Enacting knowledge strategy through social media: Passable trust and the paradox of nonwork interactions

Tsedal B. Neeley and Paul M. Leonardi

Strategic Management Journal, 2018, vol. 39, issue 3, 922-946

Abstract: Research Summary: Despite the recognition that knowledge sharing among employees is necessary to enact knowledge strategy, little is known about how to enable such sharing. Recent research suggests that social media may promote knowledge sharing because they allow social lubrication and the formation of trust. Our longitudinal and comparative analysis of social media usage at two large firms indicates that users who participate in nonwork interactions on social media catalyze a cycle of curiosity and passable trust that enables them to connect and share knowledge. Paradoxically, the very nonwork‐related content that attracts users to social media and shapes passable trust can become a source of tension, thwarting a firm's ability to encapsulate knowledge in the form of routines and to use it to enact its strategy. Managerial Summary: Integrating knowledge from across a firm is a critical source of competitive advantage. Firms are increasingly implementing internal social media sites to promote knowledge sharing among their employees. Our analysis indicates that employees’ curiosity about nonwork‐related and work‐related interactions motivate them to use the sites. The integration of nonwork and work content allows employees to identify people with valuable knowledge, and gauge the passable trust that they need to share knowledge on the sites or offline. Paradoxically, the nonwork‐related content that attracts users to the sites can become a source of tension, thwarting the production of knowledge to enact firms’ knowledge‐based strategies. To foster work‐related knowledge sharing, managers should accommodate nonwork‐related interactions on social media.

Date: 2018
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