This thesis investigates the complex nature of knowledge transfer during membership changes in IT consultancy projects. Consultancy firms face the challenge of allocating employees flexibly across projects of varying durations and demands, further complicated by factors such as employee turnover, sick leaves, leaves of absence and personal motivations.
Purposeful and effective management of projects and the knowledge related to it is crucial to ensure consultants can deliver results from start to finish despite the fluctuating team composition. The research is based on literature combined with qualitative interpretive methods, utilizing semi-structured interviews with employ-ees from a single IT consultancy company. Thematic analysis of the data identifies key personal and organizational capabilities and challenges related to knowledge transfer, which are then aligned with a novel proposed theoretical framework derived from literature and empirical insights.
Findings reveal that successful knowledge transfer depends on a combination of factors, involving the individual participants, organizational capabilities, and the specific context of each project. These factors vary in relevance at different stages of the knowledge transfer process. Without formal structures, the success of knowledge transfer relies heavily on the experiences and communication between individual employees joining and leaving the project team, and this leaves critical parts of the process practically to chance from an organizational perspective. Unsuc-cessful knowledge transfer can lead to uncertainty, friction, and a weakened team cohesion as well as knowledge loss for the project and organization.
The proposed framework outlines a process structured on time phases and the contributing factors over these phases. This can potentially work as a managerial tool to enhance awareness of the elements at play and categorize them for better improvement efforts. It aims to guide organizational and individual actions to facilitate more effective knowledge transfer and improve project outcomes. This thesis contributes to the limited research done in (IT) consulting industry regarding membership change and knowledge transfer processes, and through developing a KT framework synthesizes different theories and research directions to structure factors and challenges relevant to consulting project teams regarding knowledge transfer.
