Group-level brokerage and the production of novelty: The role of intragroup knowledge conversion

Abstract

Prior research has revolved around the tension between accessing diverse knowledge through brokerage and the need for strong ties to enable knowledge transfer, both important elements in the production of novel output. Although research has suggested ways to deal with this trade-off, I propose that the trade-off is not an inevitable component of social networks. Developing the notion of group-level brokerage, I argue that bridging structural holes with co-membership ties can be understood as strong tie brokerage. However, structural phenomena alone cannot predict novel output of groups. Therefore, I develop theory on how groups convert diverse knowledge in generating novelty. The core of this study inquires about the interaction between group-level brokerage and intragroup knowledge conversion in predicting groups’ production of novel output. Results suggest that intragroup knowledge conversion is important in the production of novel output when groups’ structural position allows for group-level brokerage. Interestingly, groups embedded in dense networks may produce novel output too, if they abstain from high intragroup knowledge conversion. This finding extends the creativity literature by highlighting that group-level brokerage and the absence of group-level brokerage both could lead to the production of novel output, depending on how groups manage the knowledge available to them.