OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE PROCESS OF KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER WITHIN VIRTUAL TEAMS A RESEARCH INTO THE GAP BETWEEN THE CURRENT AND DESIRED SITUATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENTS OF SPGPRINTS

Abstract

Virtual teams become more and more important for organizations to transfer knowledge within their organization. SPGPrints recognizes this within their development departments and thinks that they can improve their current situation on the quality of the process of knowledge transfer within virtual teams. Therefore, this master thesis conducted a diagnostic gap-analysis to gain insight into the current situation on the quality of the process of knowledge transfer within virtual teams in the development departments of SPGPrints. Based on a deductive literature review, the desired situation for the development departments of SPGPrints was formulated. This desired situation was compared with the current situation that was determined based on qualitative research consisting of 11 interviews and three participant observations to determine the gap between the current and desired situation. Analysis of the data showed a positive relationship between the quality of the process of knowledge transfer within virtual teams and the willingness to transfer knowledge, willingness to access knowledge, quality of ICT-tools, and quality of communication. The data also showed that there is indeed a gap between the current and desired situation, as all individual factors influencing the quality of the process of knowledge transfer within virtual teams scored moderate.