Knowledge transfer between groups via personnel rotation: Effects of social identity and knowledge quality q Aime´e A. Kane a, * , Linda Argote b , John M. Levine c a Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, United States b David A. Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, United States c Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, United States Received 30 May 2002 Available online 5 November 2004 Abstract The study examines the effects of social identity and knowledge quality on knowledge transfer across groups. One hundred and forty-four students performed a production task in three-person groups. Midway through the task, a member from a different group rotated into each group. The primary dependent variable was whether the group adopted the production routine of the rotating member. Analyses revealed the predicted main and interactive effects. Groups were more likely to adopt the routine of a rotator when they shared a superordinate social identity with that member than when they did not. Groups were also more likely to adopt a routine from a rotator when it was superior than when it was inferior to their own. Further, superordinate groups adopted the production routine of the rotator when it was superior but not inferior to their own, whereas groups that did not share a superor- dinate identity with the rotator generally did not adopt the rotatorÕs production routine, even when it was superior to their own and would have improved their performance. Ó 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Knowledge transfer; Social identity; Group performance; Groups; Superordinate goals; Personnel rotation; Newcomers; Group learning Knowledge transfer is the process by which one unit of an organization, such as a group or department, is af- fected by the experience of another (Argote & Ingram, 2000). Organizations adept at knowledge transfer have been found to be more productive and more apt to sur- vive than counterparts less adept at knowledge transfer (Argote, Beckman, & Epple, 1990; Baum & Ingram, 1998; Darr, Argote, & Epple, 1995). Knowledge transfer is particularly important for organizations as they be- come global in order to capitalize on differential labor costs, expertise, and access to world markets. Other cur- rent business trends that point to the importance of knowledge transfer include the increased use of joint ventures and strategic alliances (Powell, Koput, & SmithDoerr, 1996), the increased frequency of mergers and acquisitions (Haunschild & Miner, 1997), and the greater prevalence of the multiunit organizational form (Greve & Baum, 2001; Ingram & Baum, 1997). Knowledge transfer, however, can be difficult to achieve (Argote, 1999; Szulanski, 2000). For example, a study found that 10 of 32 attempts to transfer knowledge from one manufacturing unit to another within the same organization failed and were terminated www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 96 (2005) 56–71 0749-5978/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2004.09.002 q An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 2002 meeting of the Academy of Management in Denver, CO. We also presented the work at Colombia University, Dartmouth College, New York University, Northwestern University, Rice University, the University of Michigan, the University of Texas, and Washington University. We thank participants in these forums, the Editor, and the reviewers for their very helpful comments. We are grateful to Nina Verma and Maria Simos for helping to collect the data for this study. We also thank the National Science Foundation (Grant No. SES-0241949) and the Center for Organizational Learning at Carnegie Mellon University for their support. * Corresponding author. Fax: +1 212-995-4375. E-mail address: akane@stern.nyu.edu (A.A. Kane).