Knowledge Sharing in the COVID-19 Era of Remote Teaching: What Can Academia Learn from Business?.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak resulted at the university level in a massive transition from traditional ways of teaching to remote forms. This sudden conversion has led to changes in the patterns of knowledge sharing (from teachers to students and among students). The aim of this paper is to investigate how universities may benefit from experiences of businesses that were also forced to use remote forms of business operations. Large companies, operating in the international context may be a valuable source of information on how to improve knowledge sharing processes among university students and between students and teachers. Methodology: The paper uses a qualitative research method (indepth interviews) to explore the possibilities of knowledge sharing improvements at the university-level teaching, based on the experiences elicited in the business sector. The theoretical sampling was used to find informants familiar with both transition to remote teaching and shift to online business operations forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: Interviews were conducted with experienced managers participating in an MBA programme. During the outburst of the COVID-19 pandemic the programme has been switched to a remote mode. At the same time, the interviewed managers had to cope with the transition to remote mode at work. Their work-related ordeals were contrasted and compared with their universityrelated experiences regarding knowledge sharing. Conclusions and recommendations have been formulated on the basis of evidence gathered during the interviews. Research limitations: This paper is of an exploratory character. The triangulation of findings presented here is limited. The sample consists of participants of one MBA programme only, hence the conclusions cannot be generalised. At this stage the paper may serve as a basis for further development. Practical implications: The paper presents possible improvements to be introduced by academia in the remote mode teaching. Business sector and especially large businesses may offer experience-based solutions that allow to boost knowledge sharing processes among students and increase the efficiency of knowledge sharing between teachers and students. Originality/value: The topic of the paper is very up-to-date and of considerable significance. Knowledge sharing processes at the university-level teaching have been significantly distorted by the COVID-19 pandemic outburst. Using experiences from the business sector can be very helpful in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]