Seeking Knowledge And Metaknowledge: The Role Of Formal Hierarchy In Advice Networks

Abstract

Knowledge exchange and integration processes in organizations are jointly shaped by formal design as well as informal communication among employees. In this paper, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of how formal organizational structures influence and shape informal networks. More specifically, we investigate the influence of rank in the formal organizational hierarchy on the formation of informal advice ties among knowledge workers. We consider two different types of advice ties: seeking knowledge and seeking metaknowledge. While knowledge seeking refers to the direct pursuit of task information through social ties, metaknowledge seeking refers to the pursuit of referrals to knowledgeable third parties. We argue that the formal rank of an actor has different implications for the perceived value and accessibility of that actor as a source of these different types of advice. Consequently, we hypothesize that metaknowledge seeking ties will be more likely to be directed towards highly ranked in...