**1. Introduction**

In the last few years, managerial and organizational disciplines have increasingly focused on knowledge management (KM) studies as an innovative tool for both the managerial and organizational management changes that are linked to the environmental and market growths [1]. Competitiveness does not have national boundaries anymore, and companies have to deal with often unknown contexts. In an age of continuous technological evolution, in which technology is basically at everybody's grasp, knowledge has become a key factor in interfirm competition, because it is difficult to reproduce and to standardize [2]. Furthermore, companies are not able to develop internally all the knowledge they need: transfer and sharing of knowledge becomes important, both intra-organizational and interorganizational, as a process that involves all hierarchical levels of the organization and the different categories of people [2]. For companies seeking to acquire new

information, the forms of their intercompany collaboration and their cultural relationships are crucial, since these play an important role in determining the relevant knowledge transfer processes. Some models of development and transfer of knowledge are recognized as defining elements of the "industrial district [3]" (ID). The ID is an economic phenomenon in which the constituent societies engage in the joint production of an asset, optimizing the use of resources and profits [4, 5]. This synergistic production in a district supply chain seems to be more characteristic of the manufacturing sector, where production can follow a linear path along the chain, with a rare overlap of activity [6]. In district realities, the knowledge existing within the district is an intangible asset shared by all its companies: to be exploited by everyone, knowledge must be shared and transferred both within individual companies and between the several district companies [7]. Therefore, the ID can be analyzed as a cognitive system, in terms of internal creation, exchange and management of knowledge. In this way it is possible to evaluate the productivity of the district, both in economic-financial terms and as a generator of intangible and distinctive assets [8]. Companies operating in the district have the advantage of using the knowledge of the other companies involved. The main theories of literature, both national and international, generally sustain that the knowledge transfer requires a sense of equality and equity between companies, in order to create a joint competitive advantage thanks to the sharing of knowledge [9, 10]. However, the empirical evidence shows that the district value chain is often characterized by hierarchical relationships and asymmetry between the parties [11]. Starting both from the analysis of the main characteristics of the cultural and relational environment of KM and from the study of ID—particularly of oil district—this chapter is aimed to investigate the process of knowledge transfer as an activity closely linked to action of human resources who work closely in the district [11].
