Knowledge management in an offshore context : A study on IT-consulting projects at Accenture

Abstract: During the last decade offshore sourcing has emerged as a rapidly growing trend, making offshore-based consultants rule rather than exception in IT consulting projects. This offshore context introduces challenges in knowledge management; something of particular interest in IT consulting, being a knowledge intensive industry where a firm’s ability to leverage knowledge determines its ability to gain competitive advantage. This study adds to the understanding of how these challenges to knowledge management in an offshore context are managed, as well as how project-specific knowledge is managed in such a context. Eight semi-structured interviews have been conducted in two different consulting projects at Accenture. The results suggest that even though Accenture in general uses a distinct codifying strategy, the challenges introduced to knowledge management in an offshore context were mainly handled through personalisation strategy.