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Despite the proliferation of Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) platforms, such as WhatsApp, studies that examine their role for learning and knowledge sharing are still rare. Using the context of global health, this study seeks to examine the ways in which MIM platforms are being used for learning and knowledge sharing and identify associated potentials and constraints. A survey with open- and closed-ended questions was administered and the experience of 40 respondents from 44 different project settings was gathered and analyzed. The findings indicate that MIM, and particularly WhatsApp, are used in a boundary-crossing manner, i.e., involving various groups of health professionals, students, and patients from across a range of low-income countries, particularly from Sub-Saharan Africa. MIM platforms are used in informal learning settings for knowledge creation and sharing, supervision, enacting social presence and collaborative problem solving, and for the support of formal education. In addition to enhancing communication efficiency and responsiveness, MIM was also used to bridge geographical (e.g., central-local and urban-rural) and social divides (e.g., professional rankings). Despite technical and socio-behavioral constraints, the use of MIM was reported to significantly benefit distributed global health work and to enhance learning and knowledge sharing in "distributed" networks of practice.

Although scholars and practitioners have repeatedly touted the importance of negotiating effectively across cultures, paradoxically, little research has addressed what predicts intercultural negotiation effectiveness. In this research, we examined the impact of cultural intelligence (CQ) on intercultural negotiation processes and outcomes, controlling for other types of intelligence (cognitive ability and emotional intelligence), personality (openness and extraversion), and international experience. Transcripts of 124 American and East Asian negotiators were coded for sequences of integrative information behaviors and cooperative relationship management behaviors. CQ measured a week prior to negotiations predicted the extent to which negotiators sequenced integrative information behaviors, which in turn predicted joint profit, over and beyond other individual differences. Additional analyses revealed that the level of integrative sequencing was more a function of the lower-scoring than the higher-scoring negotiator within the dyad. Other individual difference characteristics were not related to effective intercultural negotiation processes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (Contains 7 tables.)