Contextualized Relationship Between Knowledge Sharing and Performance in Software Development

Abstract

We study how the knowledge that software developers receive from other software developers in their company impacts their performance. We also study the boundary conditions of this relationship. The results of our empirical study indicate that receiving knowledge from other software developers in the company is positively related to the performance of the knowledge-receiving software developers. Moreover, this relationship was stronger when the software developers had high rather than low task autonomy, when they had high- rather than low-quality social exchanges with their supervisors, and when the software development firms used formal knowledge utilization processes. Theoretically, these results contribute to a better understanding of the processes through which software developers utilize the knowledge that they receive from their peers in the firm. Practically, they show software development firms how emphasizing the task, social, and institutional dimensions of the software development process can help them increase knowledge utilization and performance in software development.

Key words and phrases::

• knowledge sharing
• software developers
• software development
• software-development performance
• systems design and implementation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Muammer Ozer

Muammer Ozer is a professor of management and director of the Doctor of Business Administration program at the City University of Hong Kong. He received his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh. His current research interests include the software development process, innovation management, and knowledge management. His work has appeared in journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology and Strategic Management Journal.

Doug Vogel

Doug Vogel is chief academic director of Management Science and Engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology in China. Previously, he was chair professor of information systems at the City University of Hong Kong. He received his Ph.D. in information systems from the University of Minnesota. He is a fellow and former president of the Association for Information Systems. His current research interests include mobile devices, virtual world support, and educational systems. His work has appeared in journals as such Journal of Management Information Systems and MIS Quarterly.