Etude de cas : le transfert de connaissances dans les petites entreprises.

Abstract

This master's thesis joins in an exploratory initiative close to benchmarking in order to study the case of knowledge transfer within companies. Its strategic importance has signi cantly risen in the past few years so that it has become a subject of focus within companies. This master's thesis also tries to verify this claim. After a review of literature, some hypotheses and an axis of research have been develo- ped. Knowledge transfer is a dynamic process where knowledge is not only a stock or a memory that can be displaced but rather a ow that is perpetually modi ed. It allows for companies to retain and improve or enhance their know-how. It could also be at the basis of innovation that is a major concern for so many companies (as a di erentiation purpose for example). The case of GDTech was then analyzed. It showed that the transfer inside the rm is mostly spontaneous, but clearly there. In an amelioration and innovation perspective, the rm has now understood the importance not to leave knowledge transfer aside. Eventually, external enterprises were interviewed. It appears that even if knowledge trans- fer is generally of rst importance to them, it is not always easy to foster it. Innovation is a constant concern for the rms, however, they do no tend to systematically link it to knowledge transfer. They see innovation as a consequence of the transfer and not the reason for it. All of them insist on the human factor and the importance to point out real needs and key expertises because it is not always useful to transfer everything. The master's thesis ends on some recommendations for a fi rm like GDTech that would like to improve transfer of knowledge inside its walls. It also ends on a way forward section for future possible evolutions for the work itself.