Knowledge sharing may be defined in various ways depending on the context in which it is considered. Van Den Hooff and De Ridder‟s (2004) conceptualization of knowledge sharing portrays it as a "process where individuals mutually exchange their implicit (tacit) and explicit knowledge to create new knowledge" (p.119). According to De Vrie, Van Den Hooff and De Ridder (2006), this definition implies that every knowledge sharing behavior consists of

• the supply of new knowledge and
• the demand for new knowledge (as cited in Wabwezi, 2011, p.14)

In line with Van Den Hooff and De Ridder's stance, De Vrie et al. describe two central behaviors of knowledge sharing as follows:

• "Knowledge donating, as communicating one's personal intellectual capital to others and
• Knowledge collecting, as consulting others to get them to share their intellectual capital" (p.116) (as cited in Wabwezi, 2011, p.14).

They maintain that both behaviors as distinguished above are active processes either actively communicating to others what one knows or actively consulting others to learn what they know. They elucidate that both behaviors have a different nature and can be expected to be differentially influenced by different factors (as cited in Wabwezi, 2011, p.14).

Haas and Hansen (2007) claim that knowledge sharing has been shown to improve individual and organization performance and innovativeness. They add that knowledge sharing is a practice that has become increasingly important to organizations as most organizations are now considered to operate in a knowledge economy. Knowledge sharing in an organization not only occurs at the individual level but also at the collective level (Obembe, 2010). Obembe further states that an organization's capacity for knowledge sharing is crucial as a factor in the ability to generate new knowledge as well as its ability to utilize the resources and capabilities of its members. Knowledge sharing affects not only tacit knowledge but all phases of the knowledge creating process (as cited in Wabwezi, 2011, pp.14-15).

Taminiau, Smit, and De Lange (2007) present two forms of knowledge sharing:

• formal knowledge sharing and
• informal knowledge sharing (as cited in Wabwezi, 2011, p.15).