Amotivation of knowledge management systems use: the role of authoritarian leadership

Purpose A common fallacy of knowledge management systems (KMSs) in practice is their low use frequency. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate the amotivation (the state of lacking the intention to act) to use a KMS. Design/methodology/approach Based on the social exchange theory and the social cognitive theory, we examine how knowledge self-efficacy, perceived alternatives, and authoritarian leadership influence amotivation. We conducted a survey in a large petrochemical enterprise in western China 3 months after the company had implemented a KMS. Employees who had never logged in to the KMS since its establishment were the subjects of the survey. Findings The results indicated that knowledge self-efficacy is negatively related to amotivation to use the KMS whereas perceived alternatives are positively related to amotivation to use the KMS. In addition, there is a U-shaped relationship between authoritarian leadership and amotivation to use the KMS. As perceived authoritarian leadership increases, the amotivation to use the KMS decreases initially. However, a high level of perceived authoritarian leadership can increase amotivation to use the KMS. In addition, we found that the effect of knowledge self-efficacy is suppressed (weakened) as authoritarian leadership increases. Originality/value This study investigated an important concept of information system use amotivation at both the individual and group levels. Amotivation is not entirely equivalent to the opposite of motivation. However, KMS studies largely neglected this important concept. The curvilinear and moderating effect of authoritarian leadership on KMS use is also seldom investigated in the literature.