This study investigates how intraorganizational search behavior of R&D professionals is shaped by the organizational design for task collaboration between R&D units. More precisely, we examine how formally prescribed R&D unit task collaboration and the distinct roles of R&D units as recipients and sources in such collaboration affect how intensively unit members search for advice and knowledge. To this end, we integrate theoretical mechanisms from knowledge search and organizational design literatures into models explaining the emergence of work-related advice networks among employees in corporate R&D. Empirically, we capture the influence of unit-level task collaboration on individual-level search by applying exponential random graph modelling to multilevel network data collected on 193 employees belonging to 38 R&D units in a leading German high-tech firm. Results show that the extent to which R&D units function as recipients in unit task collaboration on the one hand and as sources on the other influences unit members’ search intensity in opposite ways. Members of units functioning as recipients for many other units search less intensively, i.e., there is a substitution effect. Conversely, if R&D units are sources for many other units, their members search more intensively. The latter complementarity effect is weaker for R&D units that are specialized on a particular product component.

这项研究调查了研发专业人员的组织内搜索行为是如何通过研发部门之间的任务协作的组织设计来塑造的。更准确地说，我们研究了正式规定的R＆D单位任务协作以及R＆D单位在此类协作中作为接收者和来源的独特作用如何影响单位成员对建议和知识的密集搜索。为此，我们将来自知识搜索和组织设计文献的理论机制整合到了模型中，这些模型解释了企业研发部门员工之间与工作相关的咨询网络的出现。根据经验，我们通过将指数随机图模型应用于从属于38个R＆R的193名员工收集的多级网络数据，来捕获单元级任务协作对个人级搜索的影响 德国领先的高科技公司的D部门。结果表明，R＆D部门一方面在单位任务协作中充当接收者，另一方面又作为来源的程度以相反的方式影响着单位成员的搜索强度。充当其他许多单元的接收者的单元成员的搜索强度降低，即存在替代效果。相反，如果R＆D单位是许多其他单位的来源，则其成员的搜索更加密集。对于专门针对特定产品组件的研发部门而言，后者的互补效应较弱。充当其他许多单元的接收者的单元成员的搜索强度降低，即存在替代效果。相反，如果R＆D单位是许多其他单位的来源，则其成员的搜索更加密集。对于专门针对特定产品组件的研发部门而言，后者的互补效应较弱。充当其他许多单元的接收者的单元成员的搜索强度降低，即存在替代效果。相反，如果R＆D单位是许多其他单位的来源，则其成员的搜索更加密集。对于专门针对特定产品组件的研发部门而言，后者的互补效应较弱。