A study on the impacts of informal networks on knowledge diffusion in knowledge management

Knowledge management has garnered attention due to its role of maintaining competitive advantage. Creating and sharing knowledge is an essential part of managing knowledge. However, the best knowledge is underutilized because employees tend to seek knowledge through their informal networks, not reach out to other sources for obtaining the best knowledge. Prior studies on informal networks pointed out a negative influence of heavy reliance on learning through informal networks but they paid little attention to a structure of informal networks and its impacts on diffusion of knowledge. The aim of our study is to show impacts of informal network on knowledge management by employing a network structure and investigating diffusion of knowledge within it. Our study found out that performance of learning becomes lower in a highly clustered network. Creating random links such as serendipitous learning can improve performance of knowledge management. When employees rely on a knowledge management system, creating random links is not necessary. Costs of adopting knowledge affect performance of knowledge management.