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Helping as Mundane Knowledge Sharing: Do Bundled Help Request and Quiet Time Increase Performance?

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  • Philipp A. W. Käser

    (University of Zürich, Department of Business Administration, Universitätsstrasse 84, 8006 Zürich, Switzerland)

  • Cornelius J. König

    (Saarland University, Department of Psychology, Campus A1 3, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany)

  • Urs Fischbacher

    (University of Konstanz, Department of Economics, Box D-131, 78457 Konstanz, Germany;
    Thurgau Institute of Economics, Hauptstrasse 190, 8280 Kreuzlingen, Switzerland)

  • Martin Kleinmann

    (University of Zürich, Department of Psychology, Binzmühlestrasse 14/12, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland)

Abstract

On a daily level, knowledge is shared when one employee asks another for help. The positive effects of helping have been studied, but less is known about how helping can be made more efficient in terms of lowering the costs for the helpers. We investigated how two methods to channel knowledge sharing (bundled help requests and quiet time) affect helping efficiency. Bundling means that help requesters first collect some requests before asking; quiet time means that an organization defines time spans during which its employees must not interrupt and ask one another for help. We conducted a laboratory experiment and found that bundling increased the efficiency of helping, thereby increasing the combined performance of the helper and the help requester. Quiet time, however, decreased their combined performance. We discuss the implications of our findings for knowledge management research and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Philipp A. W. Käser & Cornelius J. König & Urs Fischbacher & Martin Kleinmann, 2014. "Helping as Mundane Knowledge Sharing: Do Bundled Help Request and Quiet Time Increase Performance?," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(03), pages 1-10.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:jikmxx:v:13:y:2014:i:03:n:s0219649214500257
    DOI: 10.1142/S0219649214500257
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