Knowledge transfer within information systems development teams: Examining the role of knowledge source attributes

Knowledge transfer is considered to be an important topic for both researchers and practitioners. However, very little research has been pursued to understand the factors affecting knowledge transfer within teams, an important social unit within organizations. This study attempts to fill this void by examining factors that affect knowledge transfer within information systems development (ISD) teams. Taking a “connectionistic” epistemological perspective and drawing on the communications-based research on knowledge transfer, the theoretical model of the study proposes that the source's capability, credibility, and extent of communication will play an important role in determining the extent of knowledge transferred to recipients. Results from an empirical study involving student teams engaged in semester-long ISD projects supported the role of credibility and extent of communication. Interestingly, capability was not found to play a significant role in knowledge transfer. Possible explanations for this lack of significant effect of capability on knowledge transfer are presented.