thesis_Daniela Noethen_print final - Jacobs University

Intergenerational Knowledge Transfer in Work Teams: A Multilevel Social Network Perspective
3.7. Conclusion
The present study used a multilevel social network approach to test for age effects on
knowledge transfer at the dyadic level (age difference between source and recipient),
individual level (age), and team level (age diversity). Results supported that there is increased
intergenerational knowledge transfer with a significant effect of age difference at the dyadic
level, as well as an increase in knowledge transfer under conditions of age diversity.
Furthermore, we found that the effect of age difference seems to be based on the difference in
team tenure, which functioned as a proxy for experience. With respect to the threat of
knowledge loss, these results show that, especially in an age-diverse team, older employees
naturally share more knowledge with younger employees. But the effects found were small,
and it cannot be expected that this natural increase in intergenerational knowledge transfer
suffices to prevent knowledge loss. Rather, to this end, additional measures have to be taken.
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