An Investigation of Partner Similarity Dimensions on Knowledge Transfer

doi:10.1006/obhd.2000.2885

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Volume 82, Issue 1, May 2000, Pages 28-44

https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.2000.2885 Get rights and content

Abstract

Learning from the experiences of others can provide significant benefits for an organization, but it can be difficult to know who has the most useful or applicable knowledge. Knowledge is acquired from many sources: from within the firm; from other firms; or from competitors, customers, suppliers, and channel partners. Managers must decide how to efficiently search through a universe of potential knowledge sources to select the knowledge that will be the most useful to them. This research examines the conditions under which partner similarity enhances knowledge transfer. Previous research has argued that partner similarity influences knowledge sharing through attraction. Building on past work, our research argues that attraction is only one mechanism by which partner similarity affects knowledge transfer and introduces the idea that partner similarity aids the search through a universe of potential knowledge sources. The dimensions of partner similarity that allow more efficient search will facilitate knowledge transfer, while those similarity dimensions that do not aid search will have a less important impact on transfer. Data from both quantitative and qualitative sources support these hypotheses. Quantitative analyses show that strategic similarity emerges as a more important dimension than customer or location similarities as a significant predictor of knowledge transfer. Qualitative interview data show that businesses are conscious of the strategic similarities within their industry and choose transfer partners accordingly.

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^f1: Address correspondence and reprint requests to Eric Darr, 337 Futurity Drive, Camp Hill, PA 17011. E-mail: [email protected].

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Regular ArticleAn Investigation of Partner Similarity Dimensions on Knowledge Transfer

Abstract

Learning curves in manufacturing

Science

The persistence and transfer of learning in industrial settings

Management Science

Technology diffusion and organizational learning: The case of business computing

Organization Science

Innovation diffusion: A new perspective

Organizational learning and communities of practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning and innovation

Organization Science

Changing patterns or patterns of change: The effects of a change in technology on social network structure and power

Administrative Science Quarterly

The attraction paradigm

The effect of economic similarity-dissimilarity on interpersonal attraction

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Attraction as a function of attitude similarity–dissimilarity: The effect of topic importance

Psychonomic Science

A garbage can model of organizational choice

Administrative Science Quarterly

Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation

Administrative Science Quarterly

The acquisition, transfer and depreciation of knowledge in service organizations: Productivity in franchises

Management Science

Implications for interaction versus effectance as mediators of the similarity–attraction relationship

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Agile knowledge transfer: Reusable, reconfigurable, scalable

Production

Do strategic groups exist? An economic framework for analysis

Strategic Management Journal

Strategic groups and inter-firm networks in international high-tech industries

Journal of Management Studies

Strategic groups as reference groups: Theory, modeling and empirical examination of industry and competitive strategy

Strategic Management Journal

Transformative capacity: Continual structuring by intertemporal technology transfer

Strategic Management Journal

Understanding the process of knowledge transfer to achieve successful technological innovation

Technovation

Organizational learning: The contributing processes and the literatures

Organization Science

An organizational learning model of convergence and reorientation

Organization Science

Regular Article
An Investigation of Partner Similarity Dimensions on Knowledge Transfer