A power perspective to interunit knowledge transfer: Linking knowledge attributes to unit power and the transfer of knowledge

This research investigates whether unit power affects interunit knowledge transfer. We propose that units are more likely to transfer their knowledge to other units with more critical, nonsubstitutable, and central knowledge because the latter have greater unit power upon the former. Findings from two firms reveal that differences in knowledge criticality and nonsubstitutability predict the degree of power one unit has upon another. However, only findings from one firm supported the mediating effect of unit power on knowledge transfer from a source to a seeker, suggesting that the role of unit power in affecting interunit knowledge transfer may be contingent on the degree of goal interdependence among units.