First of all, what is knowledge transfer, or knowledge sharing? Von Krogh defines KS as knowledge creation, the recipient recreates the knowledge shared by the sender in the cognitive process of learning the itself. Sharing occurs in interpretation and found meaning, in making sense of it, and in the process of using new knowledge. Furthermore, Szulanski highlighted the issue of knowledge sharing in 1996, that “the movement of knowledge within the organization is a distinct experience.” , not a gradual process of diffusion. (p.28) In his opinion, the pure transmission of knowledge from the source to the recipient has no useful value if the recipient does not use the new knowledge. The key element in knowledge transfer is not background knowledge, but rather the extent to which the recipient acquires potentially useful knowledge and uses this knowledge in their operations. Cognitive processes need to be considered, as individuals engage in KS, both the sender and receiver will cognitively process the exchange within the broader strategy, structure, and culture of their organization to help them find meaning. (Lesson 8) Therefore, the process of sharing knowledge mainly depends on individuals, how the sender and receiver react, and the understanding of knowledge will directly affect the outcome of sharing. Motivation and ability are the two main areas in the individual characteristics of the knowledge sharing problem. Motivation is defined as “those psychological processes that cause the arousal, direction, and persistence of goal-directed voluntary action” (Mitchell, 1982). Motivation could be an issue for knowledge management because it influences the willingness of knower and recipient to share and receive knowledge. (lect...... half of the document ......sharing one's knowledge is due to the fear of losing one's competitive power, and this would directly lead to the interruption of the knowledge sharing process. Since the sender is not willing to share the knowledge, regardless of the ability of the receiver, the knowledge would not be shared anyway. No one can make bricks without straw. Works Cited Deci, EL (1976), Intrinsic Motivation, Plenum Press, London, Alice Lam, Jean. -Paul. Lambermont-Ford, (2010) “Knowledge Sharing in Organizational Contexts: A Motivation-Based Perspective”, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol 14 Iss: 1, pp.51 – 66Osterloh, M., Frey, B. ( 2000), "Motivation, knowledge transfer, and organizational forms", Organization Science, Vol. 11 No.5, pp.538-50. Renzl, B. (2008), "Trust in management and knowledge sharing: the effects of mediation of fear and the documentation of knowledge", Omega, Vol. 36 pp.206-20.