The penetration of mobile social media has given birth to various online collective spaces (OCSs) within cross-functional project teams (CFPTs), which have significantly transformed knowledge sharing (KS) practice. While existing literature has endeavored a lot on KS factors within CFPTs, our understanding of KS in OCSs is limited, thus constituting the central of the present study.
Centering on communication visibility, the core feature of KS in OCSs, this study combines social power theory and knowledge governance theory to shed light on the influence of two agents, i.e. members in the OCS and the project team. Data were collected by administering a questionnaire survey to 205 project team members in China. Ordinary least squares regression and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) techniques are used to analyze the data.
The ordinary least squares (OLS) regression results suggest that expert power of oneself, formal knowledge governance mechanism (KGM) and group size positively influence both KS quantity and quality. Besides, hierarchical distance is found to negatively influence KS quantity, and informal KGM is found to positively affect KS quality. The fuzzy-set QCA results reveal three configurations sufficient for KS quantity and four configurations sufficient for KS quality. Notably, the combination of expert power of oneself, formal and informal KGMs is essential for both KS quantity and quality.
This study provides valuable insights into KS in OCSs by synthesizing multi-level contextual antecedents from multiple theoretical perspectives. The results of OLS regression and fuzzy-set QCA are discussed, offering a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms impacting KS. Ultimately, this study aims to offer guidance to managers on effectively facilitating KS within the contemporary digital era.
