviour (Al Qeisi and Al Zagheer, 2015).

Ajzen (1988) states that the behaviour of an individual is dependent on behavioural intention, which consists of three components, i.e. attitude, subjective norms and perceived behaviour control. According to Ajzen (1991), the TPB postulates three conceptually independent determinants of intention as defined below:

The first is the attitude toward the behaviour and refers to the degree at which a person has a favourable or unfavourable evaluation or appraisal of the behaviour in question. The second predictor is a social factor termed subjective norm; it refers to the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behaviour. The third antecedent of intention is the degree of perceived behavioural control, which, as we saw earlier, refers to the perceived ease, or difficulty of performing the behaviour and it is assumed to reflect past experience as well as anticipated impediments and obstacles (Ajzen, 1991: 188).

Attitudes towards the behaviour, subjective norms with respect to the behaviour and perceived control over the behaviour, are usually found to predict behavioural intentions with a high degree of accuracy. In turn, these intentions, in combination with PBC could influence behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). The implication of this is that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural intentions, are all variables whose manipulation will likely influence behavioural intention and subsequently, KSB as reflected in the model (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Model of theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991).

The TPB was adopted for the present study due to its general acceptability and applicability in unveiling the factors likely to influence an individual’s behaviour in a given context. According to Ajzen (2006) when using the TPB, the behavioural actions must be defined precisely to allow useful generalization. While this study is carried out in the context of library personnel’s KSB towards SDGs, it is pertinent to delineate each of these predictors or influencing variables to reflect sub-constructs upon which they will be measured in view of this present study. Therefore, a conceptual framework was developed in line with the TPB to guide the study as seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Self-developed conceptual framework for the study.

The conceptual framework in Figure 2 was designed to show the independent variables of attitude (A), subjective Norm (SN) and perceived behavioural control (PBC) with their sub-constructs as used in the study. By implication, any modification in the independent variables of A, SN, or PBC will have a significant influence on the knowledge sharing intention (KSI) of library personnel and subsequently, perceived SDGs realization.

Conceptualization and hypotheses generation

In a bid to achieve the objective of the study, there is need to make explicit, key variables in the context from which hypotheses will be generated in line with the TPB, guided by the conceptual framework for the study. However, it is pertinent to state here that while each of the independent variables (A, SN and PBC) is reviewed against KSI, in the conceptualization; they will be linked to SDGs actualization, in the formulation of the hypotheses. This is because of the dearth of literature on SDGs actualization especially with respect to the independent variables. Moreover, it has been established that intention will eventually lead to actual behaviour. Thus, for the purpose of this study, KSI will equate actual behaviour.

Attitude and knowledge sharing intention

Skaik and Othman (2015) in giving an empirical and theoretical background to their study on KSB, note that attitude determines the individual’s intention to actually perform KSB. Shook and Bratianu (2010) state that attitude is formed based on one’s beliefs in the possible outcomes. It is asserted that the more favourable the possibility to actualize a behaviour is, the stronger the intention to perform the behaviour will be, and vice versa. It is a function of the perceived consequences people associate with the behaviour (Chiou, 1998). Thus, attitudinal beliefs are key determinants of behavioural intention to share knowledge (Al Qeisi and Al AlZagheer, 2015).

Several studies have shown a positive relationship between attitude and KSI (Chen et al, 2009; Kuang et al., 2012; Ramayah, 2009; Skaik and Othman, 2015). Attitude towards behaviour for this study will be measured using self-efficacy and extrinsic reward system.

According to Ajzen (2002), self-efficacy is an individual’s confidence in the ease or difficulty of performing the behaviour in question, which influences an individual’s intention to perform the behaviour. Constant et al. (1994) opine that an individual with high self-efficacy is more confident (positive attitude) in sharing knowledge with others. Self-efficacy has been shown to be one of the main determinants in forming an optimistic attitude towards knowledge sharing (Ye et al., 2006). Also, Skaik and Othman (2015) note that self-efficacy has a significant effect on the KSB of academics.

While an effective reward system is also likely to affect people’s attitudinal behaviour towards knowledge sharing (Homans, 1974), the absence of it may frustrate such intention to share knowledge (Riege, 2005). Such reward systems are motivational factors considered to influence KSI (Ardichvili, 2008). On a similar note, Syed-Ikhsan and Rowland (2004) assert that employees need a strong motivator in order to share knowledge. Rehman et al. (2011) further note that rewards (extrinsic) could increase the KSB of people, but only as a short-term solution, and thereafter, people return to their original behaviour. Hence, Hypothesis 1 is presented below:

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between attitude and perceived SDGs actualization

Subjective norm and knowledge sharing intention

Subjective Norm (SN) is defined as the individual’s perceived social pressure or influence to perform or not to perform a given behaviour in a given situation (Ajzen, 1991). According to Huda et al. (2012) it refers to an individual’s belief or assumption about people’s expectations of their behaviour. SN has been shown to be an important determinant of acceptable behaviours in numerous studies (Srite and Karahanna, 2006). Bock et al. (2005) in their study revealed that SN has significant influence on KSI. Several studies have shown a positive relationship between SN and knowledge sharing (Aulawi et al., 2009; Skaik and Othman, 2015). The sub-constructs under which SN is considered for this study will be organizational culture and social interaction.

Culture or climate of an organization also plays a vital role in building a KSB of an individual (Rehman et al., 2011). The importance of understanding organizational culture is demonstrated through the congruence hypothesis, which states that individuals are more effective when their personal competences align with the culture of the organizations in which they work (Abbett et al., 2010). For knowledge sharing, organizational culture is important because knowledge sharing needs a supporting organizational culture (Huang et al., 2008).

When individuals within an organization build close relationships with one another, they devote time and resources to sharing knowledge (Huang, 2009). Zack (1999) asserts that knowledge sharing involves social interaction, which spurs knowledge sharing activities. Hence, Hypothesis 2 is presented below:

Ho2: There is no significant relationship between subjective norm and perceived SDGs actualization

Perceived behavioural control and knowledge sharing intention

Ajzen (1991) notes that the TPB differs from the TRA in its addition of PBC, and that behavioural control is self-evident: the resources and opportunities available to a person must to some extent dictate the likelihood of behavioural achievement. PBC refers generally to an individual’s expectations of the degree to which they are capable of performing a given behaviour and the extent to which they have the pre-requisite resources to perform the behaviour (Ajzen, 2002). He added that it is a key determinant of KSB.

The concept of PBC is clearly expressed in Bandura’s (1982, 1997) concept of perceived self-efficacy, which is concerned with judgement of how well one can execute required actions to deal with specific situations. However, the individual’s attitude towards the act already shows this confidence. Thus, attitude towards the behaviour can overshadow the effect of PBC (Chiou, 1998). This justifies why self- efficacy was measured under attitude in this present study.

Perceived control can be used to predict the probability of a successful behavioural attempt (Ajzen, 1985). According to Tohidinia and Mosakhani (2009), organizations that aim to enjoy knowledge sharing advantages must pay attention to information technology (IT) as a decisive factor in knowledge sharing. They referred to Lin and Lee (2004), who discovered that PBC had a positive effect on intention to share knowledge. Also, lack of PBC may negatively affect intention to share knowledge (Ryu et al., 2003). Mahyarni et al., 2012) opine that IT significantly influences KSI. Hence, Hypothesis 3 is presented below:

Ho3: There is no significant relationship between perceived behavioural control and perceived SDGs actualization

Knowledge sharing intention (predicted jointly by A, SN and PBC) and perceived SDGs actualization

A central factor in the TPB is the individual’s intention to perform a given behaviour which is influenced by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. Intentions capture the motivational factors that influence a behaviour which reflects how hard people are willing to try and how much effort they will exert in order to perform the behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). These intentions according to Al Qeisi and Al Zagheer (2015) indicate that an individual is ready to perform a given action which is the immediate antecedent of behaviour.

The stronger the intention to engage in behaviour, the more likely its performance. However, behavioural intention can find expression in behaviour only if the behaviour in question is under volitional control (Ajzen, 1991). It represents a person’s motivation, in the sense of his or her conscious plan or decision to perform certain behaviour (Conner and Armitage, 1998).

According to Pavlou and Fygenson (2006), TPB suggests that behavioural intention is the most influential predictor of behaviour; after all, a person does what he/she intends to do. Meanwhile, Ellahi and Mushtag (2011) opine that behavioural intention contains motivational aspects which determine an individual’s intention to perform or not perform a behaviour. A number of researchers have reported a positive relationship between intention and the actual behaviour (Ryu et al., 2003). Thus, where there is high KSI (influenced relatively or jointly by A, SN or/and PBC), there will be a positive KSB, which will invariably help in the actualization of SDGs. Hence, Hypothesis 4 is presented below:

Ho4: Attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control will have no joint influence on SDGs actualization

Methodology

Survey research design was adopted for the study in order to determine the status of library personnel regarding KSB in relation to SDGs. Structured questionnaire was used to elicit data from the 100 library personnel registered with the Nigerian Library Association, Anambra State Chapter in Nigeria, which constitute the population of the study. Given the manageable size of the population, total enumeration was adopted as the sampling technique to ensure utmost level of generalization.

The research instrument is an adaptation (used with modifications to suit the present study) of Tohidinia and Mosakhani (2010) which they subjected to convergent and discriminant validity and found that the instrument is reliable or fit for the study. The instrument was, however, pre-tested through a pilot study using 25 library personnel in University of Benin, Edo State and the result yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.89 Cronbach’s alpha. The scale was therefore considered suitable and used for the present study. While descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage was used to analyze the demographic characteristics of the respondents, multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data collected for the study.

Presentation of results

A total of 100 copies of the questionnaire were distributed, out of which 72 were completed and returned by respondents at the response rate of 72%. This is considered adequate for analysis since the standard acceptable for most research work is 60% (Dulle et al., 2010).

Table 1 shows the demographic distribution of the respondents according to their library type, gender, age, educational qualification and years of experience. It shows that most of the respondents, 32(44.4%), are from public libraries. Moreover, 50(69.4%) of the respondents are female as against their male counterparts who constituted 22(30.6%) of the respondents. On the age distribution, most of the respondents constituting 24(33.3%) were between 31 and 40 years. Meanwhile, on educational qualification, the result showed that most of the respondents who had either a Higher National Diploma or a Bachelor’s degree, constituted 42(58.3%) of the respondents. In addition, most of the respondents constituting 22(30.6%) were in their early years of experience, between 1 and5 years.

Table 1.

Distribution of respondents by demographic characteristics.

Characteristics	Frequency	Percentage (%)
Library Type
Public Library	32	44.4
Academic Library	22	30.6
Information Centres	18	25.0
Gender
Male	22	30.6
Female	50	69.4
Age
22–30	20	27.8
31–40	24	33.3
41–50	20	27.8
51 and above	8	11.1
Educational Qualification (Degree)
Diploma	10	13.9
HND/Bachelor’s	42	58.3
Post Graduate Diploma (PGD)	10	13.9
Master’s	8	11.1
PhD	2	2.8
Years of Experience
1–5	22	30.6
6–10	20	27.8
11–15	18	25.0
16 and above	12	16.7
N = 72

The hypotheses for the study were generated based on previous literature reviewed in the course of the study, showing relationships between variables of concern. This section therefore reports the result of hypotheses that were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between attitude and perceived SDGs actualization.

Table 2 showed that there is a relationship between attitude and perceived SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria (r = .863**; df = 71; p< 0.01). This implies that the more positive the attitude of library personnel is towards SDGs, the more they perceive SDGs to be realizable on the set targets. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative that states that there is a significant relationship between attitude and perceived SDGs actualization is accepted.

Table 2.

Relationship between attitude and perceived SDGs actualization.

Variables	Mean	Std. Deviation	N	r	df	Sig (p)	Remark
Attitude	16.5228	2.40289	72	.863**	71	000	Sig.
SDGs actualization	26.1111	7.97806	72

In order to establish the contribution of each indicator of attitude to SDGs actualization, matrix table is presented (Table 3):

There is a significant relationship between perceived self-efficacy and SDGs actualization (r = .811**; N = 72; p<0.01).

There is a significant relationship between extrinsic reward system and SDGs actualization (r = .883**; N = 72; p<0.01).

Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between subjective norm and perceived SDGs actualization

Table 3.

Correlation matrix showing the relationship between each indicator of attitude and SDGs actualization.

		Percieved Self Efficacy	Extrinsic Reward System	Perceived SDG Actualization
Perceived Self Efficacy	Pearson Correlation	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)
	N	72
Extrinsic Reward System	Pearson Correlation	.932**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000
	N	72	72
Perceived SDG Actualization	Pearson Correlation	.811**	.883**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000	.000
	N	72	72	72

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 4 showed that there is a relationship between SN and perceived SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria (r = .826**; df = 71; p< 0.01). This implies that the more favourable the subjective norm experienced by library personnel towards SDGs is, the more they perceive SDGs to be realizable. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative that states that there is a significant relationship between SN and perceived SDGs actualization is accepted.

Table 4.

Relationship between SN and perceived SDGs actualization.

Variables	Mean	Std. Deviation	N	r	df	Sig (p)	Remark
Subjective norm	16.5228	2.40289	72	.826**	71	000	Sig.
SDGs actualization	26.6528	8.15201	72

In order to establish the contribution of each indicator of SN to SDGs actualization, matrix table is presented (Table 5):

There is a significant relationship between organizational climate and SDGs actualization (r = .840**; N = 72; p<0.01).

There is a significant relationship between social interaction and SDGs actualization (r = .803**; N = 72; p<0.01).

Hypothesis 3: There is no significant relationship between perceived behavioural control and perceived SDGs actualization

Table 5.

Correlation matrix showing the relationship between each indicator of SN and SDGs actualization.

		Organizational Climate	Social Interaction	Perceived SDG Actualization
Organizational Climate	Pearson Correlation	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)
	N	72
Social Interaction	Pearson Correlation	.974**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000
	N	72	72
Perceived SDG Actualization	Pearson Correlation	.840**	.803**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000	.000
	N	72	72	72

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 6 showed that there is a relationship between PBC and perceived SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria (r = .865**^; df = 71; p<0.01). This implies that the more favourably disposed the library personnel are in terms of their behavioural control exercised towards SDGs, the more they perceive SDGs to be realizable. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative that states that there is a significant relationship between PBC and perceived SDGs actualization is accepted.

Table 6.

Relationship between PBC and perceived SDGs actualization.

Variables	Mean	Std. Deviation	N	r	df	Sig (p)	Remark
Perceived behavioural control	16.5228	2.40289	72	.826**	71	000	Sig.
SDGs actualization	28.2917	7.85688	72

In order to establish the contribution of each indicator of perceived PBC to SDGs actualization, matrix table is presented (Table 7):

There is a significant relationship between behavioural control and SDGs actualization (r = .848**; N = 72; p<0.01).

There is a significant relationship between control belief and SDGs actualization (r = .863**; N = 72; p<0.01).

Hypothesis 4: Attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control will have no joint influence on SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria

Table 7.

Correlation matrix showing the relationship between each indicator of PBC and SDGs actualization.

		Behavioural Control	Control Belief	Perceived SDG Actualization
Behavioural Control	Pearson Correlation	1	.960**	.848**
	Sig. (2-tailed)		.000	.000
	N	72	72	72
Control Belief	Pearson Correlation	.960**	1	.863**
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000		.000
	N	72	72	72
Perceived SDG Actualization	Pearson Correlation	.848**	.863**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000	.000
	N	72	72	72

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 8 showed the relative contribution of attitude, SN and PBC to the prediction of use of SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria. The table showed a coefficient of multiple correlation (R = .873 and a multiple R² of .762). This means that 76.2% of the variance was accounted for by the three predictor variables when taken together. The significant of the composite contribution was tested at p<.05. The table also showed that the analysis of variance for the regression yielded F-ratio of 72.413 (p<0.01). This implies that the joint contribution of the independent variables to the dependent variables was significant and the other variables not included in this model may have accounted for the remaining variance. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected.

Table 8.

Joint contribution of attitude, SN and PBC on SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria.

Model Summary
R	R Square	Adjusted R Square		Std. Error of the Estimate
.873a	.762	.751		1.19883
ANOVAa
Model	Sum of Squares	Df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Regression	312.215	3	104.072	72.413	.000b
Residual	97.729	68	1.437
Total	409.944	71

Table 9 reveals the relative contribution of the three independent variables to the dependent variable, expressed as beta weights, viz attitude (β = .565 p < .05), subjective norm (β = -.214, p<.05) and perceived behavioural control (β = .521, p<.05). Hence, out of the independent variables, it is attitude that significantly predicts SDGs actualization by library personnel the most, followed by PBC and lastly, SN.

Table 9.

Relative contribution of attitude, SN and PBC to the prediction of SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria.

Coefficients^a
Model		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients	T	Sig.
Model		B	Std. Error	Beta	T	Sig.
1	(Constant)	9.443	.580		16.272	.000
	Attitude	.170	.086	.565	1.990	.051
	Subjective norm	-0.63	.068	-.214	-.924	.359
	Perceived behavioural control	.159	.074	.521	2.147	.035

^aDependent Variable: SDGs actualization.

Discussion of findings

On Hypothesis 1, the study revealed that perceived self-efficacy had a positive and significant influence on SDGs actualization (r = .811**; N = 72; p<0.01) of library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria. This correlates with previous studies that found a positive relationship between perceived self-efficacy and intention to share knowledge. Tohidinia and Mosakhani (2010: 619) carried out a study that revealed ‘higher levels of perceived self-efficacy reinforced positive attitudes towards knowledge sharing’. They assert that their study was consistent with that of Bock et al., (2005) on the effect of anticipated reciprocal relationships on attitude toward knowledge sharing. Also, Alam et al. (2009) in Awodoyin et al. (2016) assert that self-efficacy affects an individual’s readiness to share knowledge. Moreover, Allameh et al. (2012) in their study found that staff’s belief in their abilities acts as a strong motivation to share knowledge with colleagues.

Also, the study revealed that extrinsic reward system had a significant relationship with SDGs actualization (r = .883**; N = 72; p<0.01). Allameh et al. (2012) found that the expected organizational rewards influence the staff’s attitude and intention for knowledge sharing significantly. Also, Al-Alawi et al. (2007) showed a positive relationship between the existence of a reward system aligned with sharing and knowledge sharing in organizations. Contrary to this finding, Tohidinia and Mosakhani (2010: 621) assert that among the factors considered influential on knowledge sharing, organizational rewards did not demonstrate a significant relationship with attitude towards knowledge sharing.

The study showed that there is a significant relationship between attitude and perceived SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria (r = .863**^; df = 71; p< 0.01). This is in line with Ellahi and Mushtag (2011) and Allameh et al. (2012). It however contradicts the finding of Abdur-Rafiu and Opesade (2015) where they revealed that the attitudes of academics do not affect their KSIs.

On Hypothesis 2, the study found out there is a significant relationship between organizational climate and SDGs actualization (r = .840**; N = 72; p<0.01). On organizational climate, Al-Alawi et al. (2007) conclude that knowledge sharing prospers with the presence of certain positive features in organization structure. Also, there is a significant relationship between social interaction and SDGs actualization (r = .803**; N = 72; p<0.01). Whereas, on social interaction, Ellahi and Mushtag (2011: 10) reveal that ‘the positive effect of social interaction ties on intention to share knowledge was confirmed which implies that social interaction has a significant positive relationship with knowledge sharing intention’.

The study showed that there is a relationship between SN and perceived SDGs actualization by Anambra State, Nigeria (r = .826**^; df = 71; p < 0.01). This significant positive relationship between SN and perceived SDGs actualization revealed through KSI is found in previous studies of Mahyarni et al. (2012); Lin and Lee (2004); Chatzoglou and Vraimaki (2009) and Allameh et al. (2012). This is, however, contradictory to the findings of Abdur-Rafiu and Opesade (2015), Al Qeisi and Al Zagheer (2015) and Kuang et al. (2012) where no significant positive relationship between SN and KSI was found.

On Hypothesis 3, the study found out there is a significant relationship between behavioural control and SDGs actualization (r = .848**; N = 72; p<0.01). In line with this, Abdur-Rafiu and Opesade (2015: 8) assert that PBC of academics has a predictive relationship (positive and significant correlation) with their intention to share knowledge. Thus, the more resources and opportunities individuals believe they possess and the fewer obstacles or impediments they anticipate, the greater should be their perceived control over the behaviour (Ajzen, 1991: 196).

The study revealed that control belief (using information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a reference) had a positive and significant influence on perceived SDGs actualization (r = .863**; N = 72; p<0.01). This corroborates Al-Alawi et al. (2007) who in their study found a positive relationship between the existence of knowledge sharing information systems/technology and knowledge sharing in organizations. Also, Awodoyin et al. (2016) opine that tools and technologies are factors that affect librarians’ intention to share knowledge.

Therefore, PBC had a significant relationship with perceived SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria (r = .865**^; df = 71; p< 0.01). In line with this, Abdur-Rafiu and Opesade (2015: 8) assert that PBC of academics has a predictive relationship (positive and significant correlation) with their intention to share knowledge. Thus, the more resources and opportunities individuals believe they possess and the fewer obstacles or impediments they anticipate, the greater should be their perceived control over the behaviour (Ajzen, 1991: 196).

On Hypothesis 4, the study showed that the joint contribution of the independent variables (A, SN and PBC) to the dependent variables (perceived SDGs actualization) was significant. Also, the study showed that the relative contribution of the three independent variables to the dependent variable, shows that attitude significantly predicts SDGs actualization, followed by PBC then lastly, SN. The implication of this is that an adjustment in any of the independent variables will influence the perceived SDGs actualization by library personnel in Anambra State, Nigeria.

From the TPB and the conceptual model of the study, it is seen that attitude, subject norm and perceived behaviour will influence intention to share information and knowledge on SDGs which will determine perceived SDGs actualization. This is because KSI will directly affect actual KSB, (Abdur-Rafiu and Opesade, 2015; Ellahi and Mushtag, 2011; Skaik and Othman, 2015). By implication, addressing the factors likely to predict KSI and by extension, actual KSB will help library personnel contribute to the actualization of SDGs.

Conclusion and recommendations

The objective of this study was to investigate the predictors of library personnel’s KSB towards sustainable development goals (SDGs), using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The findings revealed that perceived SDGs actualization of library personnel was influenced by attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norm accordingly. The joint contribution of these three independent variables greatly contributes to the variance in SDGs actualization. This shows that for library personnel to contribute greatly to the realization of SDGs, they must ensure effective KSB on SDGs-related information. In view of this, the following recommendations are made:

Management of libraries should set up an effective reward system that will motivate personnel to share SDGs-related information, thus increasing their contribution to the development agenda;

Management of libraries should create a culture or climate within the library that encourages people to seek and share SDGs-related information;

Management of libraries should foster a close relationship with library personnel and also encourage the same among library employees. On the part of library personnel, they should build trust among one another as well as develop good organizational citizen behaviour;

Management of libraries should provide capacity building in the form of human resource development via workshops, seminars, conferences among others in a bid to increase the knowledge of personnel on issues pertaining to SDGs;

Library personnel should engage in self-development in a bid to acquire more skills and knowledge on SDGs which will in turn spur a high rate of knowledge sharing;

Library personnel should change their mindset (attitude) from knowledge hoarding to knowledge sharing which is vital to creating a knowledge sharing culture; and

Management of libraries should provide infrastructural facilities like ICTs and knowledge repositories that will help facilitate knowledge sharing on SDGs.

Supplemental material

Supplemental Appendix - Predictors of knowledge sharing behaviour on Sustainable Development Goals among library personnel in Nigeria

Supplemental Appendix for Predictors of knowledge sharing behaviour on Sustainable Development Goals among library personnel in Nigeria by Magnus Osahon Igbinovia, and Ngozi P. Osuchukwu in IFLA Journal

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Magnus Osahon Igbinovia

Supplemental material

Supplementary material for this article is available online.

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