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    Engineering Serendipity: The Role of Cognitive Similarity in Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Production
    14 Jan 2020Working Paper Summaries

    Engineering Serendipity: The Role of Cognitive Similarity in Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Production

    by Jacqueline N. Lane, Ina Ganguli, Patrick Gaule, Eva C. Guinan, and Karim R. Lakhani
    By creating opportunities for cross-disciplinary scientists to meet and talk as part of a natural field experiment, this study analyzes and finds evidence for a systematic relationship between knowledge sharing and knowledge production in the sciences. Findings may extend to similar types of cross-disciplinary knowledge-sharing opportunities in other settings.
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    Author Abstract

    Abstract: This research considers the implications of knowledge sharing on knowledge production. We theorize that the “cognitive similarity” between two individuals’ prior knowledge is systematically related to the effectiveness of knowledge sharing on the knowledge production process. To estimate relationships, we designed and executed a natural field experiment at a medical symposium, in which exogenous variation was introduced to provide some of the 15,817 scientist pairs with opportunities for serendipitous, face-to-face encounters. Our data include direct observations of interaction patterns collected using sociometric badges, and detailed longitudinal data on the scientists’ publication records for six years following the symposium. We find both collaborative and competitive effects of cognitive similarity on knowledge production. Interacting scientists were more likely to transfer new knowledge concepts to each other if they shared some similarities in research interests, but were less likely to cite and diffuse each other’s knowledge if they worked in the same field or discipline of study. This suggests that knowledge sharing may boost organizational knowledge production when potential partners share some prior knowledge overlap, but too much overlap may impede it.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: November 2019
    • HBS Working Paper Number: HBS Working Paper #20-058
    • Faculty Unit(s): Technology and Operations Management
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    Karim R. Lakhani
    Karim R. Lakhani
    Dorothy and Michael Hintze Professor of Business Administration
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    Jacqueline Ng Lane
    Jacqueline Ng Lane
    Assistant Professor of Business Administration
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