Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Second Edition

Progress and Prospects

Research into how knowledge is created and integrated in networks has made substantial progress over the past decades. The topic has spawned so much interest that recently more quantitative reviews using meta-analytic techniques have emerged to further our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of knowledge transfer within and across companies (e.g. Van Wijk et al., 2008). Research into networks has developed under three banners. The thrust of social network analysis is that every organization is a social network, and that a social network can be used to disseminate knowledge and information. Alliance networks have been established as a governance mode to gain access to knowledge unavailable within a firm’s boundaries. Organizational networks have emerged to facilitate the management of that knowledge internally.

Despite the insights and understanding gained, a substantial number of avenues for future research still remain. Most promising future research avenues essentially provide further cross-fertilization across the three network types, and apply concepts employed to examine one type to further understand the functioning of another. One such concept is the role of governance mode and organizational structure. For example, Stuart (2003) illustrated how a firm’s structural and relational position may influence its choice for the governance structures used in its alliances. However, much remains to be discovered. For example, to co-develop products ...