The role of leadership in knowledge transfer

Abstract: This is a theoretical paper aiming to probe the existing literature regarding how the transfer of knowledge within modern organizations is influenced by leadership. It analyzes the difficulties of knowledge transfer resulting from the characteristics of modern organizations such as organization culture, geographical barrier and the misuse of IT. The author argues that leadership, especially team/shared leadership is a key to solve these problems. It is not enough to simply identify patterns of behavior and routines as existing knowledge transfer studies do. To better understand knowledge transfer, more attention should be paid to individuals and their interaction with the environment, particularly leadership, the micro aspect of organizational behavior.