ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the pattern of technological communication flow in the research organization with a new measurement approach. It focuses on multiple regression models that use more appropriate measurements of communication frequencies. The chapter outlines threefold: the finding of the three-step flow of communication, the new estimation approach to communication studies in the organization, and the development of a new knowledge management model supported by empirical tests. Oral communication is an important medium by which information and new ideas are transmitted across and within organizations. The chapter suggests that the role of gatekeepers should be examined critically in research and development (R&D) organizations. The scarcity of special capability among organization members accounts for an inverse relation between extra-organizational communication and R&D performance found by several studies. Knowledge transformers capable of transforming external information into organization specific knowledge consistent with its routines are likely to be internal communication stars in R&D organizations with high performance.
