Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The relevance of knowledge transfer - A qualitative study of labour-intensive organisations with high employee turnover

Ericsson, Linnette LU ; Jonsson, Elina LU and Sjöstrand, Hanna LU (2015) FEKH19 20151
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
Title: The relevance of knowledge transfer
- A qualitative study of labour-intensive organisations with high employee turnover
Seminar date: 2015-06-05
Course: FEKH19, Degree Project in Strategic Management, Undergraduate Level, 15 ECTS
Authors: Elina Jonsson, Hanna Sjöstrand, Linnette Ericsson
Advisor: Anna Brattström
Key Words: Knowledge transfer, Labour-intensive organisations, Employee turnover,
Organisational learning, Key employees, Organisational culture, Organisational structure,
Performance
Purpose: To study how key employees, organisational culture, and organisational structure
affect knowledge transfer in labour-intensive companies with high employee turnover.
Methodology: We used a qualitative case study. We... (More)
Title: The relevance of knowledge transfer
- A qualitative study of labour-intensive organisations with high employee turnover
Seminar date: 2015-06-05
Course: FEKH19, Degree Project in Strategic Management, Undergraduate Level, 15 ECTS
Authors: Elina Jonsson, Hanna Sjöstrand, Linnette Ericsson
Advisor: Anna Brattström
Key Words: Knowledge transfer, Labour-intensive organisations, Employee turnover,
Organisational learning, Key employees, Organisational culture, Organisational structure,
Performance
Purpose: To study how key employees, organisational culture, and organisational structure
affect knowledge transfer in labour-intensive companies with high employee turnover.
Methodology: We used a qualitative case study. We conducted a pilot study with three
interviewees in order to identify what factors influence knowledge transfer. This was later
delved into in a main study with six additional respondents to understand how the factors
affect the transfer of knowledge. All nine interviews were semi-structured.
Theoretical perspective: Previous literature shows that high employee turnover in companies
has a negative impact on the company’s performance. This becomes more evident in labourintensive
companies since they are dependent on the employees in their work processes.
However, there are labour-intensive companies that are successful despite high employee
turnover. Previous literature emphasises the importance of knowledge and knowledge transfer
within the organisation. However, it is not clear how other factors influence this process when
employee turnover hinders the transfer of knowledge. This is the theoretical basis of our
work, and we therefore chose to examine how the factors we have identified affect knowledge
transfer. The identified factors are key employees, organisational culture, and organisational
structure.
Empirical foundation: EF is a successful service company with high employee turnover, and
is therefore a well-motivated choice for our study. We compared two cases within the
company with different outcomes in performance, but otherwise equal. Respondents with
insight into the knowledge transfer process in the cases were interviewed. The cases were
then compared in the analysis to see how they differ in terms of the three factors.
Conclusion: It was found that knowledge transfer is not as important as previous literature has
stated. Instead, we can see that key employees, organisational culture, and organisational
structure affect the learning process of employees, and, therefore, the performance of the
company. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ericsson, Linnette LU ; Jonsson, Elina LU and Sjöstrand, Hanna LU
supervisor
organization
course
FEKH19 20151
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Performance, Organisational structure, Organisational culture, Key employees, Organisational learning, Employee turnover, Knowledge transfer, Labour-intensive organisations
language
English
id
7444735
date added to LUP
2015-06-30 16:19:57
date last changed
2015-06-30 16:19:57
@misc{7444735,
  abstract     = {{Title: The relevance of knowledge transfer
- A qualitative study of labour-intensive organisations with high employee turnover
Seminar date: 2015-06-05
Course: FEKH19, Degree Project in Strategic Management, Undergraduate Level, 15 ECTS
Authors: Elina Jonsson, Hanna Sjöstrand, Linnette Ericsson
Advisor: Anna Brattström
Key Words: Knowledge transfer, Labour-intensive organisations, Employee turnover,
Organisational learning, Key employees, Organisational culture, Organisational structure,
Performance
Purpose: To study how key employees, organisational culture, and organisational structure
affect knowledge transfer in labour-intensive companies with high employee turnover.
Methodology: We used a qualitative case study. We conducted a pilot study with three
interviewees in order to identify what factors influence knowledge transfer. This was later
delved into in a main study with six additional respondents to understand how the factors
affect the transfer of knowledge. All nine interviews were semi-structured.
Theoretical perspective: Previous literature shows that high employee turnover in companies
has a negative impact on the company’s performance. This becomes more evident in labourintensive
companies since they are dependent on the employees in their work processes.
However, there are labour-intensive companies that are successful despite high employee
turnover. Previous literature emphasises the importance of knowledge and knowledge transfer
within the organisation. However, it is not clear how other factors influence this process when
employee turnover hinders the transfer of knowledge. This is the theoretical basis of our
work, and we therefore chose to examine how the factors we have identified affect knowledge
transfer. The identified factors are key employees, organisational culture, and organisational
structure.
Empirical foundation: EF is a successful service company with high employee turnover, and
is therefore a well-motivated choice for our study. We compared two cases within the
company with different outcomes in performance, but otherwise equal. Respondents with
insight into the knowledge transfer process in the cases were interviewed. The cases were
then compared in the analysis to see how they differ in terms of the three factors.
Conclusion: It was found that knowledge transfer is not as important as previous literature has
stated. Instead, we can see that key employees, organisational culture, and organisational
structure affect the learning process of employees, and, therefore, the performance of the
company.}},
  author       = {{Ericsson, Linnette and Jonsson, Elina and Sjöstrand, Hanna}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The relevance of knowledge transfer - A qualitative study of labour-intensive organisations with high employee turnover}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}