FACTORS AFFECTING THE KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER: THE CASE OF ETHIO-DJIBOUTY STANDARD GUAGE RAILWAY SHARE COMPANY

Abstract

Knowledge transfer has been a major concern in outsourced railway activities where new technologies and services are at stake. However the effect of knowledge transfer influencing factors on the rate of organizational knowledge transfer has never caught the required attention. As a contribution to this gap, this paper aims to investigate the effect of current knowledge transfer factors (organization related factor, vendor related factors, recipient related factors, knowledge related factors ,and relationship related factors) on overall effectiveness of project knowledge transfer. The survey was conducted in EDR organization targeting seconded staffs that are familiar with the working environment. In order to get a comprehensive data 69 employees are included in the study. The study used both primary and secondary data that were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire. Out of the 72 questionnaires that were distributed 69 questionnaires were filled and returned successfully. This represents a response rate of 95 percent. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that the knowledge transfer practices in the organization outsourced activities are not full-fledged; there is lack of established processes and procedures, lack of incentives to knowledge transfer initiatives and inefficient evaluation of training content and quality, limited capability of vendors to disseminate knowledge, lack of willingness and trustworthiness on vendor teams. Based on these findings, the study recommends that the company shall have a mature knowledge transfer process and procedures to support outsourced activities and the level of organizational readiness to embark on knowledge transfer in outsourced projects has to get better.