Enterprise social network for knowledge sharing in MNCs: Examining the role of knowledge contributors and knowledge seekers for cross-country collaboration

Online social networking within a large enterprise, known as enterprise social networking (ESN), is a critical requirement for social relationships and business-related informal discussions among its employees. ESN is important for multinational companies (MNCs) where employees work in different time zones in geographically dispersed locations in multiple continents. The MNCs use the ESN for their knowledge management and transfer activities among different subsidiaries in different countries or continents as a part of their strategic internationalization initiatives. ESN is developed by MNCs using enterprise social software for business or commercial knowledge management purposes and cross-country collaborations among their subsidiaries. ESN helps cross-country collaboration in MNCs to organize their internal communication (across different countries) and business discussions in an international environment. ESN is used mainly by two groups of employees in the MNCs: knowledge contributors and knowledge seekers. Both groups are essential for overall knowledge management strategy for creation, dissemination, and consumption of knowledge across countries. In this context, the purpose of this study is to examine the role of knowledge contributors and knowledge seekers in the MNCs using ESN for cross-country collaboration.