Strategic planning for knowledge management implementation in engineering firms

Educators all over the world are facing the challenges brought by education reform. Schools need to become more aware how Knowledge Management (KM) can help them be more effective in leveraging organizational knowledge to improve organizational effectiveness to face the increasing requirements for school improvement. Although KM has been regarded as the advanced management strategy in the business world for leveraging their intellectual assets, few studies have been conducted in the school setting. The present study will shed light on how to implement KM in a school setting through the leadership provided by the principal. This study can be a model for those educators who would like to implement KM in their schools.
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\nAlthough KM researchers have identified that leadership is a critical factor in KM implementation, few studies have explored the actual impact of leadership in the process of KM implementation. Moreover, the literature review shows that leadership by the principal is the essential element for school success in KM. This study shows that a principal’s leadership-driven approach is necessary for KM implementation and explores its impact on the process of KM implementation for school improvement.
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\nThe study uses insider action research to explore how the principal’s leadership can be incorporated into KM in a school environment and evaluate the effectiveness of this Leadership-Driven KM Implementation in a school setting, so that this study can offer practical advice and guidance to the principals who would like to try KM in their practice.
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\nIn this study, KM was implemented in a school by starting with two basic approaches: Information-Based and People-/Interaction Based Approaches. The Principal’s Knowledge Leadership was integrated with the two approaches to strengthen the implementation of the KM strategies. The principal acted as the knowledge leader with the roles of knowledge vision builder, knowledge enabler builder and knowledge role model. Under the strong leadership of the principal, both the Information-Based and People-/Interaction Based Approaches have been implemented with achievements in sharing information/knowledge and nurturing a sharing culture and trust. The principal assessed teacher’ readiness, implemented Information-Based and People-/Interaction-Based approaches and strengthened knowledge leadership through the process. This study can serve as a model for implementing KM in schools.
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\nThis study shows that the principal’s leadership was the key driver for KM Implementation. The principal performed his leadership with clear direction and thoughtful procedures of implementing Information-Based and People-/Interaction-Based Approaches, thoughtful allocation of the school resources, and shaping learning for staff. As a result, the school developed a Knowledge Base and a Digital Archive as knowledge repositories and Lesson Study and Communities of Practice as platforms for knowledge sharing. The
\nSchool’s achievements in KM implementation were recognized through improvement in students’ testing achievements, appreciation by KM practitioners, and recognition and awards from government examiners and experts. This study recommends that Leadership-Driven Knowledge Management is of value in the implementation of KM in schools to help schools become learning organizations so they can better face the challenges brought by waves of education reform and societal change.

This study aims at developing a knowledge management (KM) model that construction companies can apply for effective knowledge management implementations in their businesses. In developing the proposed model, a mixed methodology of analysing related literature and identifying the gaps in some existing models intended for the construction industry is applied. In addition, a questionnaire and interviews approaches are conducted to prepare, enhance, strengthen and validate the developed model. The major finding of this study is proposing a new KM model – named as BAN model – that fits potential conditions for construction contracting firms, especially enterprises that are small in size and nonadopting KM. The developed model comprises six main stages: (1) preliminary stage; (2) development of an organizational strategy stage; (3) start-up stage; (4) implementation stage; (5) monitoring and evaluation stage; and (6) derivation of short- and long-term KM values. The proposed model is capable of filling and solving the gaps in existing knowledge management models and defining major success factors in KM implementation. The benefits of the proposed model include the enhancement of the KM implementation process, facilitation of the decision-making process, attainment and maintenance of competitive advantages, improvement of innovation, and continuance of effective KM performance.

India has witnessed a surge in knowledge management (KM) practices over the past decade but these practices vary from business to business. Recording these practices is important as it provides multiple benefits to the business and inputs for the KM implementation process. Developing a scale to measure KM is relevant both for service and manufacturing sector. A literature review was done to conduct an in-depth analysis of the existing scales followed by instrument development and data collection from 320 employees from eight listed enterprises. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has been used for validating the scale. The first outcome of the study is the standardised scale which can be used to record KM practices in both manufacturing and service sector. The second is the identification of important KM practices in business - knowledge acquisition, documentation, creation, transfer and knowledge application.

In recent years, the importance of keeping and sharing knowledge in organization have motivated many firms to start knowledge management (KM) projects. However, in reality, many of KM projects have failed or not achieved the planned goals. Lack of infrastructure for knowledge creation are known as one of the important reasons for this failure. Knowledge creation is one of the main level in KM cycle. Knowledge and knowledge creating tools, if well recognized and applied, have a significant role in the success of the KM project. The aim of this study is to identify organizational factors that affect individual knowledge creation in the firm. The systematic literature review resulted in 23 key factors on individual knowledge creation. These factors were classified in five categories namely: organizational culture, strategy, organizational structure, human resources and information technologies. Focusing on these factors, can increase knowledge creation by employees in organization and decrease the rate of KM projects failure.

Knowledge management (KM) is currently an important driver to develop dynamic capabilities for businesses, on behalf of competitiveness. Nonetheless, some critical success factors are hampering KM implementation, such as a lack of a KM strategy, cultural aspects, leadership, and technology. In this paper, we focused on the KM implementation within Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by exploring Participatory Design potential to KM implementation in SMEs, by focusing on information technology as a critical success factor and exploring some organizational culture characteristics that can help in this context. To achieve this goal, we conducted an ethnographic study in the real environment of a consulting firm which is starting its own KM project. Our results show that Participatory Design might be recommended to SMEs’ KM implementation, by taking advantage of already available, but underused technological tools.

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to measure knowledge management (KM) implementation and determine KM strategy by assigning KM instruments into KM orientations.Design/methodology/approachInformation is collected from ten SMEs in Spain and ten in Austria taking part in a KM audit project.FindingsResults show that instruments can be used to diagnose KM strategy. Besides, some firm's characteristics as industry, national culture, size and age act as contingent factors. Personalisation strategy is predominant probably due to be more feasible in first KM stages.Research limitations/implicationsBesides the increase of cases, business strategy could be introduced to explore relationships with KM instruments and strategy.Practical implicationsThis study helps management to auto‐diagnosis its KM implementation and strategyOriginality/valueInstead of sophisticated measures, KM strategy is revealed considering knowledge instruments use.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the efficacy of knowledge management (KM) based systems and best practices that could be used to address operational issues in the oil and gas sector.Design/methodology/approachGiven little was known empirically about the strategies and practices which contribute to improved performance, innovation and continuous improvement in the oil and gas sector qualitative method was used. Semi-structured interviews were used to derive senior managers’ constructs of project delivery efficiency and KM based systems. The interviews were analysed through the use of a qualitative analysis software package NUDIST NVivoTM. Participants were selected using purposive sampling. Validity and reliability were achieved by first assessing the plausibility in terms of already existing knowledge on some of the operational issues raised by participants.FindingsThese were synthesised into a framework capturing seven well-defined stages. All these steps emerged as being related; they are comprised of independent variables. These steps were found to comprise of knowledge management technology approaches, knowledge management people approaches, KM strategies and value enhancing practices.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the findings are pertinent to oil and gas organisations, it will be important to conduct follow-up research validating the potential for using the results of this study to establish frameworks for knowledge and information management in different organisations and contexts. This will provide not only data about the validity of the framework in generic terms but will also generate additional data on the application of KM strategy.Practical implicationsAs shown in this study, successful KM based systems requires the aligning of business strategy, technology for KM, project management operations with an enterprise knowledge-sharing culture. Such sharing requires managing the behaviour of project personnel such that knowledge transfer becomes part of the organisation’s norm.Social implicationsThe implementation of KM based systems requires deliberate planning and action to create the conditions for success and put in place the strategy, leadership, goals, process, skills, systems, issue resolution, and structure to direct and exploit the dynamic nature of project work. The strategies proposed in this research cannot be expected to resolve all KM issues in the oil and gas sector. However, their use defines an approach that is superior to the traditional approaches typically adopted and consequently merits far wider application.Originality/valueThe proposed framework presents a better way of optimising the performance of project-based operations thus enabling oil and gas organisations to reform their poor performance on projects and empower them to better manage emerging cultural challenges in their future projects. Reflecting on their experiences, the participants confirmed that the proposed KM framework and its seven well-defined stages were central to the effectiveness of KM in oil and gas operations. Although the scope of this research was restricted to projects in Nigeria and the UK, the geographical focus of this research does not invalidate these results with respect to other countries. The fact is that the oil and gas sector globally shares some common fundamental characteristics.

Retail trade plays an important role both in a global context and in Indonesia itself because it drives economic growth, creates jobs and shapes consumer behavior. Understanding the importance of industry growth, dynamics of competition and knowledge management are essential for optimizing business performance and achieving sustainable success. Minimarket O Mart is one of the small retail in the form of minimarkets in Indonesia, minimarket O Mart has problems in its business, namely inefficient business because O Mart is still in its standard operating procedures, because there is still no good SOP documentation, besides that the knowledge sharing activities within the company is also limited to chatting and has not been carried out formally within the company. The aims of this study are to propose a knowledge management system that can improve business processes at O Mart and to develop an implementation plan for the suggested knowledge management system, outlining the steps and strategies required for its successful integration at O Mart. Theories that support this research are the Definition of Knowledge, Fishbone Analysis, Knowledge Management Framework, People-Process-Technology Framework, SECI Model, KM Roadmap, and Implementation Plan. The research methodology is based on a qualitative research design involving data collection through interviews with employees from various departments of O Mart Retail Company. This research uses a knowledge management framework (People, Process, Technology) and the SECI model which will then produce a Knowledge Management Roadmap and also a Knowledge management implementation plan which is expected to overcome the problem of inefficient business processes at O Mart minimarkets.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the perceived importance and actual level of implementation of five preliminary success factors, four knowledge management (KM) strategies and three KM processes towards the performance of the Malaysian telecommunication industry.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was conducted on telecommunication companies based on a convenience sampling technique. Data were analyzed using paired t‐tests and multiple regression analyses.FindingsThe results show that Malaysian telecommunication organizations view all the KM preliminary success factors, strategies and process as important and critical but fall short of implementation. K Audit, K Map, leadership, measurement, construction and embodiment are the variables that have the largest gap between perceived importance and actual implementation. For perceived importance, culture is the only important variable associated with organizational performance whereas for actual implementation, both business strategy and construction process are found to be significantly associated with organizational performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper was conducted in only one industry in Malaysia. Furthermore, it focuses on KM implementation rather than on learning and knowledge utilization. This paper provides a framework for developing an instrument for assessing the use of preliminary elements in the Malaysian telecommunication industry. Telecommunication organizations have to overcome problems identified and enhance their implementation level in order to achieve better organizational performance.Originality/valueThis paper has extended knowledge in KM, especially concerning implementation issues at the beginning stage of KM. Moreover, it is among the first empirical work to specifically examine preliminary success factors, processes and strategies that affect the preliminary implementation of KM.

This study aims to examine the influence of Knowledge Management (KM), Talent Management (TM), and Transformational Leadership (TL) on the performance of higher education institutions in Makassar, Indonesia, emphasizing the role of TL as a mediator between KM and TM and institutional performance. This quantitative study involved 325 lecturers from various universities in Makassar. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to assess the relationship between KM, TM, TL, and lecturer performance. The results showed that KM and TM have a significant positive influence on performance, both directly and through the mediation of TL. KM positively affects TL, and these two variables, along with TM, contribute significantly to performance improvement. However, the interaction between KM and TL did not show a significant moderating effect on performance, indicating that the direct influence of KM and TM is more dominant in this context. This study confirms the importance of the integration of KM and TM in improving the performance of higher education institutions and demonstrates the strategic role of TL in maximizing the effectiveness of these management strategies. The findings suggest that effective leadership can enhance the implementation of KM and TM, which overall improves organizational performance. The practical implications of this study are highly relevant for policy makers and university administrators in Makassar to develop and implement strategies that integrate effective KM and TM practices, directed by transformational leadership. Further research is recommended to use a longitudinal design to validate the findings and understand the dynamics of this relationship over time.

Knowledge management (KM) is the source for creating a sustainable competitive advantage, and it helps the organizations to retain, develop, organize and utilize their knowledge. Due to globalization, the organizations must maintain their knowledge assets to survive. Many organizations have realized the potential of KM and are applying it. Since the healthcare industry is growing significantly, it is continuously generating a wealth of knowledge. This knowledge can be recorded, communicated and used by many health care professionals with the help of KM. There is a wealth of research on KM in healthcare of developed countries, but very few studies regarding KM implementation can be found in developing countries i.e., Pakistan. Pakistan is now looking towards the implementation of KM; it is in its initial stages. The implementation of KM in the healthcare of Pakistan is affected by different barriers. In this study, the barriers will be identified and analyzed. An interrelationship between the barriers will be determined, and how the different barriers support each other (driving power), and how they influence each other (dependence power). The results of interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and MICMAC (Matrice d’Impacts croises-multipication appliqué an classment i.e., cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) approach show that lack of support from top management, insufficient strategic planning and lack of support from organizational structure are the main barriers to KM adoption in the healthcare of Pakistan. This study provides a solution in determining the main barriers that need to be solved first, and to ensure effective implementation of KM in the healthcare of Pakistan.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers of knowledge management (KM) implementation in Alborz Province industrial Parks Corporation and prioritize them using fuzzy analytical network process (FANP). Design/methodology/approach Through an in-depth review of the literature on KM and researcher findings from observations and interviews with experts, the main barriers of KM implementation, namely, organizational culture, organizational structure, human resource, technology and miscellaneous factors along with their related factors in the surveyed organization were identified. Then, based on the information gathered, an expert questionnaire was developed. Finally, the priority of each main barrier and their sub-factors were determined using FANP. Findings The results show that human resource and organizational culture factors with the weights of 0.66 and 0.22, respectively, have the highest ranking and therefore are the most important barriers. The technology factor with the weight of 0.00002 is the least important barrier in implementing KM in the surveyed corporation. Research limitations/implications One of the limitations of this study is the generalizability of the findings, which may be limited by the single case study method used. Originality/value There are fewer studies about KM barriers specifically with a focus on prioritizing them in organizations, especially in the context of Iran as a developing country. This study develops a comprehensive and solid mathematical technique to prioritize the identified barriers of KM implementation in the context of Iran.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show that knowledge management (KM) practitioners usually describe implementation in ideal and positive terms, such as making KM strategy happen, putting ideas into practice or turning embryonic KM strategies into reality. Research has been mainly confined to failures or mistakes in implementation.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper seeks to coalesce some of the scholarly contributions about implementation success and failure, by providing an overview and critical analysis of configurational theory as an alternative approach in research and thinking about KM implementation issues.FindingsThis paper reviews the dominant approaches to KM implementation. It looks at the past academic and business practice literature on KM and calls for a radical change in the way of thinking and studying KM implementation, which incorporates configuration and contextual theories.Originality/valueThis paper provides an understanding of implementation from a holistic perspective, which allows divergent paradigms and perspectives to co‐exist, yet when able to recognise both strengths and limitations of each, it ultimately contributes to a more robust and coherent final analysis of KM implementation.

Software companies are in the top of the waves of knowledge economy era and knowledge management is the inevitable choice. However, in the process of the implementation of software enterprise knowledge management, there exist a large number of barriers for the knowledge management to smoothly progress, which makes the desired results difficult to achieve and even brings negative issues to the management of software enterprises. This paper has analyzed features of software enterprises implementing knowledge management, summarized the obstacles in the implementation of knowledge management, and proposed some practical solutions based on the actual conditions of management of software enterprises, which has certain reference value for software enterprises to smoothly implement the knowledge management.

Researchers and practitioners have emphasised the need for advances in knowledge management (KM) research to better understand how organisations add value from their KM practices. Thus, a comprehensive framework, rooted in two main theoretical streams of KM practices, objectivist and practice-based perspective, is proposed. We believe this explains how KM practices add value, and will assist organisations to obtain a more accurate picture of their KM practices, the factors that influence KM implementation, and how KM can be measured. The framework also serves as a means to identify how well KM practices meet organisational strategies. This paper begins with a review of different KM perspectives and then reports the findings of qualitative in-depth interviews with UK car manufacturers. The results indicate that most organisations adopt different types of KM practices, with the findings revealing that top management commitment, strategy, IT, people involvement and organisational culture were the factors that most influenced KM implementation. In conclusion, the paper advocates an integrated view of KM perspectives and mechanisms for KM practice in UK car manufacturing.