LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter reviews the related literature on knowledge management. It is divided into five main sections. The first section presents conceptual framework for the study elucidating key concepts of the study. The second section discusses the theoretical framework where key theories informing the study are discussed. In this section knowledge management theories and models are discussed and linked to the study. Section three reviews a critical review of the existing literature on the subject of knowledge management. In this section empirical studies are interrogated and critiqued to identify important variables which are relevant in this study. The current international knowledge coordination systems and knowledge management best practices will be evaluated. The literature review ends with a discussion of knowledge management critical success factors (knowledge enablers) related to the objectives of this study. The need for top management commitment in knowledge management processes is examined. The effect of organizational
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Knowledge management was defined as the turning of information into actionable knowledge which can be accessed by people who can apply it. Robbins (2003) gives a time perspective in his definition of knowledge management. He mentions as part of knowledge management the distribution of the right information to the right people at the right time. Lytras et al (2002) gives a definition of knowledge management which emphasises the purpose of knowledge management. In the definition creation of new capabilities, enablement for superior performance, encouraging innovation and enhancement of customer value were mentioned. For the purpose of this study the researcher summarised knowledge management as the intentional process of coordinating people, technology and systems to optimise creation and sharing of intellectual
In order to manage knowledge successfully, it is essential to clarify the essence of knowledge before identifying the importance of knowledge management. The perception of knowledge has been varied broadly; however, one of the generally accepted defintion is from Davenport and Prusak (1998). According to their points of view, knowledge is defined as a set of experience and values, it either comes from individuals ' mind or roots in the organisation, which can be found in the documents, routines, practices and norms, and is assumed to flow between individuals through various networks, being used to assess and embody new
The superior capabilities of knowledge management systems provide an opportunity for the business to engage the most effective components and recognize the importance of communication to make informed, accurate decisions (McGrath, 2001). This system can organize the company’s knowledge resources, knowledge obtaining, organizing, and applying to make a sound routine the will enforce effectiveness (Niu, 2008). The dynamic function of knowledge management to create, capture, and apply knowledge to achieve an organization’s objective will allow them to be more profitable and successful (Zucker, 1986). In addition to increasing profits, the system can be also used to reduce costs and enhance research and development (DeTienne & Jackson, 2001). With all of these advantages, it would be wasteful for a company to not employ knowledge management. As seen in the Discovery Communications, Inc. example, the company can attribute their new productivity levels and increase in ease of securing documents to the knowledge management system that put into place by Carefree Technology. Like Discovery Communications, Inc., knowledge management is so popular today because companies can collect, process and share knowledge to ignite employees ' creativity which in turn will make the business grow. Wenhong and Jianhua (2009) explained the core of knowledge management is to convert company’s knowledge resources into an increased company
While Knowledge Management (KM) is important in any business however, there is no real agreed upon definition. KM is a concept that includes the
The problem for this dissertation study test the challenges associated with creating, capturing and sharing knowledge. Doda (2017) describes this method as knowledge management. This method uses a critical goal of improving learning and performance in an organizational framework. Knowledge management as theory and a model was improved by Dalkir in 2005 (Atieh & Somayeh, 2017).
Since the mid-1990s, knowledge management has become increasingly significant for business managers and companies. ‘It is broadly accepted that systematic knowledge management is tightly linked with gaining and sustaining competitive advantage.’ (Bogner & Bansal, 2007, p658-6 as cited in Hislop, 2009, p1) The definition of knowledge management is various because of the wide range of this concept and its complexity (Al-Hawamdeh, 2003). For example, the broad definition provided by McAdam and McCreedy (2000, p155 as cited in Hislop 2009, p53) note that: ‘KM relates to the management of anything classified as knowledge’ Furthermore, Hislop (2009, p59)
Knowledge management refers to organising and sharing the various forms of business information created within an organisation (Marakas and O’Brien 2013). Knowledge management is important as it increases the capability of a firm to learn from its environment and to incorporate knowledge into its business processes (Laudon & Laudon 2014).
Chapter 12 highlights the different reasons for managing knowledge that include the need to respond accurately to globalization as well as rapid change, the need to manage communication and information overload, organizational downsizing, leveraging knowledge in order to gain competitive advantage as well as controlling knowledge embedded within different products in an organization. The author also elaborates how knowledge management can be viewed as a dynamic process, which involves the transfer, capturing, generation, and codification of knowledge. The chapter also asserts that business intelligence utilizes technologies and data to understand business performance.
Knowledge Management (KM) is described as a systematic process of sharing, reusing and managing the knowledge only when it is made available and recorded (Jashapara, 2005). This helps an organization to gain insight and understanding for own experience (Remus, 2012). Most of the KM activities
Knowledge management is critical to organizations. According to Gregory R. Wenig, knowledge management is consists of activities from its own experience and from the experience of others, and on the judicious application of that knowledge to fulfill the mission of the organization. In my point of view, I think that knowledge management is performed by organization to appropriately handle, distribute, and transfer assets of knowledge, experience, and ideas from individual
In a knowledge organization, defined by Bergeron (2003) as “corporations that take a systematic approach to capturing information”, knowledge and knowledge workers are treated as the organization’s most valuable asset. Therefore, the sharing of knowledge between employees is essential in knowledge management. But how does an organization make this work? In order for a knowledge management program to be successfully applied, several key factors must be considered: employees, leadership, application of information technology (to be discussed in later section), and most important of all, knowledge.
In the contemporary corporate cultural based world, a knowledge management system (KMS) is considered an important element to assist the sharing and integration of knowledge within the organization. An effective knowledge management strategy is capable of resolving knowledge management issue arises at any level in the organization (top management-to-bottom management level). A successful KMS also helps in increasing the overall business performance through ensuring staff performance, project management, organizational change management, quality of deliverables and the satisfaction of the staffs and customers. On the other side a lack of implementation of proper knowledge management system may hinder the performance of the staffs and the overall productiveness for the organization.
In order to understand knowledge management, it is important to start by defining what knowledge is. Knowledge is the full utilization of information and data, coupled with the potential of people's skills, competencies, ideas, intuitions, commitments and motivations. In today’s dynamic and complex business environment, the desire for knowledge has increased even more with the scope and content changed dramatically, often spreading outside the organization.
At the present time, organizations do not compete merely on the grounds of financial resources and tangible assets, rather knowledge is the new competitive advantage in business. According to Omotayo (2015), there is popular saying that knowledge is power. depending on this claim, it can be said that knowledge management is the key to power.
This report looks at the use of Knowledge Management (KM) and Innovation as a strategy in an organisation and how organisations have adopted the concept and principles behind the Knowledge Management theory and implementing them into the organisation to measure the successful delivery of the strategy.
Knowledge management is a large term and can mean a number of things. For the purpose of this paper, the definition of knowledge management that I will recognize is the creation, development, and sharing of knowledge and information within an organization. However the problem remains, as well as the topic of this paper, exactly how effective is knowledge management in an organization. Furthermore, the key question that I hope to answer in this paper is how the use and development of knowledge can be managed in an organization. Although there are countless pieces of literature on knowledge management itself, and there have been proposals that link knowledge management to a company’s performance, to this date there are very few papers that attempt to measure the effectiveness of knowledge management within an organization. Overall, my objective of this paper is to compare two separate companies and first, find out how to measure the value of knowledge management, and second, find out how beneficial it is to the organization.