The role of knowledge transfer in the sustainability of a selected petroleum organisation in South Africa

Abstract

The skills required to transfer knowledge successfully in an organisation is vital for creating a competitive advantage. Because of the constant changes in the external organisational environment, organisations are required to make internal changes such as employee training and improving organisational processes to achieve an increase in business performance. Knowledge transfer (KT) in the organisation adds value to the growth of the organisation, fostering knowledge and skills within the organisation, which are pivotal to sustainability. Organisations are challenged to transform data into valuable and implemented knowledge to be used to create a competitive advantage. However, it is unclear how the lack of KT affects the sustainability in organisations in South Africa. The aim of the study was to explore the role of KT in the sustainability of a petroleum, oil and gas (POG) organisation in South Africa. The following research questions were asked: 1) What are the factors affecting KT in a selected petroleum organisation in South Africa? and 2) How can KT be sustainable in a selected petroleum organisation? The research undertaken was an exploratory study and analysed the factors that influence the KT process. The research was guided by interpretivist epistemology and subjectivist ontology. The research method employed was inductive and the research strategy was a case study. The case used was a (POG) organisation in Cape Town, South Africa. A qualitative approach was used by means of a case study. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires, interviews and an interview guide, and then analysed by means of summarising, categorising and thematic analysis. In this study, thirty-seven findings and seven themes were identified. Themes developed were education, financial management, human resources, information technology, knowledge management, management and risk management. The findings suggest that the implementation of the KT methodologies alone will not ensure success unless they are backed up by the organisation's culture. To properly implement KT, organisations must have the necessary infrastructure and support systems in place. KT can play an important role in supporting the sustainability of the organisation by retaining expert knowledge, transferring knowledge and creating a KT culture within the organisation. Guidelines are proposed to assist the organisation with managing KT through implementation and by identifying the challenges, whilst adding knowledge to the research area. The research contributes to the body of knowledge of knowledge management (KM) and KT. This contribution is based on the skills gap of practical understanding, the interaction between knowledge and an engineer’s role in the knowledge transfer process inside a POG organisation, as well as the effectiveness of such a process. Before interviews were conducted, the research ethics committee of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) approved the study to ensure ethical principles such as honesty, objectivity, carefulness, integrity, transparency, intellectual property and confidentiality were satisfied.