Abstract
Knowledge transfer (KT) is the process through which one is affected by the experience of another. While many of the challenges of KT have been discussed in the literature (e.g., incentives, cognitive limitations), the challenge of KT in virtual settings has received limited attention. In this paper, our interest lies in exploring asymmetric KT where a sender has more knowledge about a topic than a receiver. We focus on a dyadic relationship between geographically dispersed sender and receiver units, supported by a multi-media technology environment. Drawing from the KT literature and Channel Expansion Theory, we specifically explore the evolution of and relationship between role-based experiences (e.g., with partner, topic, media) and media richness perceptions. Our results provide evidence that KT roles do matter relative to the acquisition of experiences and expansions in media richness perceptions. Despite some differences in acquired experiences, our results also suggest that KT partners converge in their perceptions of acquired experiences and evolve to shared (or congruent) perceptions of media richness. Finally, our results provide evidence that sender-receiver congruence in media richness perceptions influences KT success.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alavi, M. and D. E. Leidner. (2001). “Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues,” MIS Quarterly 25(1), 107.
Argote, L. (1982). “Input Uncertainty and Organizational Coordination in Hospital Emergency Units,” Administrative Science Quarterly 27(3), 420–434.
Argote, L. (1999). Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining, and Transferring Knowledge, Kluwer Academic, Boston.
Argote, L. and P. Ingram. (2000). “Knowledge Transfer: A Basis for Competitive Advantage in Firms,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 82(1), 150–169.
Argote, L., P., Ingram, J. M., Levine, and R. L. Moreland. (2000). “Knowledge Transfer in Organizations: Learning from the Experience of Others,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 82(1), 1–8.
Baldwin, T. T. and J. K. Ford. (1988). “Transfer of Training: A Review and Direction for Future Research,” Personnel Psychology 41, 63–105.
Barley, S. (1986). “Technology as an Occasion for Structuring: Evidence from Observations of CT Scanners and the Social Order of Radiology Departments,” Administrative Science Quarterly 31(1), 78–108.
Boland, R. J., T. V. Ramkrishnan, and D. Te'Eni. (1994). “Designing Information Technology to Support Distributed Cognition,” Organization Science 5(3), 456–475.
Bordia, P. (1997). “Face-to-Face Versus Computer-Mediated Communication: A Synthesis of the Experimental Literature,” Journal of Business Communication 34(1), 99–120.
Boudreau, M.-C., K. D. Loch, D. Robey, and D. Straub. (1998). “Going Global: Using Information Technology to Advance the Competitiveness of the Virtual Transnational Organization,” The Academy of Management Executive 12(4), 120.
Burke, K. and L. Chidambaram. (1999). “How Much Bandwidth is Enough? A Longitudinal Examination of Media Characteristics and Group Outcomes,” MIS Quarterly 23(4), 557–579.
Carlson, J. R. and R. W. Zmud. (1994). Channel Expansion Theory: A Dynamic View of Media and Information Richness Perceptions. Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings, Academy of Management.
Carlson, J. R. and R. W. Zmud. (1999). “Channel Expansion Theory and the Experiential Nature of Media Richness Perceptions,” Academy of Management Journal 42(2), 153–170.
Clark, H. H. and D. Wilkes-Gibbs. (1986). “Referring as a Collaborative Process,” Cognition 22(1), 1–39.
Cramton, C. D. (2001). “The Mutual Knowledge Problem and Its Consequences for Dispersed Collaboration,” Organization Science 12(3), 346–371.
Daft, R. L. and R. H. Lengel. (1984). “Information Richness: A New Approach to Manager Information Processing and Organization Design,” in B. M., Staw, and L. L. Cummings,(eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior. Greenwich, CT, JAI Press: 191–233.
Daft, R. L. and R. H. Lengel. (1986). “Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design,” Management Science 32(5), 554.
Daft, R. L., R. H. Lengel, and L. K. Trevino. (1987). “Message Equivocality, Media Selection, and Manager Performance: Implications for Information Systems (in Theory and Research),” MIS Quarterly 11(3), 355–366.
Dennis, A. R. and S. T. Kinney. (1998). “Testing Media Richness Theory in the New Media: The Effects of Cues, Feedback, and Task Equivocality,” Information Systems Research 9(3), 256–274.
Dennis, A. R. and J. S. Valacich. (1999). Rethinking Media Richness: Towards a Theory of Media Synchronicity. 32nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HI.
Empson, L. (2001). “Fear of Exploitation and Fear of Contamination: Impediments to Knowledge Transfer in Mergers between Professional Service Firms,” Human Relations 54(7), 839.
Flanagin, A.J. (2005). “IM Online: Instant Messaging Use Among College Students,” Communication Research Reports 22(3), 175–187.
Fulk, J. and B. Boyd. (1991). “Emerging Theories of Communication in Organizations,” Journal of Management 17(2), 407.
Fulk, J. (1993). “Social Construction of Communication Technology,” Academy of Management Journal 36(5), 921–950.
Griffith, T. L. and M. A. Neale. (2001). “Information Processing in Traditional, Hybrid, and Virtual Teams: From Nascent Knowledge to Transactive Memory,” in B. M., Staw, and Sutton, R. I. (eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior. Greenwich, CT, JAI Press. 23, 379–421.
Harkema, S. (2003). “A Complex Adaptive Perspective on Learning within Innovation Projects,” The Learning Organization 10(6), 340.
Inkpen, A. C. and A. Dinur. (1998). “Knowledge Management Processes and International Joint Ventures,” Organization Science 9(4), 454–468.
Jarvenpaa, S. L. and D. E. Leidner. (1998). “Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams,” Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 13(4), 1–30.
Karsten, H. (1995). “Converging Paths to Notes: In Search of Computer-Based Information Systems in a Networked Company,” Information Technology & People 8(1), 7–34.
Keppel, G. and T. D. Wickens. (2004). Design and Analysis: A Researcher's Handbook, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ko, D.-G., L. J. Kirsch, and W. R. King. (2005). “Antecedents of Knowledge Transfer from Consultants to Clients in Enterprise System Implementations,” MIS Quarterly 29(1), 59–85.
Kock, N. (2004). “The Psychobiological Model: Towards a New Theory of Computer-Mediated Communication Based on Darwinian Evolution,” Organization Science 15(3), 327–348.
Markus, M. L. (1994). “Electronic Mail as the Medium of Managerial Choice,” Organization Science 5(4), 502.
Markus, M. L. and M. Keil. (1994). “If We Build It, They will Come: Designing Information Systems That People Want to Use,” Sloan Management Review 35(4), 11–25.
Massey, A. P. and M. M. Montoya-Weiss. (2006). “Unraveling the Temporal Fabric of Knowledge Conversion: A Theory of Media Selection and Use,” MIS Quarterly 30(1), 1–18.
Massey, A. P., M. M., Montoya-Weiss, and T. M. O'Driscoll. (2002). “Performance-Centered Design of Knowledge-Intensive Processes,” Journal of Management Information Systems 18(4), 37–58.
McGrath, J. (1991). “Time, Interaction, and Performance (TIP): A Theory of Groups,” Small Group Research 22(2), 147–174.
Mowery, D. C., J. E. Oxley, and B. S. Silverman. (1996). “Strategic Alliances and Interfirm Knowledge Transfer,” Strategic Management Journal 17, 77–91.
Nadler, D. A. and M. L. Tushman. (1980). “A Model for Diagnosing Organizational Behavior,” Organizational Dynamics 9(2), 35–51.
Nonaka, I. (1994). “A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation,” Organization Science 5(1), 14–37.
Orlikowski, W. J. and D. C. Gash. (1994). “Technological Frames: Making Sense of Information Technology in Organizations,” ACM Transactions on Information Systems 12(2), 174–207.
Pew Research (2005). “Teens and Technology,” http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Tech_July2005web-.pdf. (Downloaded August 2005).
Russ, G. S., R. L. Daft, and R. H. Lengel. (1990). “Media Selection and Managerial Characteristics in Organizational Communications,” Management Communication Quarterly 4(2), 151–175.
Sarker, S., S. Sarker, D. Nicholson, and K. D. Joshi. (2005). “Knowledge Transfer in Virtual Systems Development Teams: An Exploratory Study of Four Key Enablers,” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 48(2), 201–218.
Shumate, M. and J. Fulk. (2004). “Boundaries and Role Conflict when Work and Family are Colocated: A Communication Network and Symbolic Interaction Approach,” Human Relations 57(1), 55.
Szulanski, G. (1996). “Exploring Internal Stickiness: Impediments to the Transfer of Best Practices within the Firm,” Strategic Management Journal (Special Issue: Knowledge and the Firm) 17, 27–43.
Szulanski, G. (2000). “The Process of Knowledge Transfer: A Diachronic Analysis of Stickiness,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 82(1), 9–27.
Vogel, D. R., M. van Genuchten, D. Lou, s. Verveen, M. van Eekhout and A. Adams. (2001). “Exploratory Research on the Role of National and Professional Cultures in a Distributed Learning Project,” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 44(2), 114–125.
Walther, J. B. (1992). “Interpersonal Effects in Computer-Mediated Interaction,” Communication Research 19(1), 52–90.
Watson-Mannheim, M. B. and F. Belanger. (2002). An In-Depth Investigation of Communication Mode Choices in Distributed Teams. 23rd International Conference on Information Systems, Barcelona, Spain.
Webster, J. and L. K. Trevino. (1995). “Rational and Social Theories as Complementary Explanations of Communication Media Choices: Two Policy-Capturing Studies,” Academy of Management Journal 38(6), 1544–1572.
Zack, M. H. (1993). “Interactivity and Communication Mode Choice in Ongoing Management Groups,” Information Systems Research 4(3), 207.
Zander, U. and B. Kogut. (1995). “Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test,” Organization Science 6(1), 76–92.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hasty, B.K., Massey, A.P. & Brown, S.A. Role-Based Experiences, Media Perceptions, and Knowledge Transfer Success in Virtual Dyads. Group Decis Negot 15, 367–387 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-006-9047-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-006-9047-5