Organisationer är beroende av medarbetarnas unika kunskap vilket även har kommit att betraktas som den viktigaste strategiska resursen. Kunskap är även betydelsefullt för organisationers framgång och konkurrenskraftighet. För att bibehålla konkurrensfördelar är det av vikt att skapa framgångsrika lärtillfällen som främjar både individuellt och kollektivt lärande. Den här undersökningen syftar till att beskriva och analysera hur kollektivt lärande uppstår samt ledarskapets betydelse för det kollektiva lärandet. Den teoretiska referensramen utgår från teorier om vilka förutsättningar som behövs för ett kollektivt lärande samt ledarskapets betydelse. Undersökningens empiri har inhämtats genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre medarbetare och tre ledare på en utvecklingsavdelning vid en statlig myndighet i Mellansverige. Undersökningens resultat har analyserats mot de teoretiska utgångspunkterna. Undersökningens slutsatser är att kollektivt lärande har potential att uppstå genom dialog och reflektion i gruppmöten, genom nära relationer och via digital dokumentation. De aktiviteter som ledare skapar som har potential för kollektivt lärande är; planerade aktiviteter som avdelningsdagar som möjliggör gemensamma övningar, kunskapsforum och gemensamma luncher. Vidare skapar ledare förutsättningar genom att bygga relationer till sina medarbetare och uppmuntra medarbetarna till samarbete genom att ange samarbete som ett lönekriterium. / Organizations are dependent on the employees' unique knowledge, which has come to be regarded as the most important strategic resource. Knowledge is also important for organizations' success and competitiveness. To maintain competitive advantage, it is important to create successful learning opportunities that encourage both individual and collective learning. This study aims to describe and analyse how collective learning arises and the importance of leadership for collective learning. The theoretical frame is based on theories about what prerequisites are required for collective learning and the importance of leadership. The survey's empirical data has been obtained through semi-structured interviews with three employees and three leaders at a development department at a government agency in central Sweden. The study's results have been analysed in relation to the theoretical frame. The study's conclusions are that collective learning has the potential to arise through dialogue and reflection in group meetings, through close relationships and via digital documentation. The activities that leaders create and have the potential for collective learning are; planned activities such as departmental days that enable joint exercises, knowledge forums and common lunches. Furthermore, leaders create the prerequisites by building relationships with their employees and encouraging employees to collaborate by stating cooperation as a pay criterion.

The globalization of economies and the technology development have both increased opportunities to businesses as well as challenges. Multicultural workforces and other values in the market compared with the home market lead to complexity in the management control when a business establishes abroad. Individuals’ nationalities impact their behaviors and values and it is the management’s task to coordinate the members’ activities in a way that is beneficial for the company. The banking industry is a knowledge-intensive industry, meaning the employee’s knowledge is the bank’s biggest resource. To create organizational knowledge, it is important that the knowledge is shared within the company. Effective knowledge sharing is hard to accomplish in a multicultural company since it is depending on communication between the employees which can be aggravated by cultural differences. The more distant the involved national cultures are, the harder it will be to achieve intercultural communication. The Swedish culture is very different from the Chinese culture. China’s economy has developed fast since it opened up to the world market in the 70’s. Today, several Swedish companies are established in China. The purpose with this study is to examine how the Chinese culture impacts Swedish knowledge-intensive companies established in China and to increase the understanding on how to overcome the cultural barriers that are affecting the managing of knowledge sharing. Cultural clashes can imply risk to a company if they affect the efficiency of the internal processes and must therefore be avoided. This field study was conducted in Shanghai, China at Swedish banks to see how they worked with the cultural differences. Interviews were made with staff of both Chinese and Nordic heritages to see how the cultural differences impacted their operations. The results showed that there are several cultural clashes that affect effective knowledge sharing processes within the companies. The management tries to implement the Swedish way of working in the branches, but the Chinese culture has a strong impact on the communication channels and it creates confusions and misunderstanding between the Nordic and Chinese employees. Cultural understanding and adjustment to the cultural conditions have been shown from earlier researches to reduce cultural clashes. This study supports those arguments by showing that a higher level of intercultural communication leads to increasing cultural understanding and a quicker adjustment to the organization’s way of working. The study also showed that the national culture’s impact on individual behavior was stronger to individuals that have had less foreign exchanges. The study contributes with suggestions of enlightening cultural differences more by formal meetings to increase the cultural understanding within the companies, as well as intercultural team works over department units should be implemented. / Globaliseringen och den tekniska utvecklingen på världsmarknaden har lett till ökade möjligheter för företag likväl som nya utmaningar. Styrningen av företag som expanderat till nya marknader har blivit mer komplex då arbetsstyrkan består av en mängd olika nationaliteter och omgivningen utgår från andra värderingar än hemmarknaden. Individers nationalitet påverkar deras beteenden och värderingar och det är ledningens uppgift att få de anställda att koordinera sina aktiviteter på ett sätt som bäst gynnar företaget. Banksektorn är en kunskapsintensiv industri, vars främsta resurs är de anställdas kunskap. För att skapa en hög kunskapsbas inom företaget är det viktigt att de anställda delar sin kunskap med andra. I ett multikulturellt företag är effektiv kunskapsöverföring svårare att uppnå eftersom kommunikationen mellan anställda påverkas av deras kulturella beteenden och värderingar. Uppdraget blir svårare ju mer de anställdas värderingar skiljer sig från varandra. Den svenska kulturen skiljer sig markant från den kinesiska. Kina är ett land vars ekonomi har fått ett uppsving efter att de öppnade upp gränserna för världsmarknaden på 70-talet. Idag finns det en mängd svenska företag etablerade i Kina. Syftet med examensarbetet är att förklara och öka kunskapen om hur den kinesiska kulturen påverkar svenska företag i Kina som har kunskap som främsta resurs. Kulturella skillnader kan innebära risker för ett företag ifall de påverkar effektiviteten av deras interna processer och kulturella konflikter måste därför undvikas. Examensarbetet utfördes således genom en fältstudie inom svenska banker etablerade i Shanghai, Kina. Intervjuer med personal av både nordiskt och kinesiskt ursprung gjordes för att ta reda på hur kulturella skillnader påverkade och hanterades inom företagen. Resultatet visade att det fanns flera skillnader som utgjorde barriärer för effektiv kunskapsöverföring inom företagen. Ledningen försöker implementera det svenska sättet att arbeta på inom bankerna, men den kinesiska kulturen har ett starkt grepp om hur kommunikationen genomförs och det skapar följaktligen missförstånd mellan nordiska och kinesiska kollegor. Kulturell förståelse och anpassning till kulturella villkor har av tidigare studier visats vara viktigt för att minimera kulturella konflikter. Det här examensarbetet stödjer de argumenten genom att påvisa att en högre mängd av interkulturell kommunikation leder till ökad förståelse för andra kulturers värderingar, vilket i sin tur leder till att de anställda har lättare att anpassa sig till organisationens sätt att arbeta. Studien visade även att påverkan av den kinesiska kulturen var starkare hos individer som hade haft mindre utbyte med nordiska kollegor. Examensarbetet förslår därför att kommunikationen av kulturella skillnader ska synliggöras mer genom formella möten samt att fler interkulturella grupparbeten över divisionsgränserna behöver implementeras för att ge de anställda insikt av kulturella effekter.

Driven by the insight that knowledge is power and, therefore, it is the core element for a company to be successful I examined which strategies enhance knowledge-sharing practices and processes among the HEI’s co-workers in order to create new competitive niches. This is especially important in times of ongoing change at an international level as HEIs seem to be increasingly in competition among one another for funds and students' intake. I based my study on the theoretical framework of Nonaka & Takeuchi’s SECI model of knowledge creation (1995) where, according to the authors, the knowledge-sharing takes place in four modes: socialization, externalization, combination and internalization. The main focus of my thesis is the socialization dimension, hence, the face-to-face communication between co-workers and their shared experiences and skills: the ‘tacit to tacit’ knowledge-sharing; the interaction between the different co-workers in the socialization process. Since all knowledge derives from tacit knowledge originally, tacit knowledge is, according to Nonaka/Takeuchi (1995), a person's own personal knowledge and his/her experience and skills; whereas explicit knowledge, on the other hand, is the formal and codified knowledge open to everybody via documents in a systematic language. The study of both literature and empirical data has shown that a special attention must be given to the resource-based view on strategy as it emphasizes the importance of the socialization mode by connecting the respective co-workers with one another in order to create something new. It is such a strategy that focuses on the best deployment of the knowledge resources in order for the institution to take advantage of their co-workers’ embedded, natural, context-specific, difficult to express and attached to the knower’s tacit knowledge. As a result, the key properties of a knowledge-enabling environment (in this thesis called ‘ba’) have been analyzed where tacit knowledge receives its attention by creating space and time for the tacit, hidden, embedded knowledge to emerge. Further field studies in different realities would now be helpful to further extract common patterns for the creation of a sense-making framework of strategy where the tacit dimension of each co-worker is seen to be a unique and remarkable asset for HEIs in order to gain a position of competitive advantage in the market place.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-09-26T16:43:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosemary Francisco_.pdf: 7758052 bytes, checksum: 44ca1c4c6afa003c13d4783f220148be (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-26T16:43:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosemary Francisco_.pdf: 7758052 bytes, checksum: 44ca1c4c6afa003c13d4783f220148be (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-30 / Nenhuma / Mobile workers are professionals who frequently work on the move, far from a fixed workplace, often performing knowledge-intensive activities. Mobility brings challenges to the processes of knowledge creation and sharing of these workers, and the existing literature lacks theoretical frameworks to explain these phenomena. Considering this gap, this study seeks to answer the following research question: How knowledge creation and knowledge sharing are carried out in collaborative problem-solving situations in the mobile workers’ context? The primary purpose of this investigation is to analyse how knowledge creation and knowledge sharing are carried out in collaborative problem-solving situations in the mobile workers’ context. To reach the research goals, this study applied Activity Theory (AT) and its key concepts as a theoretical lens. This theoretical approach allowed better understanding both the individual (the mobile worker) as well as his relations in his/her social context. Besides, the adoption of the Design Science Research method (DSR) provided tools for a deeper understanding of the research problem and also to propose an approach to stimulate knowledge creation and sharing through collaborative problem-solving in the mobile workers’ context. The results of this study helped to understand the fundamental needs of mobile workers related to knowledge creation and knowledge sharing to solve work problems. It was observed that these workers use their ICT tools, especially mobile ICT, to conduct the majority of their collaborative problem-solving situations and subsequently, to create and share knowledge on the move. The findings also highlight how mobile technologies are used to support collaborative problem-solving in the mobile work’ context. Therefore, the key argument tested and supported in this thesis is that collaborative problem-solving mediated by mobile ICT can support and stimulate knowledge creation and knowledge sharing in the context of mobile workers. This research makes a theoretical contribution by exploring this key argument with the use of AT as a theoretical lens. Since this theory was not used so far to analyse practices of knowledge creation and sharing in the context of mobile workers, this study contributes to the expansion of this theory in this subject. The results of the empirical data also provided lessons from the practice that can contribute to the theory, mainly considering the diversity of workplaces that mobile workers can use to perform their work activity. Also, this study provides methodological and practical contributions; through a detailed descriptive of how to apply the DSR in IS (Information Systems) studies, in addition to the artifact developed that can be used in practice. Finally, this study addresses some questions that can be explored in future research. / Trabalhadores móveis são profissionais que freqüentemente trabalham em movimento, longe de um local de trabalho fixo, muitas vezes realizando atividades intensivas em conhecimento. A mobilidade traz desafios aos processos de criação e compartilhamento de conhecimento para esses trabalhadores, e a literatura existente carece de frameworks teóricos para explicar esses fenômenos. Considerando esta lacuna, este estudo procura responder à seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: Como a criação e o compartilhamento de conhecimento são realizados em situações colaborativas de resolução de problemas no contexto dos trabalhadores móveis? O objetivo principal deste estudo é analisar como a criação e o compartilhamento do conhecimento são realizados em situações colaborativas de resolução de problemas no contexto dos trabalhadores móveis. Para alcançar os objetivos da pesquisa, este estudo aplicou a Teoria da Atividade (AT) e seus conceitos-chave como uma lente teórica. Esta abordagem teórica permitiu uma melhor compreensão tanto do indivíduo (o trabalhador móvel) quanto das suas relações no seu contexto social. Além disso, a adoção do método de pesquisa Design Science Research (DSR) proporcionou ferramentas para uma compreensão mais profunda do problema de pesquisa e também para propor uma abordagem para estimular a criação e o compartilhamento do conhecimento por meio da colaboração na resolução de problemas no contexto dos trabalhadores móveis. Os resultados deste estudo ajudaram a compreender as necessidades fundamentais dos trabalhadores móveis em relação à criação e ao compartilhamento de conhecimento para a resolução de problemas de trabalho. Observou-se que esses trabalhadores utilizam suas ferramentas de TIC, especialmente as TIC móveis, para conduzir a maioria de suas situações colaborativas de resolução de problemas e, posteriormente, criar e compartilhar conhecimento em movimento. Os resultados também destacam como as tecnologias móveis são usadas para apoiar a resolução colaborativa de problemas no contexto do trabalho móvel. Portanto, o principal argumento testado e suportado por esta tese, indica que a resolução colaborativa de problemas, mediada por TICs móveis, pode apoiar e estimular a criação e o compartilhamento do conhecimento no contexto de trabalhadores móveis. Esta pesquisa faz uma contribuição teórica explorando este argumento chave com o uso de AT como uma lente teórica. Uma vez que esta teoria não foi utilizada até agora para analisar as práticas de criação e compartilhamento de conhecimento no contexto dos trabalhadores móveis, este estudo contribui para a expansão desta teoria neste assunto. Os resultados empíricos também forneceram lições da prática que podem contribuir para a teoria, considerando, principalmente, a diversidade de locais de trabalho que os trabalhadores móveis podem usar para realizar suas atividades de trabalho. Além disso, este estudo fornece contribuições metodológicas e práticas; por meio de um descritivo detalhado de como aplicar o DSR em estudos de SI (Sistemas de Informação), além do artefato desenvolvido que pode ser usado na prática. Finalmente, este estudo endereça algumas questões que podem ser exploradas em futuras pesquisas.

Idag är det allt fler som arbetar i olika former av tillfälliga organisationer (Lindner & Wald2010; Lundin & Steinthórsson 2003; Schindler & Eppler 2003) och den kunskap samterfarenhet som skapas är en värdefull tillgång. Under 2000-talet har arbetsformen etableratsstarkt och forskningen kring projekt och tillfälliga organisationer har exploderat (Lundin &Söderholm 2013). Dock är det ett problem att mycket av den kunskap som utvecklats iprojektet går förlorad när ett projekt avslutas och organisationen upphör (Bakker et al. 2013;Ruuska & Vartiainen 2005) vilket innebär stora risker och kostnader för organisationen(Schindler & Eppler 2003).Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka vilka hinder som eventuellt kan uppstå iprojektbaserade organisationer vid deras kunskapsöverföring och om det finns någragemensamma mönster mellan dessa. Studien är en tvärsnittsstudie och valet föll på dennautformning då personer med kunskap kring området kunde kontaktas samt att det gavmöjligheten att få svar inom en begränsad tidsram. Tiden påverkade även urvalet för studienvilket ledde till att ett bekvämlighetsurval tillämpades. Resultatet kan däremot fungera som enutgångspunkt för framtida forskning eller till att kopplingar till existerande resultat. Demetoder som användes för att samla in empiriskt material var en kvalitativ enkät sommailades ut till respondenter som jobbar inom projektbaserade organisationer. Detgenomfördes även en djupintervju med en konsult inom området.Studiens resultat stämmer väl överens med tidigare forskning vilket tyder på att problemenmed kunskapsöverföring är både aktuella och relevanta samt kräver ytterligare studier. Idaganvänder de organisationer som studien har berört främst med dokumentation och fysiskamöten för kunskapshantering. Dock finns det brister i de informationssystem de har att tillgåidag och under mötena är det sällan huvudsakligen kunskap som diskuteras. Oftast innebärdokumentationen endast att det skrivs manualer för rutiner kring hur olika delmoment inomprojektet genomförs. Studien visar att det finns stora skillnader mellan de olika företagen, därvissa av dem jobbar aktivt med kunskapsöverföring medan andra inte jobbar med dettaöverhuvudtaget. Trots detta visar studien att samtliga av respondenterna upplever liknandesvårigheter kring kunskapsöverföring.Det som studien främst visat är tidens betydelse för kunskapsdelning. Bristande tid är enåterkommande faktor till varför kunskapsdelningen inte fungerar hos projektbaseradeorganisationer. Detta tillsammans med att arbetsbelastningen är hög samt att fokus ligger påatt prestera ett visst resultat inom ramen för projektet bidrar till att kunskapsöverföringenhamnar i skymundan. På sikt kan detta medföra att viktiga erfarenheter och kunskap faller iglömska och organisationen går miste om viktiga konkurrensfördelar. De rekommendationerstudien kan ge till de studerade organisationerna är att använda sig av de mekanismer ochaktiviteter som behandlas i teorikapitlet för att implementera en lärande företagskultur ochkunna förflytta kunskapen inom organisationen.

Submitted by CARLOS EDUARDO FONSECA AFFONSO null (cefaffonso@gmail.com) on 2017-02-06T15:52:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA.pdf: 1591315 bytes, checksum: 98ebff03db76ab67f21a39bed44d71b1 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by LUIZA DE MENEZES ROMANETTO (luizamenezes@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2017-02-09T17:57:43Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 affonso_cef_me_guara.pdf: 1591315 bytes, checksum: 98ebff03db76ab67f21a39bed44d71b1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-09T17:57:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 affonso_cef_me_guara.pdf: 1591315 bytes, checksum: 98ebff03db76ab67f21a39bed44d71b1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-25 / Tendo em vista a farta oferta de estudos sobre o conhecimento nas organizações e os esforços que se tem empregado para a utilização deste valioso ativo nos processos de inovação dos meios produtivos, surge a necessidade de se explorar as melhores práticas da Gestão do conhecimento. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar a aplicação do Processo de Avaliação Industrial baseado no Conhecimento para o setor automotivo. Com o propósito de envolver a integração do trinônimo produção, trabalho e Conhecimento, busca-se evidenciar os fatores que na percepção dos gestores e trabalhadores diretos, contribuem para o compartilhamento do conhecimento operário e para à promoção de um contexto favorável à obtenção de resultados para a organização e para as pessoas do “chão de fábrica” neste âmbito. Assim, a pesquisa utiliza uma abordagem quali-quantitativa e aplica questionário fechado em uma amostra probabilística com 39 operários e amostra não probabilística com as categorias de gestores (Gerentes, coordenadores e encarregados) para identificar os fatores mais relevantes ao compartilhamento do conhecimento. Para avaliação dos fatores, aplica-se o Método de Decisão por Multi-critérios AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Proces) na Maxion – Unidade de Resende – em operação na Man Latin America. Como resultado, a pesquisa faz emergir um tema até então não explorado com profundidade pela empresa pesquisada. Cria-se uma nova perspectiva para a inovação dos métodos da Organização do Trabalho e da Produção e à Gestão do Conhecimento. A pesquisa atendeu aos objetivos, identificando os fatores mais relevantes para o compartilhamento do conhecimento operário e para a integração do conhecimento e organização do trabalho e da produção. / Considering the large number of studies on knowledge in organizations and the efforts that have been made to use this valuable asset in the processes of innovation of productive means, the need arises to explore the best practices of knowledge management. The present work aims to analyze the application of the Industrial Evaluation Process based on Knowledge for the automotive sector. With the purpose of involving the integration of the trinomial production, work and Knowledge, it is tried to evidence the factors that in the perception of the managers and direct workers, contribute to the sharing of workers' knowledge and to the promotion of a favorable context to obtain results for The organization and for the people of the "factory floor" in this scope. Thus, the research uses a qualitative-quantitative approach and applies a closed questionnaire in a probabilistic sample with 39 workers and a non-probabilistic sample with the categories of managers (managers, coordinators and managers) to identify the most relevant factors for knowledge sharing. To evaluate the factors applies the Decision Method for Multi-criteria AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) in Maxion - Resende Unit - Man operating in Latin America. As a result, the research has emerged a topic that had not been explored in depth by the company researched. A new perspective is created for the innovation of the methods of the Work and Production Organization and the Knowledge Management. The research met the objectives, identifying the most relevant factors for the sharing of labor knowledge and for the integration of knowledge and organization of work and production.

This study contributes an original, practice-based analysis of knowledge brokering in inter-organisational communities of practice in the not-for-profit sector. Defining characteristics of the not-for-profit sector include its social values, principles and practices. Existing literature understates or overlooks the significance of values and principles that are manifested in and enlivened through every day social practices and practitioner encounters. The study contributes by presenting knowledge brokering as a knowledge sharing intervention which integrates people, processes, values and principles into practice. Knowledge brokering and other practice interventions in the not-for-profit sector have to align with its social mission, if they are to be compatible and effective. This is especially so in multi-agency partnerships and inter-organisational communities of practice where collaboration and co-existence rather than assimilation are the primary objectives. This study finds that values-compatible knowledge brokering interventions, boundary bridging, co-creation, common artefacts and knowledge sharing, enable inter-organisational communities of practice to evolve without sacrificing individual autonomy. Foundational knowledge brokering literature emphasises the structural position of the knowledge broker, their knowledge superiority and the benefits they accrue by operating on the periphery of a social network. The study contributes by arguing that knowledge brokering processes and roles can be examined through an alternative practice lens with the knowledge broker as an internal co-practitioner located within a network. The study was carried out in a new, time-limited multi-agency partnership project in the not-for-profit sector. The partnership constituted an inter-organisational community of practice comprising advice, information and support agencies that had agreed to work collaboratively to improve local services. The author was employed as the project s Knowledge Management Officer and carried out the study over a two year period using an insider action research approach. As an insider practitioner-researcher, the author contributed to the project s objectives, worked collaboratively with practitioners and gathered rich data. Action and research occurred simultaneously and the iterative processes enabled the cumulative learning to inform, develop and analyse the practice. The combination of using insider action research approach, an examination of knowledge brokering as a practice intervention and a multi-agency, not-for-profit setting, makes this a unique practice-based study untapping knowledge management lessons from the not-for-profit sector.

Knowledge management is critical to achieving competitive advantage in the marketplace. The prominence of multicultural organizations also requires an understanding of knowledge-sharing behavior in multicultural teams. In spite of the need to accommodate these new conditions, a gap exists in the research on knowledge sharing in multicultural organizations. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that affect knowledge sharing in a multicultural context. In the research questions I examined the role that culture, monetary rewards, social units, and diversity play in knowledge sharing in a multicultural environment. This study used Hofstede's cultural dimension theory, Sveiby's knowledge-based theory, and agency theory as the theoretical foundation. A cross-sectional survey design was used for data collection. Data were collected from line managers in multicultural organizations in the United Arab Emirates (n=79). Sampling consisted of a nonprobability sample using convenience sampling. Multiple regression and path analyses were used to analyze the data. Results of this study indicated a positive relationship between the combined effect of rewards, social units, and cultural diversity on knowledge sharing in a multicultural context. There was also a positive relationship between rewards and knowledge sharing. However, no statistically significant relationship between social units or cultural diversity and knowledge sharing was found. This study may promote positive social change by improving understanding of how knowledge is shared in multicultural teams and by contributing to better cross-cultural communication. This study may be useful to managers of multicultural teams who want to improve knowledge sharing in their teams.

Companies globally have lost profit each year because of the lack of intra-organizational knowledge sharing. The purpose of this descriptive, multiple case study was to explore the knowledge management practice strategies that project management business leaders use to improve knowledge sharing in project-based organizations. Nine project management business leaders from 4 project-based organizations in metro Atlanta, Georgia completed individual Skype/phone semistructured interviews, and 5 project team members completed an in-person focus group discussion and an interview questionnaire. Knowledge management was the conceptual framework for this study, the basis for understanding the world around project management business leaders, and the implementation of knowledge management practice strategies for knowledge sharing. The individual interviews, focus group discussion, and interview questionnaire yielded the lived experiences of project management business leaders and the perceptions of project team members regarding knowledge sharing in their project-based organizations. The data were analyzed through data source triangulation and cross-case synthesis, which resulted in various themes such as communication, practices to overcome barriers, and a centralized resource center. The findings of this study may effect positive social change and the improvement of knowledge sharing by promoting the worth, dignity, and development of individuals, communities, organizations, cultures, or societies.

Changing workforce demographics, combined with a gap in knowledge and skills between older and younger generations, threatens small business viability. The presence of four generations in the workforce, where 1 in 5 employees are 55 years and older, presents an unprecedented challenge for small business leaders planning for succession with a multigenerational workforce. The purpose of this case study was to explore the effect of Baby Boomers' presence on small business leaders' ability to retain and transfer knowledge to successive generations. Using snowball and purposeful sampling techniques, 36 small business leaders in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area participated. The conceptual framework included the theories of groupthink, narrative paradigm, collaboration, stakeholder, and the swift theory of trust. Data collection occurred using e-mail to solicit study participants to provide their experiences concerning generational succession via a Web-based, electronic questionnaire. Data analysis entailed using a modified van Kaam method to identify 2 main themes for small business leaders to consider: (a) generational differences reflect small business leaders' challenges and (b) multigenerational succession affects the bottom line. Member checking, transcription review of questionnaire responses, and triangulation of data with existing theories strengthened the validity of study findings and themes. Study recommendations offered strategies for managing knowledge supportive of planned generational succession. This study's findings may contribute to social change by offering small business leaders strategies to facilitate a collaborative, knowledge management culture that may mitigate the effects of changing workforce demographics on small business viability.