Evaluating knowledge creation and knowledge sharing: Structural evidence from higher education

Knowledge sharing and knowledge creation are theoretically distinct yet empirically related constructs, and limited psychometric evidence exists regarding their underlying structure in higher education. This study examined the factorial structure of faculty knowledge behaviors using bifactor modeling with a sample of Ecuadorian university faculty. Confirmatory factor analyses compared unidimensional, bidimensional, second-order, and bifactor measurement models. The bifactor specification provided the best fit, revealing a dominant general knowledge factor alongside orthogonal specific factors for knowledge sharing and knowledge creation. Omega hierarchical estimates showed the general factor accounted for the large majority of reliable variance, whereas the specific factors contributed limited unique variance. Cross-validation via an independent holdout sample supported this structure’s stability, though fold-level replication in smaller subsamples was more numerically sensitive; a correctly specified common-method-factor model found no evidence of common method variance. Nomological validity tests indicated that the general knowledge factor significantly predicted university governance outcomes, while the specific factors showed minimal incremental predictive power. These findings suggest that faculty knowledge behaviors may primarily reflect a common underlying knowledge orientation in this Ecuadorian higher-education sample; given the single-country, cross-sectional design, these conclusions should be interpreted as context-specific rather than assumed to generalize universally across higher education systems.