The Development of a Conceptual Framework for Knowledge Sharing in Agile IT Projects

Organizations must adapt their resources to meet the challenges associated with changes in the work environment in order to remain competitive in the information era. Several research findings identify knowledge sharing as a means for an organization to improve its competitiveness. Knowledge sharing can be defined in a variety of ways, but it essentially refers to the exchange of knowledge from an information giver to an information receiver. This is a purposeful activity that adds value to the client organization, particularly in IT system that employs Agile methodology. For the scope of this paper, we are going to consider only Agile knowledge transfer in IT projects that occurs in two angles: business knowledge transfers from client to consultant; and IT technical knowledge transfers from consultant to client. However, when interdisciplinary teams are involved in Agile IT projects, the knowledge transfer mentioned before remains inefficient once the knowledge loss persists throughout the project life cycle. The conversion of conceptual knowledge, which only exists in the brains and minds of individuals, into explicit knowledge is essential for organizations to gain and maintain competitive advantages over its competitor. This study proposes an alternative conceptual framework to address conceptual knowledge transfer in IT projects that use Agile methodology.