This qualitative research discusses knowledge management in a rapidly growing Finnish company from the perspective of its sales team. The aim of this research was to improve internal knowledge sharing as well as to gain an understanding of the usage of the company’s knowledge management system. Recent extraordinary growth shown by the case company can be categorized as hyper-growth, which has created a unique set of challenges.

Omerzel’s (2010) dimensions of knowledge management framework are utilized to break down the results of the interview data into six categories: 1) use of knowledge, 2) knowledge acquisition of individuals, 3) knowledge transfer, 4) motivation, 5) knowledge storage, and 6) measurement of knowledge management implementation. These dimensions are compared to the common challenges of rapid growth companies identified by Hambrick & Crozier (1985): 1) instant size, 2) sense of infallibility, 3) internal turmoil, and 4) extraordinary resource needs. The data for the study were gathered through semi-structured interviews with the sales representatives of the company’s two sales teams. The gathered data were structured based on the theoretical framework.

The findings of this thesis confirm the importance of knowledge management in a rapidly growing environment: the sales team employees of the case company felt a need for internal and external knowledge sharing. The sales team utilized knowledge in customer relations and both tacit and explicit knowledge showed to increase the confidence of the sales representatives. The rapid growth creates challenges through the increased headcount to the company’s culture and the requirement of changing processes. The results showed that knowledge management within a rapidly changing team and the company is important so that the full benefit of the increased knowledge can be utilized, and that the appropriate circumstances for knowledge sharing and use of knowledge can be created.