Who can I ask? How psychological safety affects knowledge sourcing among new product development team members

Abstract

Knowledge source selection is a complex phenomenon that is often addressed from an organizational viewpoint; however, we know little about knowledge-seeking practices at the individual level. We examined knowledge sourcing in new product development (NPD) teams at the micro-level through the lens of psychological safety (PS). We investigated 1345 individuals at 85 software development teams in Pakistan to demonstrate how different levels of PS affected knowledge sourcing from three groups: within the team; within the organization; and outside the organization. Our results showed that individuals with high PS levels were more inclined to consult fellow team members and individuals with low PS levels were more likely to choose external sources. We also examined how the diversity of a team's composition affected the relationship between psychological safety and knowledge source selection. We explored the implications of these findings for managerial practice.