IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

Abstract

The ability to create, utilise, transfer and protect knowledge is a source for sustaining competitive advantage. The augmented attention that has been given to knowledge has also lead to an increased organisational focus on strategies and organisational designs that help create new sources of knowledge and ideas. Furthermore, as project organisations aim at accomplishing long-term business strategies through short-term operational projects, the discussion about the importance and meaning of knowledge in projects has become of interest. There are also indications that there is no natural knowledge transfer within a project, and it can be difficult to ensure a transfer of knowledge after the completion of a project. With this in mind, the purpose of this Master Thesis is to create an understanding for how knowledge is transferred within and between projects and how it can be improved. The purpose is to create this understanding from relevant theories and a studied project, and to make recommendations on how to improve knowledge transfer. We have studied an innovation project at Tetra Pak, and the main findings are that the project members rely heavily on direct personal interaction for transferring knowledge. IT and databases are not used to their full potential. Furthermore, the project lacks a strategy for knowledge transfer. As a result, the main recommendation is to determine a knowledge management strategy, preferably one that focuses on transferring tacit knowledge. By determining a strategy, it will become easier to pinpoint areas of improvement. Besides the given recommendations, a more general conclusion is provided, which is in line with the recommendations, though not Tetra Pak specific.