Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how informational faultlines on a board affect the management of knowledge owned by directors and the consequences on organizational performance. In this study, informational faultlines are defined as hypothetical lines that divide a group into relatively homogeneous subgroups based on the alignment of several informational attributes among board members.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses unique hand-collected panel data covering 7,247 board members at 106 publicly traded firms to provide strong support for the hypothesized U-shaped relationship. The authors use a fixed effects approach and a system generalized method of moments approach to test the hypothesis.

Findings

The study finds that the relationship between informational faultlines on a board and organizational performance is U shaped, with the least optimal organizational performance experienced when boards have moderate informational faultlines. More specifically, informational faultlines within boards are negatively related to organizational performance across the weak-to-moderate range of informational faultlines and positively related to organizational performance across the moderate-to-strong range.

Research limitations/implications

By explaining the mechanisms through which informational faultlines are related to organizational performance, the authors contribute to the literature in a number of ways. By conceptualizing how the management of knowledge plays an important role in the particular setting of corporate boards, the authors add not only to literature on knowledge management but also to the faultline and corporate governance literature.

Originality/value

This study offers a rationale for prior mixed findings by providing an alternative theoretical basis to explain the effect of informational faultlines within boards on organizational performance. To advance the field, the authors build on the concept of knowledge demonstrability to illuminate how informational faultlines affect the management of knowledge within boards, which will translate to organizational performance.

中文翻译：

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董事会的知识管理：信息断层的影响

目的

本研究的目的是研究董事会的信息断层如何影响董事所拥有的知识的管理以及对组织绩效的影响。在本研究中，信息断层线被定义为基于董事会成员之间多个信息属性的一致性将一个群体划分为相对同质的子群体的假设线。

设计/方法论/途径

该研究使用了独特的手工收集面板数据，涵盖 106 家上市公司的 7,247 名董事会成员，为假设的U形关系提供了强有力的支持。作者使用固定效应方法和系统广义矩方法来检验假设。

发现

研究发现，董事会信息断层与组织绩效之间的关系呈U形，当董事会存在中等信息断层时，组织绩效最不理想。更具体地说，董事会内的信息断层与弱到中等信息断层范围内的组织绩效呈负相关，而与中度到强范围内的组织绩效正相关。

研究局限性/影响

通过解释信息断层与组织绩效相关的机制，作者以多种方式为文献做出了贡献。通过概念化知识管理如何在公司董事会的特定环境中发挥重要作用，作者不仅补充了有关知识管理的文献，还补充了断层线和公司治理文献。

原创性/价值

这项研究通过提供另一种理论基础来解释董事会内信息断层对组织绩效的影响，为先前的混合研究结果提供了理论基础。为了推动这一领域的发展，作者以知识可论证性的概念为基础，阐明信息断层如何影响董事会内的知识管理，从而转化为组织绩效。