Facts and Figuring: An Experimental Investigation of Network Structure and Performance in Information and Solution Spaces

Knowledge work in organizations, by definition, leverages contributions of many individuals to solve problems too complex for a single individual to tackle alone (e.g., Argote, McEvily, and Reagans, 2003). In organizations, such problem solving occurs not just at the individual level but also at the organizational level, expertise therefore becomes the core organizational asset, and superior answers (rather than, for example, superior production) define organizational performance (Winch and Schneider, 1993; Nickerson and Zenger, 2004). The proliferation of knowledge work has produced a mandate to understand the conditions under which successful integration of intra-organizational knowledge will best enable advanced problem solving and higher performance. However, although much has been written about organizational knowledge and problem solving, our understanding of how to optimize problem solving in knowledge-based organizations remains limited.