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1. Introduction
As an organizational process, knowledge sharing plays a fundamental role in generating new ideas and creating business opportunities ([19] Grant, 1996). Effectively communicated knowledge benefits all of the involved organizational actors by improving their performance and eventually improving financial, marketing, and general outcomes of the organization ([1] Alavi and Leidner, 1999). Yet, in practice, inadequate sharing has been found to be a major impediment to effective knowledge management ([12] Davenport and Prusak, 1998). Therefore, understanding employees' knowledge sharing behavior has important implications for organizations.
Although empirical evidence has uncovered some of the complex dynamics of knowledge sharing in general ([27] Ipe, 2003), there is a paucity of research that explains how individuals share knowledge in organizational settings. In particular, an in-depth understanding of knowledge sharing within teams is desirable because team-based design is widely adopted by contemporary organizations. About 82 percent of companies with 100 or more employees have team-based mechanisms ([18] Gordon, 1992) and new collaborative job designs and work practices require teamwork ([7] Capelli and Rogovsky, 1994). Therefore, it is imperative to understand how team-related factors influence individuals' knowledge sharing behavior.
Given that it is people who actually create, share, and use knowledge, an organization cannot effectively exploit knowledge unless its employees are willing and able to share their own knowledge and assimilate the knowledge of others ([27] Ipe, 2003). Thus, knowledge sharing within organizations can be seen as a multifaceted, complex process that involves intricate human behaviors ([22] Hendriks, 1999). It implies a voluntary act by individuals who participate in the exchange of knowledge even though there are no compulsory pressures ([11] Davenport, 1997). It often involves the communication of tacit knowledge that cannot be reported through formal channels and is difficult to be compelled. Hence, the most appropriate measure to enhance knowledge sharing seems to be "soft" strategies relying on the climate and leadership role of the specific organizational unit ([26] Hulsheger et al. , 2009; [47] Srivastava and Bartol, 2006).
In this research, the authors investigate knowledge sharing in light of two team-related factors: team climate and empowering leadership. First, team climate refers to an implicit frame that shapes individual perceptions, attitudes and behaviors within the group context ([43] Seibert et al. , 2004). It has long...