M. Ann McFadyen

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND KNOWLEDGE CREATION: DIMINISHING RETURNS OF THE NUMBER AND STRENGTH OF EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS

This study analyzed the relationship between social capital and knowledge creation at the individual level. Our limited theory of knowledge creation encompasses the number and strength of the relationships that a person maintains. Hypothesis tests in a sample of biomedical research scientists strongly supported predictions. As relationships increased in number, returns to knowledge creation diminished. Increased interactions with a single other showed a similar effect. The strength of interpersonal relations had a higher marginal effect on knowledge creation than the number of relations.

Value of Strong Ties to Disconnected Others: Examining Knowledge Creation in Biomedicine

Knowledge creation requires the combination and exchange of diverse and overlapping knowledge inputs as individuals interact with exchange partners to create new knowledge. In this study, we examine knowledge creation among university research scientists as a function of their professional (ego) networks---those others with whom they collaborate for the purpose of creating new knowledge. We propose that knowledge creation relies, in part, on two attributes of a researchers professional network structure---average tie strength and ego network density---and we provide insights into how these attributes jointly affect knowledge creation. Our study of over 7,300 scientific publications by 177 research scientists working with more than 14,000 others over an 11-year period provides evidence that the relationship between a research scientists professional network and knowledge creation depends on both ego network density and average tie strength. Our evidence suggests that both attributes affect knowledge creation. Moreover, average tie strength interacts with density to affect knowledge creation such that researchers who maintain mostly strong ties with research collaborators who themselves comprise a sparse network have the highest levels of new knowledge creation.

R&d Knowledge Is Power

OVERVIEW: The phrase “knowledge is power” may be a cliché, yet in todays business environment it is as true a statement as ever. In fact, knowledge is a unique company resource because its value actually increases when it is shared. Viewing knowledge as a strategic corporate resource, managers need to examine their own organizations to assess the degree of stored knowledge and absorptive capacity necessary to accomplish what is required for sustainable competitive advantage. A key question is whether or not the organizational structure is appropriate—from the perspective of both breadth and depth of knowledge—to the mission at hand. Breadth is obtained through employee diversity and connectedness depth through R&D experience as well as basic research initiatives, partnerships, joint ventures, etc. Overall, knowledge, like other strategic corporate resources, must be actively managed if it is to result in sustainable competitive advantage.

Making knowledge workers more creative

OVERVIEW: The knowledge management process is increasingly seen as a key to organizational creativity and innovation. The evolving global business environment necessitates that organizations shift from a rigid, standardized competitive approach to a more flexible mobilization of human resources located both inside and outside the company. This can be aided by recognizing knowledge worker capabilities as a hierarchy from acquired knowledge to more complex unique and creative knowledge. Competitive advantage can be gained by moving individual and cumulative capabilities higher on this pyramid.

Knowledge creation and the location of university research scientists’ interpersonal exchange relations: within and beyond the university:

Our study examines how the location (geographic and organizational distance) of the direct interpersonal exchange relationships a university researcher establishes and main tains affects his or her knowledge creation. In order to create new knowledge, researchers seek to combine and exchange information and know-how with others and must often go outside the boundaries of their universities to obtain the needed resources. We explore the impact of working with others, both within and outside the organization, on new knowledge creation. We argue for a curvilinear effect between distance and knowledge creation, in that spatially close and distant exchange partner locations will have a greater effect on knowledge creation than intermediate distances. Hypotheses, tested on a large sample of university biomedical research scientists, are largely supported.

Changing the Exchange The Dynamics of Knowledge Worker Ego Networks

Knowledge creation is a collective and social activity, and a large body of research has established that knowledge creation by researchers (knowledge workers) is influenced by their direct exchange partners. We examine why knowledge worker ego networks are structured as they are, but also why and how knowledge worker networks change over time. We examine two changes to knowledge workers’ ego networks: the addition of new direct exchange partners and the deletion of existing direct exchange partners. Our study offers important evidence that two network dimensions (tie strength between ego and his or her alters, and the level of connectivity among ego’s alters) provide distinctive insight into how networks change. Importantly, our study provides evidence that three critical components of the knowledge creation process—access to diverse and redundant resources, shared experiences and tacit mutual understanding to develop the resources, and previous knowledge creations—act as causal mechanisms behind network changes in subsequent periods. Our study is at the individual level as we study biomedical research scientists and their direct exchange partners—the others to whom they are directly connected through coauthorship.

Sexual Harassment: Have We Made Any Progress?

Sexual harassment (SH) is a continuing, chronic occupational health problem in organizations and work environments. First addressed in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology through a 1998 Special Section on Sexual Harassment, we return to this consequential issue. If the goal is to reduce SH in organizations, and we believe that it should be, then a key question is whether we have made progress in 2 decades. The answer is mixed. Yes, there is a 28% decline in SH complaints. No, there is an increase in complaints by males. No, there has been an increase in the percentage of merit resolutions and monetary benefits. Maybe, because how do we explain the complexity of SH with emergent gay, lesbian, and transgender workforce members. One persistent problematic aspect of SH lack of agreement on definition. We address 2 of the 3 definitional approaches. We consider the broad, negative consequences for organizations and for individual victims. Harassers and aggressors destroy lives, leaving long legacies of suffering. In addition, we offer some suggestions for moving forward in science and practice, with emphasis on the role of the bystander. We conclude that SH is a preventable, if not always predictable, occupational health problem.

The Determinants of Voluntary Disclosures in R&D Alliances

We examine R&D alliance signaling through the lens of voluntary disclosures. Voluntary disclosure occurs when a firm reveals more information than that which is legally mandated and provides extern...