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Job market shifts, such as workforce mobility and aging societies, cause the exit of knowledgeable personnel from organizations. The ensuing knowledge loss (K-loss) has broad negative effects. This study analyzes the knowledge management literature on K-loss published from 2000 to 2021 and identifies fruitful directions for future research.

The authors conduct a systematic literature review of 74 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2021. These articles were retrieved from ProQuest Central, Science Direct, EBSCOhost and Emerald databases. The analysis utilizes Jesson et al.’s (2011) six principles: field mapping, comprehensive search, quality assessment, data extraction, synthesis and write-up.

Three sub-topics emerge from the systematic literature review: K-loss drivers, positive and negative impacts of K-loss and mitigation strategies. Over half of the literature addresses mitigation strategies and provides solutions for K-loss already in progress, rather than proposing preventive measures.

This study has limitations related to the time span covered. Moreover, it focuses on articles published in refereed journals. Therefore, important contributions from conference papers, books and professional reports were excluded.

This research comprehensively synthesizes the K-loss literature and proposes future avenues of research to address under-investigated areas and potentially lead to theoretical and empirical advancements in the field. This study also provides suggestions for improving managerial practices.

The purpose of the paper is to propose a methodology for organizations to use to assess the risk of knowledge loss should a specific employee leave. The article also proposes actions that can be taken by the organization to capture this knowledge before it is lost.

Applied research based on the systems analysis approach.

The paper finds that it is possible to create a system for identifying which knowledge is most likely to be lost and to guide an organization towards the appropriate actions for capturing that knowledge before it is lost.

The process has only been piloted on a single organization and with a limited number of subjects. However, the results are promising, and future research is focused on exploring generalizability.

The paper provides a process that will assist managers in making better decisions when allocating resources for capturing knowledge from departing individuals.

The process introduces a new social dynamic in the assessment of individuals which may have an impact on organizational dynamics.

This is a very innovative and original application of traditional risk assessment principles.

Knowledge loss caused by employee exit has become a significant corporate risk. This paper aims to explore how to measure the impact of knowledge loss. The paper is based on empirical evidence from a five-year longitudinal study.

This paper is based on a longitudinal change project for a large Australian Research Council Linkage Project grant in the period 2008-2013. The method was a single case study using a critical realism paradigm. The project was a transformational change programme which aimed to help make the partner organization a learning organization to minimize the impact of knowledge loss. The partner organization was a large Australian Government Department, which faced the threat of knowledge loss caused by its ageing workforce. The sample was 118 respondents, mainly engineering and technical workers. A total of 150 respondents were invited to participate in the study which involved an annual survey and attendance at regular training workshops and related activities, with a participation rate of 79 per cent.

The results found that knowledge loss has most negative impact in terms of organizational problems including low productivity (morale), strategic misalignment of the workforce (capability gaps), resource cuts (stakeholders unhappy with performance), decreased work quantity and quality (inexperienced employees), work outputs not being used (customers mistrust), longer time to competence (learning cost) and slow task completion (increased search cycle time). The second most significant impact was increased sense of risk associated with work activities and declining capacity to manage the risk. The third main impact was decreased organizational knowledge base: knowledge loss creates knowledge deficit which is unlikely to be filled over time, as shown by the knowledge accounts of surviving employees which remained stable overall. The two remaining measurement constructs – psychological contract and learning organizational capacity – improved, which suggests that the negative impact of knowledge loss may be addressed with appropriate knowledge management.

The research is based on a single case study in a public sector organization. While the longitudinal nature of the study and the rich data collected offsets this issue, it also presents good opportunities for researchers and practitioners to test the ideas presented in this paper in other industry contexts. The complexity and range of the constructs, concepts and scale items is acknowledged. Tables have been used wherever possible to help the reader access the findings.

Knowledge loss is perhaps the greatest corporate risk facing organizations today. This paper provides a method to measure the impact of knowledge loss. Managers may use this to assess the significance of the risk and use this as a business case to take action to minimize the impact of knowledge loss.

Prior research has found knowledge loss has caused decreased psychological contract, lost organizational memory, inefficiency and ineffectiveness and declining capability; however, these concepts are discussed in broad terms only. This paper addresses the need for measurement concepts which helps us understand the nature of the impact of knowledge loss. Five knowledge loss concepts are developed: knowledge resources, psychological contract, learning organization capacity, risk management and organizational problems. The results are based on a large-scale longitudinal study providing empirical evidence of change over a three-year period, situated within the context of a research intervention, i.e. knowledge management programme.

The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework on knowledge loss in a manufacturing sector based on three aspects: likelihood of knowledge loss, critical areas of knowledge loss and relevance of each of these knowledge areas in terms of utilization and alignment with organizational goals and strategy. Such a conceptual framework can be helpful to the practicing managers in understanding the types of knowledge that is lost of a given departing employee and thus deciding on a measure to retain the critical employees or capture their knowledge before they leave.

Using a case study approach, data has been collected from a multinational battery manufacturing company based in Hong Kong. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted and analyzed through CAQDAS ATLAS.ti to generate the themes which were then used to develop the conceptual framework.

The findings revealed that the likelihood factors of knowledge loss in the manufacturing sector include layoffs, retirement, immigration and job change. The critical areas of knowledge loss comprise the knowledge of relationships and networks, especially with the customers and suppliers, the technical knowledge (battery and process technology) and knowledge of management, among others. The relevance of each of these knowledge areas needs to be determined through proper analysis whether these knowledge areas are needed in future projects, up to date and aligned with organizational goals and strategy along with other factors.

Using the developed conceptual framework, managers and executives can identify critical employees in the manufacturing sector and accordingly take some appropriate measures to retain their knowledge. Caution should be taken while applying the findings of this study in other industries and context.

This paper is an attempt to reduce the dearth of empirical studies by exploring knowledge retention in the manufacturing sector, especially in the development of proper conceptual frameworks to assess the potential knowledge loss of employees.

Knowledge loss impact on the performance of management information system (MIS) departments due to its influence on absorptive capacity. Furthermore, knowledge retention in human resource management and information system application is also included in the research model, in order to examine their effectiveness in mitigating knowledge loss. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Survey method and hypotheses are tested with the collected data from 191 Taiwanese IS personnel.

The results not only indicate knowledge loss has impacts on the absorptive capacity and performance of MIS departments while information systems could mitigate knowledge loss, but also provide deeper understanding of knowledge loss and potential issues for academics; as for practitioners, this study could serve as a reference to design and adopt knowledge management (KM) mechanisms.

KM is an important issue for organizations since it is the source of competitive advantages and excellent performance, although the investment in KM is not necessary effective in retaining knowledge. This study conducts survey to examine the influences of knowledge loss in MIS departments, since the high turnover rate of employees and the rapid environmental changes in technical world may worsen the situation. According to dynamic capability theory, absorptive capacity is a critical ability to have while facing turbulent environment.

The literature on supply chain risk management (SCRM) has investigated a multitude of supply chain risks. This paper aims to make a case for the importance of managing the risk of knowledge loss in the supply chain management (SCM) function and incorporating knowledge loss as a critical risk within the SCRM process.

This paper adopts a knowledge-based view of the SCRM process and attempts to bring to light insights based on a synthesis of the relevant literature. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed articles published between 1998 and 2019. Further, a case study was conducted to illustrate the significance of the risk of knowledge loss in the SCM function in terms of how it operates and why it has such a significant impact on performance.

Knowledge loss is a relatively neglected type of supply chain risk that can be added to the existing typologies. This paper argues that knowledge loss in the SCM function has the propensity to significantly impact the performance of the focal firm, exacerbate other types of supply chain risk and impede risk mitigation efforts. We put forth several strategies that supply chain managers can adopt to mitigate the risk of knowledge loss in their function.

This paper generates an exploratory opening that could pave the way for a systematic theory of knowledge loss as a supply chain risk and future empirical research. The study culminates in a number of important insights and initiatives for supply chain managers to recognize and manage the risk of knowledge loss.

This paper argues for the importance of incorporating the risk of knowledge loss in SCRM research and practice. It also provides an examination of some promising angles for future research in SCRM from a knowledge-based perspective.

Research on knowledge loss is at an early stage of evolution. This paper seeks to extend the existent literature through an exploratory investigation of the drivers and impacts of knowledge loss, as well as associated retention strategies within manufacturing and service operations.

Multiple research streams are used to explore and capture the complexities and intricacies of knowledge loss within four firms. The author follows a multiple case study approach with theoretical sampling of manufacturing and service firms.

The results of this study suggest that organizations should retain and diffuse architectural knowledge, improve strategic coordination among units, develop existing capabilities through different networking strategies and more effective networks, and transform these capabilities into effective organizational routines to mitigate knowledge loss and increase knowledge retention. Meanwhile, relying solely on standard operating procedures, information systems, and codification of knowledge in databases could undermine knowledge retention and lead to knowledge loss.

A comprehensive strategy to guide knowledge management efforts and actions should be adopted. Moreover, knowledge cannot be retained without the adoption of an integrative approach that comprises various strategies and without management commitment and drive.

The findings of this exploratory investigation add to the understanding of the knowledge loss phenomenon by showing that it is much more complex than was found in earlier studies emanating from various research streams. The paper proposes directions for future research.

The vulnerability of multinational corporation (MNC) knowledge network is one of the major causes for the failure and even the death of MNCs in the fierce global market competition. Employee turnover and knowledge loss are the triggers for the MNC knowledge network vulnerability and a matter of serious concern in the evolution and development of MNC knowledge network. The purpose of this work is to propose a valid and quantitative measurement method to investigate the influence of employee loss and knowledge loss on the vulnerability of MNC knowledge network.

MNC knowledge network is inherently a heterogeneous network where there are mainly two types of units: employees and their knowledge. Therefore, this paper establishes a weighted super-network model for MNC knowledge network to depict its heterogeneous composition. On the basis of the weighted MNC knowledge super-network, the static and dynamic vulnerability measurement methods are further proposed to investigate and evaluate MNC knowledge network vulnerability.

A real case is given to illustrate the applicability of the proposed weighted MNC knowledge super-network model and the network vulnerability measurement methods. The results show the super-network model proposed in this paper can effectively embody the complex features of MNC knowledge network, and the vulnerability measurement methods can effectively investigate the influence of employee loss and knowledge loss on network vulnerability.

From the perspective of super-network, researchers and practitioners can get a more systematic and deeper understanding of the MNC knowledge network and its human and knowledge resource constitute which are vital for the evolution and development of MNC. Moreover, the MNC knowledge network vulnerability measurement methods can effectively measure and analyze the influence of resource loss on network vulnerability, which can provide a helpful decision support for monitoring and managing of MNC knowledge network vulnerability to reduce its adverse effects.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the antecedents, levers of control and outcomes of organizational unlearning and forgetting in new product development (NPD) teams.

This paper employs a holistic multiple-case study design. This paper gathered data from 30 individual semi-structured interviews in 10 different NPD teams as well as additional data to triangulate the findings.

The authors propose a model of unlearning and forgetting elements occurring in NPD teams. The two most prominent factors that hamper innovation are the inability to unlearn and involuntary forgetting. Failure to manage these antecedents results in the loss of crucial resources, missing innovations or intra-team tensions. Managing knowledge loss by promoting unlearning and reducing forgetting leads to enhanced creativity and flexibility, a higher chance of exceeding innovation goals, increased conversion efficiency and augmentation of existing knowledge.

This paper contributes empirical evidence to the field of unlearning and forgetting. The model illustrates the NPD process from the perspective of organizational unlearning and forgetting. The authors examined the NPD process from an unlearning and forgetting perspective and proposed new categories of antecedents, consequences and managing unlearning and forgetting. This generates a more profound theoretical understanding of underlying knowledge loss processes in NPD teams.

Companies should promote unlearning and specify spatial and temporal freedom. In doing so, team members can identify outdated and obsolete knowledge. Being attentive to unlearning and forgetting processes allows teams to achieve increased creativity and flexibility.

This paper provides empirical evidence to generate a more profound understanding of the underlying mechanisms of knowledge loss in NPD teams. First, the authors propose a holistic model of antecedents, levers of control and consequences of both unlearning and forgetting. Second, the authors suggest that organizations can use these levers of control to successfully manage unlearning and forgetting in NPD teams.

The purpose of this article is to identify and explore the organizational and behavioral factors that influence knowledge retention, specifically in the tacit knowledge sphere.

A multidisciplinary approach focusing on knowledge management and organizational behavior was followed to develop a theoretical model that identifies the organizational and behavioral factors to be considered when addressing the issues relating to knowledge loss. A quantitative empirical research paradigm using the survey method was adopted to determine the organizational and behavioral factors that impact on knowledge retention. The survey was conducted electronically and on paper in the water supply industry. The exploratory principal component factor analysis technique (PCFA technique) was used to explore the factor structure underlying the variables. The theoretical model was compared with the newly proposed factor model to determine similarities and differences.

Nine key factors were identified through the factor analysis, of which knowledge behaviors, strategy implementation, leadership and people knowledge loss risks proved to be the most important. In comparing the factor structure of the theoretically derived model and the PCFA‐composed factor structure, some factors essentially remained the same with few changes, and a number of new factors emerged.

The literature study reveals that little research has been conducted in the field of knowledge retention with a behavioral focus. However, a vast amount of literature is found on knowledge, knowledge management, knowledge retention with a focus on organizational challenges and solution driven knowledge retention initiatives, and the organizational behavior discipline as such, thus facilitating the application of the relevant concepts to knowledge retention from an organizational and behavioral perspective.

This study encourages practitioners to take cognizance of the fact that organizations are different and that enhancing and impeding organizational factors as well as behavioral factors of knowledge retention are to be considered.

The findings should provide insight into the organizational and behavioral factors that should be considered in implementing a knowledge retention strategy to retain critical tacit knowledge, thus ensuring organizational effectiveness and competitive advantage.