Exploring knowledge transfer mechanisms: The case of a UK-based group within a high-tech global corporation

Knowledge transfer constitutes a strategic area of knowledge management research. However, little is known about the circumstances under which one particular mechanism is the most appropriate and the other one is not. To address these issues, the present study reports the result from a large multinational corporation involved in software development. This paper yields some very interesting findings concerning knowledge transfer mechanisms in a real-world setting, investigating why its software engineers employ one mechanism than the other. The findings imply that the three key variables, namely status, personal ties, and proximity, act as a powerful force in exploring an appropriate knowledge transfer mechanism, which based on case evidence leads to an interesting decision tree of media user for different transfer situations.