Knowledge Complexity and the Performance of Inter-Unit Knowledge Transfer Structures

Intra-firm transfer of complex knowledge is critical to firm growth. However, the complexity of knowledge renders this process difficult. The appropriate design of inter-unit structures may help facilitate the transfer of complex knowledge between units. Using an agent-based simulation, we study the knowledge transfer performance of archetypical inter-unit structures at different levels of knowledge complexity by modeling how these structures coordinate the transfer of interdependent knowledge elements and manage information overload. We show that the knowledge transfer performance of decentralized inter-unit structures is less negatively impacted by knowledge complexity than that of centralized inter-unit structures such as boundary spanners. Further, we find that among decentralized structures, the collective bridge structure generates optimal performance at high levels of complexity.