Knowledge transfer and organizational memory: an events perspective

Abstract

Although there is substantial research on various elements of knowledge management in organizations, there is a gap in our understanding of how event organizations transfer knowledge. We address this gap, using qualitative interview data and show in our results that knowledge transfer processes can be categorized into three distinct phases: i) pre-event, ii) event-operations and iii) post-event. Event managers and staff mostly transfer explicit knowledge pre-event; yet, tacit knowledge is transferred during the event-operations. Tacit knowledge however, is rarely converted into explicit knowledge in the post-event phase, and organizational memory is largely underutilised. Practical implications are deduced, suggesting for event organizations, to adopt a more strategic approach to knowledge transfer. We suggest that event management then operates more effectively in this fast-paced and knowledge intensive business environment, and better integrates heterogeneous event staff, including both paid employees and event volunteers.