Not All Knowledge-Sharing Inclinations are the Same : Effect of Proximity in Corporate Online Communities

An increasing number of companies are launching corporate online communities to facilitate knowledge sharing among employees. Although the online environment erases spatial distance and deemphasizes differences in employees’ organizational attributes (e.g., work location and job function), we propose that proximity between employees continues to influence knowledge sharing online. We obtain a unique dataset from a large corporate question-and-answer community. Using a potential-dyads approach and a quasi-experimental design, we show robust and causal evidence that supports our hypotheses: a knowledge provider is significantly more inclined to respond to knowledge seekers who work at the provider’s location (i.e., same-work-location seekers) and to seekers who share the provider’s job function (i.e., same-job-function seekers) than to seekers who do not share either of the provider’s attributes. We further show that different motivations drive the effects of work-location and job-function proximity. Specifically, when responding to same-work-location knowledge seekers, providers use the personal pronoun “we” more often, reflecting a stronger desire to show ingroup identity; when responding to same-job-function seekers, providers exert greater effort, reflecting stronger willingness to facilitate knowledge sharing. Also, sharing knowledge with same-work-location seekers (but not with same-job-function seekers) comes with an increased likelihood of two positive outcomes: receiving a virtual “best answer” badge in the community and earning a career promotion in the company. This finding supports our theory that ingroup favoritism, with associated expectations for reciprocal benefits, plays a role in the effect of work-location proximity on knowledge sharing. Our results offer a better understanding of knowledge sharing in corporate online communities and deliver important managerial implications