Knowledge Transfer Quality Model Implementation - An Empirical Study in Product Engineering Contexts

Abstract

Employee turnover, especially of experienced employees, is a constant challenge for companies as they are confronted with a loss of knowledge which they must compensate for. This leads to an accepted need to successfully transfer knowledge. Knowledge transfer has been reviewed in literature by multiple disciplines, whereas this paper focuses on a product engineering context. In this context, empirical research results show that knowledge transfer situations, e.g., communication of complex product specifications, can be improved regarding the speed of knowledge transfers by so-called interventions. Based on those findings, the quality of knowledge transfers is investigated further. Velocity-dependent, as well as quality-dependent interventions, are summarized in an intervention catalog. Whereas the effect of those velocity-dependent interventions has been investigated in empirical studies, the quality-dependent interventions have not yet been implemented in an industrial setting. This paper, therefore, describes the design and results of a workshop with experts from the area of knowledge management as well as from product development of universities and companies. The workshop was used to validate previously developed interventions and further add quality-dependent interventions. Further, the implementation of selected interventions in a product engineering context, using a Live-Lab as a research environment, is presented. The interventions intend to improve the quality of knowledge transfers in specific knowledge transfer situations. As this is validated by an empirical implementation study, the validity of this approach is justified.