Knowledge leakage in the context of staff outflow : the case of small hotels in Southern Poland

Paper explores the phenomenon of knowledge leakage in small family owned hotel business units. Empirical research was carried out in 2014 on a sample consisting of 53 family own hotels operating in Malopolska region of Poland. The findings from this study indicate that knowledge protection initiatives are not absent in small family owned hotels. Examined small family owned hotels have a relative awareness of the problem of knowledge leakage and knowledge implications of staff outflow. Obtained results confirm that those small firms are more engaged in knowledge protection activity when experiencing higher levels of staff outflow. Most commonly used mechanisms belong to operational and supporting technology areas of knowledge protection. Research findings confirm that examined hotels address the problem of high staff outflow with a more intensive use of mechanisms across all defined areas of knowledge protection. Paper contributes substantially to research advancement in the field of knowledge management in tourism industry by providing primary data concerning knowledge leakage routes together with deployment of knowledge protection measures by hotel business units.