Does serendipity matter in knowledge management? Organizational sharing and use of encountered information

Purpose This study investigated the moderating effect of organizational knowledge management performance on the sharing and use of information encountered by serendipity within the organization. Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed 274 medical librarians from the top 100 medical schools. Findings Individual information encountering predicted information encountering at work, which, in turn, predicted organizational sharing of encountered information. When the propensity to encounter information was high, then organizational knowledge management performance moderated the effect between organizational encountering and organizational sharing of information. Encountered information at work was only present when high organizational knowledge management performance was in place. Research limitations/implications This finding helps information behavior researchers discover the transfer of behaviors from everyday life to organizational environments. Practical implications It shows the need for greater support for information encounterers at work and the role of knowledge management, which may enhance their contribution to the organizational objectives. Originality/value Information encountering involves finding information by chance. Studies on information encountering have not focused on work settings and if the individual propensity to encounter information translates to organizational settings. Also, the relationship between information encountering and organizational knowledge management has not been studied so far.