Interpersonal knowledge exchange in China: The impact of guanxi and social media

Robert M. Davison; Carol X.J. Ou; Maris G. Martinsons

doi:10.1016/j.im.2017.05.008

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Detail(s)

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	224-234
Journal / Publication	Information & Management
Volume	55
Issue number	2
Online published	9 Jun 2017
Publication status	Published - Mar 2018

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DOI	DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2017.05.008 Final Published version
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Attachment(s)	Documents 19924447.pdf Post-print, 406 KB, PDF Publisher's Copyright Statement COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Link to Scopus	https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85020376606&origin=recordpage
Permanent Link	https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/publications/publication(eb921bf7-d28f-4660-911d-acbcad1a1aec).html

Abstract

The employees of professional service firms regularly engage in various knowledge-related activities, including the seeking and sharing of knowledge with other people; we refer to this process as interpersonal knowledge exchange (IKE). Two prominent drivers of IKE in China are the socio-cultural concept of guanxi and social media. We conduct an interpretive investigation into IKE, collecting qualitative data from employees in three Chinese organizations. We explore how guanxi lubricates the social media-based communication practices that are central to IKE in China. We report and generalise our findings into theoretical propositions, discuss the practical implications, and identify opportunities for future research.