Knowledge sharing is of great importance for many of the companies today (Spender and Grant, 1996) and been a hot topic amongst researchers in the field of business and organization science (Alvesson and Karreman, 2001). Previous researches have been focusing on; the construction of good knowledge management systems, the general challenges of knowledge sharing including from a psychology perspective, increasing motivation to share knowledge etc. (Hahn and Subramani, 2000; Hung et. al, 2011). However, less research has been done on knowledge sharing between the organization and an acquired company specialized in a different area of knowledge (Gammelgaard et. al., 2004).  Hence, the objective of this thesis is to study the arising knowledge sharing challenges during an acquisition and whether reward system can be utilized to motivate the employees to overcome these challenges by encouraging them to engage in knowledge sharing activities.   In order to conduct this study, a case of a mid-sized consultant company with approximately 600 employees acquiring another smaller consultant company in a different field of knowledge with approximately 200 employees was used. Interviews were conducted with chosen people from both companies, amongst them were both CEOs and consultants. From the findings made from the interviews, the following conclusions were drawn. The identified challenges, which arose during the acquisition, were not dividing the company, communication, motivation and the use of terminology. In addition, although reward systems would increase employees’ motivation to engage in knowledge sharing activities, in the short-term, it should be avoided since it does not influence the long-term motivation. Intrinsic motivation was found to have the best long-term effect when coupled with the culture of the organization.

The thesis focuses on the methods of assessment of synergy effects in a consolidated entity. The text includes a assessment of economic situation of the consolidated unit and analyzes a draft set of economic indicators suitable for assessing of synergy effect. Synergy effect is monitored in several selected areas through a comparison between the consolidated unit and the mother company. Results of the analysis of the draft indicators are assessed to determine whether synergies were achieved after the acquisition.