Generational traits generally have mixed impact on work activities. From
previous research we have a very scattered picture of the impact of generational
differences in the workplace context. This paper investigates how generational
differences influence the knowledge-sharing behaviour in organizations. Interviews
were conducted in two Finnish organisations. Our analysis shows that when it
comes to values and priorities in relation to knowledge sharing, there are no
differences between younger and older employees. However, the interviews
revealed nuances between generations, which explain why generational
differences are not so decisive. It was found that professional age is a more
important factor when describing differences between employees’ attitudes to
knowledge sharing. Furthermore, the organizations’ socialization process plays an
important role in overriding generation differences in knowledge sharing. Finally,
the interviews underlined that a flexible approach to IT is increasingly important
for work tasks in all age groups and generational differences do not matter to a
large extent.