International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management United Kingdom Vol. II, Issue 12, Dec 2014 Licensed under Creative Common Page 1 http://ijecm.co.uk/ ISSN 2348 0386 AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN A SELECTED PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION IN BOTSWANA U. Makambe Botho University, Botswana makambe2006@gmail.com Abstract The study of knowledge sharing has emerged as a key research field in the strategic management genre. Organisational experience and research suggest that successful knowledge sharing has become the in-thing and a major factor contributing to the enhancement of business performance and long term sustainability. This paper investigates the effectiveness of knowledge sharing in a selected private higher education institution in Botswanaby, firstly looking at the views of other authors on the concept of knowledge sharing through examination of existing literature and secondly, through an empirical examination of the movement of knowledge in a selected institution and the factors inhibiting the smooth transfer of knowledge. The paper adopted the mixed methods research approach to collect data through a questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaire collected data from a large sample by targeting ordinary employees of the institution, while interviewing collected data from a small group of well-informed respondents by targeting employees in managerial positions. The study revealed that there is ineffective flow of knowledge in the selected institution and barriers to the smooth movement of knowledge such as lack of staff interaction, inadequate infrastructure, heavy workload for staff, interaction of staff along nationality lines, lack of trust, inappropriate organisational structure, and inappropriate organisational culture were unearthed. Keywords: Knowledge Management, knowledge sharing, organisational infrastructure, organisational culture, reward systems, trust.