The role of business and social ties in organizational knowledge sharing: A case study of a financial institution

This thesis is built on the assumption that organizations are in important respect social networks, whereby knowledge is socially constructed and shared. Social network analysis (SNA) was employed to investigate the strength of inter-unit ties among twenty two units within a financial organization. The association of these ties with the sharing of different types of knowledge was measured by a specifically created and developed web survey that was provided to twenty two units in the organization.; Multiple Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure (MRQAP) was used to examine two main questions and hypothesis. First and foremost, was to determine if there were associations between the strength of business and social ties and the sharing of different types of knowledge, i.e. public (noncodified vs. codified) and private (noncodified vs. codified). Second, to establish which of the two dimensions of strength---closeness of a relationship, or the frequency of interaction---served as a stronger predictor for sharing of the four different kinds of knowledge the thesis delineated.; Results showed that the strength of the business relationships rather than the strength of the social relationships contributed most significantly to the sharing of public and private knowledge in this organization. Specifically, the frequency of business interactions predicted the sharing of public noncodified knowledge, while the closeness of the business relationship predicted the sharing of private noncodified knowledge and the sharing of public codified knowledge. Curiously, neither business nor social ties predicted the sharing of private codified knowledge. The results also indicated that closeness of ties is a stronger predictor for sharing of more kinds of knowledge than frequency of interaction.; By using new variable configuration and dichotomies for tie strength and knowledge types, the thesis generated new insights concerning the effects of tie strength on knowledge sharing.