1. Managing Effective
Knowledge Transfer
An integrative framework and
some practice implications.
Examine options for a web-
based discussion forum and an
ideas bank.

2. Objectives
• Investigate “soft” issues (i.e. trust, attitude,
teamwork, coherence, etc.) that’ll lead to
increased sharing and idea generation
• Identify Information Technology
hardware/software required to facilitate
and capture learning successfully (i.e. web
based discussion forum)

3. Knowledge transfer: key dimension of a
learning organisation
Learning occurs when knowledge in one
part of an organisation is transferred
effectively to other parts and used to used
to solve problems there or to provide new
and creative insights.

4. Tapping Tacit Knowledge
“Ultimately, knowledge and best
practices are in people’s heads. The
behavioural aspects of the system are
therefore more important than its
architecture”

5. Support Structures
• Another important factor in knowledge transfer is
an appropriate infrastructure to reinforce and
support it. Breaking down hierarchies in the
organisation enables knowledge transfer
(Nonaka,1994).
• Organisations that maintain hierarchical levels
and silos will not encourage it.
• Knowledge in such organisations frequently
becomes “sticky”, that is, residing in one area or
silo and not easily moved to other parts of the
organisation (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1998).

6. Possible Solutions
• A solution is to develop horizontal
communication flows, which goes beyond using
technology.
• One approach is to encourage cross-functional
teams and teamwork in the organisation.
• A company can design tasks that require cross-
functional collaboration to succeed.
• This forces individuals and groups away from
the silo mentality and to begin learning to
communicate horizontally.

7. Possible Solutions (cont
• Another organisational support structure is a
reward system.
• Bartlett & Ghoshal (1998) suggest that one way
to encourage knowledge transfer is to base
rewards to groups on more than solely financial
success; rewarding only financial success tends
to encourage competition and lack of sharing.
• Measurement and reward systems that favour a
more balanced “scorecard” that takes into
account collaboration and the sharing of best
practices can play a critical role in encouraging
knowledge transfer.

8. Possible Solutions (cont
• The key is to establish new processes that
reward and encourage horizontal
communication and the sharing of information in
the organisation (Davenport and Prusak, 1998)
• Time is also a factor. Increased horizontal
communication can take many forms and may
take time to accomplish.
• Appropriate structures and processes may be
put in place but employees need an opportunity
to use them.
• The organisation needs to free up time for them
to engage in such activities.

9. Possible Solutions (cont
• This suggests that the organisation’s
design, the structure of the reward system
and the availability of time as a resource
can give further impetus to effective
knowledge transfer.

10. High Level IT Block Diagram
All users connected to the LAN
receive an email to initialise
discussion around specific
topic Once the email is
activated, users enter a
discussion space on the
Intranet to exchange
ideas
Server hosting applications
for: IE, Blogs and Wikis
A database of views
exchanged about all
topics is created and is
searchable for future
reference
Topics for discussion
can only be changed by
the process champion

11. Detailed Description of the
Functionality
• A discussion forum based on a specific management
challenge or problem is posted on the Intranet
• All the user id’s connected to the LAN, will receive an
email with a link to the discussion space on the Intranet
• Users will exchange views and ideas around a specific
topic and the results will be captured into a database for
future reference
• Each user will have a unique id on the discussion forum
• The results of the discussions are posted in real time
and can be viewed by all users connected on the forum

12. Conclusion
• American Productivity and Quality Centre conducted its
four, knowledge-management consortium benchmarking
studies from 1995 to 1998.
• Each of these studies provides a unique chance to
“peek” behind the scenes of KM at some of the early
work, experimentation and success stories.
• The methodology presented here reflects the lessons
learned from these knowledge management studies and
experience of working with organisations to design
knowledge management and transfer projects.