THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP IN TACIT KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IN THE NIGERIAN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY.

Abstract

The oil and gas industries are knowledge driven industry. The technology deployed in deep water exploration and production involve knowledge-intensive process by highly technical personnel. The problem was that the leadership of the oil and gas industries have not necessitated early recovery of tacit knowledge transfer from experts to employees managing the plant operations. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain an understanding of how oil and gas industry leaders in Nigeria facilitate the transfer of tacit knowledge from experts to employees managing the plant after exploration activities. The conceptual framework was the socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization model developed by Nonaka and Takeuchi and Burns’ transformational leadership theory. A qualitative multiple case study design was used by adopting multiple sources of information including semi-structured interviews, field notes, and review of organizational documents. The unit of analysis was leaders in an oil and gas services organization. The data analysis processes involved coding of the data, categorizing the coded data, and subsequently generating themes in line with the research question using NVivo Version 12 software. Findings indicated that leaders facilitated the transfer of tacit knowledge through the creation of a safe working environment and demonstration of care for the employees. The opportunity to facilitate the transfer of tacit knowledge from expert to employees managing operations after exploration enhance the organization’s stability and promotes healthy communities. Keywords– Knowledge-Transfer, Leadership Style, Oil and Gas Industry