Putting Knowledge Management to Work: Modeling and Operationalizing the Relationship Between Knowledge Transfer and International Project Success.

With globalization firmly entrenched into virtually every facet of our society, whether consumer, industrial, financial, or even social, there is an emerging need to understand the processes, systems, and organizational mechanisms that contribute to the success, or lack there of, of international projects managed by international teams. At the core of such international company systems and teams is the notion that correct global knowledge transfer needs to take place so that the probability of success of these projects and teams can be optimized; thus benefiting all stakeholders whether customers, supplier-companies, or employees of both customer and supplier companies. This is a fundamental relationship of delivering value thru the knowledge transfer structure of an international organization and, additionally, understanding to what level knowledge management and transfer is effective in that organization. This paper expands upon previous research by the author in the investigation, identification, and analysis of factors and attributes associated with success of international projects and the relationship of these factors to a international corporation's global knowledge transfer structure. A quantitative model of the Knowledge Transfer / Project Success Relationship was established using a comprehensive, multilingual (English, German, Italian, Japanese) survey targeting international industrial machinery companies in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. The data-gathering process successfully provided a response rate of 41% with data from 69 international companies. The practical benefit of the established model is its utilization of a specifically-defined set of attributes and relationships that can be used in simulations and ultimately for setting up optimized knowledge transfer channels within various operations of any international company within our scope covering industrial machinery in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. These channels can enable the operations of these companies to be better equipped in managing larger scale international projects which require optimal information flow critical to project and business success. Furthermore, our research can be used by international industrial machinery companies who are considering establishing operations in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and even the rest of Asia depending on the cultural proximity of certain attributes described in our work. In an attempt to establish a greater utility of the theory proposed, the paper will further present the practical operationalization of the quantitative model into a software-based decision tool program which can contribute to improved decision-making capabilities by various individuals in an organization from knowledge workers to project managers. This decision-tool software will be graphically-based and will provide a comprehensive framework from which key indicators such as probability of project success, knowledge transfer index, and others, can be utilized in global projects [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]