Barriers of Knowledge Transfer Between Globally Distributed Teams : A case study of Radio PDU in the R&D department of Ericsson

Abstract: Today’s increased globalization resulted in a growth of globally distributed teams, which are characterized by geographical distance and used by organizations to promote innovation. However, to be able to collaborate effectively and reach their objectives, these teams must continuously conduct knowledge transfer (KT) between the different geographical locations. The importance of KT has been acknowledged in Information systems (IS) field, but most studies did not focus on the barriers of the KT between globally distributed teams specifically in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) product development projects. Thus, this thesis was conducted to investigate the main barriers that globally distributed teams face in this area particularly. To do that, we did a qualitative case study of the Product Development Unit (PDU) in the Research and Development (R&D) department of Ericsson. The study has revealed eight main barriers that hinder the KT between globally distributed teams.