Passion and expertise knowledge transfer

The purpose of this paper is to argue that experts' degree of passion for, and attachment to their expertise knowledge facilitates knowledge acquisition and its transfer.

The article draws on case study methodology. Twenty experts within the petrol industry were interviewed with a view to examining the motivators and inhibitors of transferring their expertise knowledge to freshly recruited engineers.

It seems to emerge that the more passionate an expert is the more intent they will on seeing thrive and diffuse to others. Assuming that expertise is dialogical, that is, the process of transferring is at the same a process of acquiring it. The two processes are conflated.

The main limitation of the study is that it relies on an in‐depth case study within a specific, scientific industry. How relevant are the findings remains to be studied.

To the extent that passion is an intrinsic motive and since it is not amenable to management control and intervention (“expertise cannot be managed!”), attempts at managing it may be counter‐productive. If curiosity and passion are the main drivers behind transferring (and pursuing intellectually challenging tasks) are the mainspring, managers are faced with providing context that stimulates such drives, not necessarily resorting to monetary rewards.

The originality of this study is to emphasize the significance of passion in the process of transferring and acquiring knowledge.