THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND COLLABORATION IN

Knowledge transfer is assumed to be a basic condition for a successful virtual or dispersed collaboration in software development scenarios of multinational enterprises. While there is considerable research on knowledge transfer and collaboration in dispersed work contexts the specific conditions of an off- or nearshore setting have been scantly addressed. Often implemented top down for reasons of cost reduction off- or nearshoring intentions provoke employees ’ concerns regarding dismissal or degradation. Virtually influencing motivation and willingness of onsite employees negatively the establishment of knowledge transfer and collaboration in off- and nearshore software development projects is not only confronted with the challenge of transmitting tacit, embedded technical, and client-related knowledge but also faces problems regarding team building, motivation and trust among onsite and off- or nearshore located team members. Focusing on the development of knowledge transfer and collaboration, the paper investigates a nearshore project in a German software development company. It shows that the division of labour between onsite and nearshore organization residing in the nearshore approach of th