The Effect of a System for Sharing Best Practices Within Pre-Existing Peer Networks

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Li, Shelley Xin; Sandino, Tatiana
• 署名单位: University of Southern California; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2023.00990
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: information sharing systems; management control; best practices; decision facilitation; Natural field experiment; peer networks; enterprise social networks (ESNs); Knowledge transfer; Information overload

摘要

Peer networks, such as enterprise social networks (ESNs), can facilitate knowledge transfer across employees. However, such systems can also lead to information overload or difficulty in finding useful information. We examine data from a natural field experiment where a retailer introduced a system for sharing best practices (SSBP) in an existing online peer network, a control mechanism that enables easy access to well-organized best practices from high-performing units. The SSBP did not have a significant immediate or average effect on sales, however it significantly increased the sales trends of the stores where it was implemented. Sales improvement was greatest in stores that (a) perceived higher information overload from the online peer network before the intervention, or (b) had lower exposure to offline peers. The SSBP led to an increase, rather than decrease, of voluntary interstore knowledge sharing in the online peer network. These findings shed light on how a formal mechanism for sharing best practices can enhance the decision-facilitating role of relevant information without discouraging spontaneous knowledge sharing within the existing peer networks.