Determinants of successful knowledge transfer: Unveiling social exchange theory insights on knowledge velocity and viscosity in enterprises

Corporate knowledge becomes enterprise strategic resources for sustaining corporate competitiveness by transferring irreplaceable diversified knowledge among employees. One key challenge for enterprises is to ensure that employees mutually and effectively share knowledge. This study integrates a social exchange perspective to understand key factors conducive to successful knowledge transfer in two dimensions: velocity and viscosity. Three key construct areas are examined for influence on the two dependent variables: micro levels (individual and group), macro level (organizational), and knowledge factors. 225 knowledge management system users in 15 companies were surveyed. A path analysis was used to validate 17 proposed hypotheses, with four major findings reported as results: 1) all eight predictive factors exhibited significant influence on both dependent variables; 2) measures of both dependent variables persistently increased with positive influence from common factors of articulability, incentives and training; 3) the organization must consider differential effects of knowledge, individuality, and organization on the two dependent variables; and 4) some factors potentially negatively affect dependent variables. For example, excessive interaction may decrease velocity, while employees with high perceived self-efficacy may decrease velocity and viscosity.