The Process of Knowledge Exchange - a Case Study of a Project‐based Organization

Abstract

Due to increasingly fast changing markets, there is a need for an efficient knowledge transfer within organizations in order for them to stay competitive. This study regards knowledge transfer as a part of the on-going process of knowledge exchange, in which application and development of the transferred knowledge also are included. The process of knowledge exchange in project-based organizations has been neglected within the research field, even though this organizational form is becoming increasingly common, and furthermore holds specific characteristics. Therefore, this thesis aims to develop a better understanding of how the process of knowledge exchange in project-based organizations is influenced by these characteristics. To do this, a research question regarding how knowledge exchange is enabled and prevented in a project-based organization, compared to in a traditional organization, has been answered through a case study. Five project managers in one organization have been interviewed in-depth. The findings show that several of the factors that previous research has shown to influence the knowledge exchange in traditional organizations, including lack of time, social interaction, individuals’ willingness and ability to exchange knowledge and the corporate culture, also have an influence on the exchange in a project-based organization. However, the characteristics of the projectbased organization appear to have an influence on how the factors affect the knowledge exchange. For example, the influence of the lack of time as an obstacle, and the social interaction as an enabler, was shown to be enhanced as a consequence of these characteristics.