Improving knowledge retention in the cross-border mergers of the telecommunications industry of Lesotho

Abstract

This article has been extracted from the larger PhD study which sought to investigate how knowledge retention (KR) may be improved in the context of cross-border mergers of the telecommunication industry of Lesotho. This is a quantitative case study research that triangulated interviews and questionnaires as instruments of data collection. The results for the study indicated that although there were no formal policies in place that guided the retention of knowledge, somehow knowledge was retained during the merger process. On the other hand, a considerable amount of valuable knowledge may have been lost because employees who either left the organisation during the process or those who were apparently forced to resign just left the organisation with no proper KR arrangement. The findings of the study also showed that the Econet Telecom Lesotho (ETL) merger was accompanied by a high staff turnover resulting from both forced and voluntary resignations.

Managing knowledge loss: a systematic literature review and future research directions

“…, 2022; Lazzari et al. , 2022; Tseole and Ngulube, 2022; Zieba and Bongiovanni, 2022). The organizational challenge involves capitalizing on the very latest KM, specifically K-loss research, moving forward in this dynamic new world.…”

“…, 2007; Shafer et al. , 2001; Tseole and Ngulube, 2022). Knowledge leakage involves the external release of knowledge meant to remain within organizational boundaries (Bloodgood and Chen, 2022; Frishammar et al.…”

“…, 2007; Shafer et al. , 2001; Tseole and Ngulube, 2022). An organization’s inventory of knowledge (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) can fluctuate over time and may decline following K-loss events (Daghfous et al.…”

“…Massive knowledge loss (K-loss) followed by waves of knowledge acquisition and retention mean companies compete to recruit from a shrinking pool of available workers. This wildly fluctuating context brings a different perspective to knowledge risk assessment and compels mitigation efforts, ultimately leading to the major rebalancing of KM initiatives (Chang et al, 2022;Lazzari et al, 2022;Tseole and Ngulube, 2022;Zieba and Bongiovanni, 2022). The organizational challenge involves capitalizing on the very latest KM, specifically K-loss research, moving forward in this dynamic new world.…”

“…K-loss, an umbrella concept, incorporates impacts of knowledge leakage (Bloodgood and Chen, 2022;Frishammar et al, 2015), forgetting (de Holan and Phillips, 2004), sabotage (He et al, 2023;Serenko, 2019;Serenko and Choo, 2020;Shamsudin et al, 2022;Siachou et al, 2021) and workforce attrition (De Holan and Phillips, 2004;Jain, 2023;McQuade et al, 2007;Shafer et al, 2001;Tseole and Ngulube, 2022). Knowledge leakage involves the external release of knowledge meant to remain within organizational boundaries (Bloodgood and Chen, 2022;Frishammar et al, 2015), knowledge sabotage is the intentional failure to share or misdirect key knowledge required by other employees (He et al, 2023;Serenko, 2019;Serenko and Choo, 2020;Shamsudin et al, 2022), and knowledge forgetting means discarding old action schemes and mental models affecting existing routines (de Holan and Phillips, 2004).…”