Intergenerational knowledge sharing : within two case studies
Sivén, Tom; Ivantsova, Evgenia (2017)
Lataukset:
Åbo Akademi
2017
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaistakäyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201702151687
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201702151687
Tiivistelmä
An international research project focusing on intergenerational knowledge sharing has been conducted as a part of the mobility project between Åbo Akademi University, Finland and the University of Hildesheim, Germany. The project has been financed by Academy of Finland and DAAD, German Academic Exchange Services. This thesis is a part of the project and has been carried out as two individual case studies with different subtopics for each case study. The subtopics for these two cases are virtual communication and organizational learning.
The study is carried out with a qualitative approach to the phenomena and semistructured interviews have been performed as the main data collection method. The results have been analyzed through a comparative empirical framework, in which the knowledge sharing is observed through four aspects: attitudes, communication, ITsystems and learning with a generational comparison between generations X and Y.
The findings of this thesis have proven that in the specific case results age is not a considerable influence factor relating to intergenerational knowledge sharing. As such, generational differences are not remarkable, and the findings are similar in both case studies. In addition, personality of the employees is considered to have an impact on knowledge sharing more than chronological age differences. Moreover, the generational differences in the use of virtual communication for knowledge sharing exist in the willingness of the members to share their opinion virtually. Generation X seems to share knowledge more actively online than generation Y. Furthermore, the employees consider intergenerational knowledge sharing to be an important source for learning together with group projects and having an open working atmosphere where knowledge sharing is encouraged. The main findings of organizational learning relate to formal and informal communities and knowledge transformation on three different levels: individual, group and organizational.
The study is carried out with a qualitative approach to the phenomena and semistructured interviews have been performed as the main data collection method. The results have been analyzed through a comparative empirical framework, in which the knowledge sharing is observed through four aspects: attitudes, communication, ITsystems and learning with a generational comparison between generations X and Y.
The findings of this thesis have proven that in the specific case results age is not a considerable influence factor relating to intergenerational knowledge sharing. As such, generational differences are not remarkable, and the findings are similar in both case studies. In addition, personality of the employees is considered to have an impact on knowledge sharing more than chronological age differences. Moreover, the generational differences in the use of virtual communication for knowledge sharing exist in the willingness of the members to share their opinion virtually. Generation X seems to share knowledge more actively online than generation Y. Furthermore, the employees consider intergenerational knowledge sharing to be an important source for learning together with group projects and having an open working atmosphere where knowledge sharing is encouraged. The main findings of organizational learning relate to formal and informal communities and knowledge transformation on three different levels: individual, group and organizational.