What’s So Special About Intergenerational Knowledge Transfer? Identifying Challenges of Intergenerational Knowledge Transfer

Studies on diversity topics and knowledge management abound in the management literature. However, we still know little about the impact of generational diversity on knowledge transfer. This is surprising, given that particularly the transfer of knowledge between employees who differ substantially in terms of their age is of increasing relevance to organisations: unless firms manage to stimulate intra-organizational knowledge transfer, the knowledge of retiring employees will be lost. This conceptual study first systematically reviews the empirical literature on intergenerational knowledge transfer. Second, the study integrates research on knowledge transfer and generational diversity in order to develop a theoretical framework and set of propositions addressing the specific challenges of intergenerational knowledge transfer.