Networks of Knowledge Providers and Channels of Intra-firm Knowledge Transfer

Abstract

Recent studies have paid attention to inventors’ networks and showed that their structural positions affected knowledge transfer within a firm. Although prior studies on knowledge acquirers have noted the importance of networks spanning structural holes in innovation, their effects are not consistent in prior studies on knowledge providers. Also, the latter ones have not considered how the effects of providers’ networks differ in the contexts of intra-unit and inter-unit knowledge transfer. We examined how providers’ intra-firm networks affect intra-unit and inter-unit knowledge transfer. The results highlighted three points, as follows. First, knowledge of a provider spanning large structural holes is likely to be used by inventors in the same unit. Second, provider centrality and intra-unit knowledge transfer have an inverse U-shaped relationship. Third, the knowledge of a central provider is likely to be used by inventors in different units. These results imply that the effects of providers’ networks depend on the channels of knowledge transfer.