Trust and competence: Relational conditions of advice-seeking in organizational social networks

Abstract

The revolutionary advancement of technology brought the attention of academics and management practitioners to the innovative capability of organizations in the past decade. Companies in knowledge-based industries increasingly focus on their ability of self-renewal and adaptation. Simultaneously, the amassment, management, sharing, and employment of knowledge have grown in importance. Codification of knowledge is an efficient way, although not always viable, to make it accessible to many employees. Tacit or hidden knowledge, however, spreads only through employee interactions, while it also plays an essential role in most organizations. Organizational network analysis, an established diagnostic tool in consulting practice, provides the apparatus to explore knowledge networks in organizations. What are the conditions of advice-seeking and knowledge-sharing in organizational social networks? What are the relational prerequisites of asking for help? In this paper, I present the knowledge network analysis of a small Hungarian based knowledge-intensive company.