Coordination Problems in Knowledge Transfer A Case Study of Inter-Organizational Projects

When multiple organizations are involved in a heritage management project, the coordination of actions is complex and can affect the knowledge transfer process. This paper contributes a systematic and empirical study of the dynamics of coordination activities inside a knowledge transfer process in heritage management activities. Using the information-processing view of coordination, we explore the following question: what kinds of coordination issues affect effective coordination of knowledge transfer in inter-organizational projects? The discussion is supported by a case study in the architectural heritage domain. We reveal that there are many coordination issues that affect the mutual understanding between actors, limiting information exchange and knowledge transfer. These issues uncover a gap between the conception and use of ICTs that support coordination, and a lack of understanding about how ICT usage affects the knowledge transfer process. Thus, a socio-material perspective about relationship between people and coordination technologies could improve knowledge transfer performance.