Contingent Role of Knowledge Self-Efficacy Distribution on Diffusion of Knowledge in Peer-To-Peer Networks: An Agent-Based Approach

Peer-to-peer (P2P) designs of knowledge management systems have been extensively utilized by organizations to facilitate knowledge diffusion. The dominant simulation-based research in this area usually assumes that knowledge seeking and sharing happen homogeneously such that: a) individuals ask question as soon as they lack knowledge, b) individuals from whom knowledge is sought answer if they have required knowledge, and c) these rules applies to all individuals in the focal knowledge community. This study, relying on self-efficacy theory, relaxes these assumptions and investigates knowledge diffusion under different knowledge self-efficacy distributions. We also examine the interacting effect of knowledge self-efficacy distribution and reputation signals (as a previously emphasized structural feature of P2P networks). Generally, results of this study indicate that P2P communities that have higher proportion of individuals with “moderate-level” knowledge self-efficacy exhibit a greater amount of knowledge diffusion. However, this effect is attenuated in conditions where inferior reputation mechanisms are used.