Knowledge Transfer in Internships from a students' perspective

The importance of internships has grown during the last decade. Internships have a lot of benefits for both, the company and the intern as well. In order to get most out of an internship, it is important that knowledge, which is related to the job assignments, is efficiently transferred to the interns. The purpose of this study is to explore the processes of knowledge transfer to the interns based on Nonoka and Takeuchi's knowledge creation model with a focus on tacit to explicit knowledge transfer. The transfer of the required knowledge is twofold: firstly, interns must have access to already existing documents (rather explicit knowledge). Secondly, interns acquire knowledge through permanent transfer of knowledge from those who are highly experienced, like principals or workmates (rather tacit knowledge). This study used a qualitative approach to collect and analyze empirical data whereas two sources were used. In a first phase of the empirical survey a diary study with nine participants was carried out. In a following second phase semi-structured interviews with another 20 participants were conducted. The study represents the perspective of business informatics students who have to complete an internship as part of their studies. Participants state that the best experience of their internship is based on a combination of personal support, self-reliant working and the opportunity to have access to content or knowledge management systems. An intensive training phase conducted by co-workers or previous interns is perceived positively in gaining relevant knowledge for their internship. From a qualitative perspective the support of people was ranked on the first place. The technological aspects such as knowledge management tools actively support the process of knowledge sharing.