The Absence of Cooperation Is Not Necessarily Defection: Structural and Motivational Constraints of Knowledge Transfer in a Social Dilemma Situation

There is a wealth of literature about knowledge transfer in general, but only a small amount deals with cultural and motivational factors of knowledge transfer. The main question of this article is: How can knowledge transfer be supported? First, we present a theoretical underpinning of knowledge transfer as a social dilemma situation. Second, we analyze how a situation of social dilemma can be overcome by means of structural and motivational solutions. Third, we provide empirical evidence from our survey in hospitals. These findings support three of our five hypotheses: direct channels for interaction, organizational culture, and intrinsic motivation are relevant requirements for knowledge transfer. Team size is not a significant factor for transferring knowledge in hospitals. Furthermore, our empirical findings differentiate between providing and obtaining knowledge. The last finding leads back to a modification of the theoretical framework.