Facilitating knowledge retention in cross-border mergers in the telecommunications industry of Lesotho

Abstract

Knowledge should be retained because it is an organisational asset. The management of knowledge, particularly knowledge retention, has been widely researched by several scholars. However, little research has been done on facilitating knowledge retention in the organisational cross-border mergers of the telecommunication industry in Lesotho. The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the process of knowledge retention in the context of organisational cross-border mergers in Lesotho, particularly in the telecommunication industry. This is a quantitative case study research that triangulated interviews and questionnaires as instruments of data collection. Quantitative data were gathered from all 14 the staff members of Econet telecom Lesotho who went through the merger process as well as 14 former employees of the organisation who left the organisation for different reasons during the merger. Qualitative data, on the other hand, were gathered by means of interviews from selected staff members who held managerial positions. The aim was to check for consistency and corroboration of the findings. Quantitative data analysis was done with the assistance of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis. The responses from the questionnaires retained 75% and four informants were interviewed. The results for the study indicated that although there were no formal policies in place that guided the retention of knowledge, somehow knowledge was retained during the merger process. On the other hand, a considerable amount of valuable knowledge may have been lost because employees who either left the organisation during the process or those who were apparently forced to resign just left the organisation with no proper knowledge retention arrangement. The findings of the study also showed that the Econet Telecom Lesotho merger was accompanied by a high staff turnover resulting from both forced and voluntary resignations. Furthermore, the results of the study indicated that the following were used during the merger: job rotation, communities of practice, mentorship, job shadowing and storytelling. However, the interview findings showed that ii Econet Telecom Lesotho did not do anything to retain knowledge during the merger process. Moreover, the results showed that there was indeed visible cultural differences between the two organisations. The cultural differences appeared noticeable even at the managerial level. Furthermore, the findings also pointed to the fact that those cultural variations tended to impede knowledge retention between staff members as they had different cultural backgrounds. Based on the study findings, the following recommendations are made: it is imperative to have a knowledge management policy in place to guide all knowledge management activities in organisations, including those in the telecommunications industry, and consequently, the study recommends the development of a knowledge management system at Econet Telecom Lesotho. This study also recommends a thorough cultural due diligence exercise for future cross-border mergers.