Knowledge Management
There are many definitions of Knowledge Management however (King, 2009) defines KM as the planning, organising, motivating and controlling of people, processes and systems. Ajmal et al., (2010) proffers that KM is an organisation’s systematic approach to acquire, organize, and communicate the knowledge, for effectiveness such as improving productivity. According to Becerra-Fernandez, Gonzalez, & Sabherwal, (2004) KM not only focusses on organising knowledge but it also focusses on the how to make that important knowledge available.
According to Prusak, (2001) the emergence of Knowledge management (KM) in recent years can be linked to three emerging trends globalisation, ubiquitous computing and the focus shift to the knowledge centric view of an organisation (Spender, 2015). However, Hislop, (2010) views KM as a “passing fad”.
Knowledge
Knowledge is universally considered an essential competitive asset with (Sveiby, 2001) concurring that that knowledge becomes an advantage when shared among personnel within the company. This is further backed up by (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 2007) who proffer that knowledge is the source for a company to have a lasting competitive advantage.
Types of Knowledge
There are three main types of knowledge and together they form the spectrum of passing information, learning, and growing. The explicit, implicit and tacit are understood to create different knowledge. Explicit knowledge is the knowledge that covers topics, is easy to share and document out at scale systematically (Grant, 2013).
Explicit knowledge also includes all things that are a traditional part of a knowledge management strategy or what is captured in a knowledge base.
Implicit knowledge is essentially know-how or learned skills. It is gained by applying explicit knowledge and developing it to a specific situation.
Tacit knowledge is what is gained when a person learns the best way to something (Grant, 2013). Their experience is taken and synthesised with other learned information to work out new problems. In tacit knowledge, the information is intangible and difficult to explain in precise ways. It is informally learned and usually applies to specific scenarios. When captured, tacit knowledge can be added to a knowledge base, since doing so makes it easy to share the experience gained over time with others who may be in need. There are, however, many issues with tacit knowledge with (Oregna-Rogland & Chalmeta, 2019) agreeing that when a formal KM programme is adopted by an organisation then this can have a negative effect when acquiring tacit knowledge for individuals.
Nonaka (1994) suggests that if a person is subject to repetitive and unchanged work-related activities then this will have an effect on the amount of tacit knowledge that is available. Nonka (1994) further highlights that the quality of the persons tacit knowledge is impacted negatively with the monotony of that person’s work environment.
Gamble, (2020) precludes that there is a reluctance within organisations to deal with tacit and explicit knowledge. This reluctance to manage effectively negatively effects working practices and can cause deficiencies in environmental changes and innovations. With (Ahbabi, et al, 2019) concurring that for tacit knowledge to benefit the organisation then there needs to be participation from both the transferer and transferee to help in the understanding and the successful transference of tacit knowledge. However, (Chuang et al., 2016) suggest it’s not the transmission process that causes the issues, it’s a lack of a process within the organisation to aid the systematic transfer of knowledge.
However, as knowledge embraces both explicit, and tacit knowledge then this shouldn’t be treated the same as data and knowledge and data are two separate things (Mehrizi & Bontis, 2019).
The loss of knowledge poses a big challenge to all orgainsations. In the oil and gas sector there is a big challenge with the loss of knowledge through redundancies, staff turnover, ageing workforce and frequent mergers and acquisitions. Studies by DeLong (2004), in Salopek (2005), Doyle (2004), have identified that these factors, along with the volume of knowledge that is generated in companies that this could result in “massive quantities of invaluable, irreplaceable, speciality knowledge being lost by organisations everyday” (Martins & Martins, 2011).
It has been recognised that there needs to be more effort within companies to have influence over tacit knowledge sharing and capturing in able to monopolise its benefits (Beesley & Cooper, 2008)
Managing Knowledge
Identifying and capturing Knowledge
Identifying and exploiting critical knowledge are specific challenges that hampers a manager’s ability to safeguard project organisations. Sayyadi (2017) confers that since project teams or groups are usually transient, they lack a defined supporting culture and knowledge system to capture, retain, and share knowledge through the corporate memory. As a result, critical knowledge essential in project management teams can be disbanded once the project is complete. According to (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 2007) although there is an acknowledgement by mangers of the terms and concepts of “brain power and “intellectual capital” there are few managers that know how to actually manage knowledge or grasp the concept of a knowledge creating company.
Knowledge Incentives
Planned management incentives and efforts are essential to capturing, creating, and transferring knowledge in projects. Furthermore, organisations should complement KM initiative with the experience gained from projects, otherwise, it cannot sustain organisation business operations in subsequent projects. With O’Dell & Hubert, (2011) recognising that there needs to be reward and recognition for the sharing of knowledge and the adoption of the open and sharing behaviour. However, Al-Alawi et al (2007) highlights that any reward system implemented needs to be aligned with what Is being shared in order to get most benefit therefore whether the rewards will be direct or indirect needs to be explored to ensure the willingness of personnel to engage in knowledge sharing (Sajeva, 2014). With Zang, et al (2010) stating that there is no current conclusive evidence to suggest that a reward scheme actually works.
KM Strategies
Knowledge-based management is a tool that addresses the ways to establish best practices for improving project management processes. The current competitive and progressively turbulent market environment demands improved project management practices (Ranf & Herman, 2018). Companies need to identify their ways of how to manage knowledge. It relies on developing knowledge-based management strategies. Focusing on a knowledge-based management implementation model illuminates how organisation exploits, acquire, transfers and maintains its core activities. Lifelong learning enables organisations address changes happening within and around business environment (Ranf & Herman, 2018). Adoption of this strategy also improves how organisation develop, use and store knowledge. Since explicit and tacit or implicit knowledge is essential in reusing and advancing knowledge, organisation’s collection forms the memory or the knowledge resources.
Organisation Culture
There’s a strong link between knowledge management and organisational culture. Cultural context is essential to apply and analyse knowledge adequately. Organisation culture also influences behaviours important to knowledge management. Culture shapes assumptions about what knowledge is and, therefore, outlines understanding worth managing (Nunn, 2013). Culture also mediates the relationship between organisation and individual’s knowledge. It still creates the context for social interactions that generally determine how effective an organisation can be at sharing, creating, and applying knowledge and at what range it manages the process (King, 2007).
Organisational Culture and KM
Organisation culture regulates two significant areas from the perspective of knowledge management. Trust between employees and readiness to collaborate with (Juan et al, 2009) concurring that due to employees being unwilling to share knowledge with colleagues this can lead to a fractured relationship within the team or a lack of trust. For knowledge sharing to happen this must be built amongst the team.
The organisation culture leaning towards effective knowledge management inspires employees to question developed search and practices for new possibilities. An important dimension is the establishment of conditions of acceptance for mistakes and freedom of opinion. Another essential requirement is ensuring the employees’ autonomy is boosted through engagement and motivation (Nunn, 2013). Employees define their responsibilities and duties in pursuit of the goal set by the organisation. Autonomy deals with such dimensions as the choices of techniques for process monitoring, task accomplishment, freedom to experiment, encouragement to learn and risk-taking. It is achieved through the establishment of independent multifunctional teams. Various studies that have been carried out by a number of authors such as Vazquez, Fournier, and Flores (2009), Bures (2003), Riege (2005), Bock, Zmud, Kim, and Lee (2005) and Ardichvili, Page, and Wentling (2003) concur that culture, if poor can serve as a barrier in regards to the knowledge sharing within an organisation (Kathiravelu et al, 2013).
Knowledge Sharing
Knowledge sharing requires an exchange of openness, ideas and human interaction. The organisation might have difficulties if knowledge is perceived as a source of prestige, power or possible career development with (Willems, 2009) suggesting that the reason for this is that the employee feels that their worth within the organisation will be reduced once they openly share knowledge. Therefore, management should promote a focus on the establishment of open communication and collaborative goals. It requires the redefinition of employer-employee relations to develop values such as cooperation, partnership and dialogue. If there is a supportive organisational culture then this can be an enabler to knowledge sharing within the organisation (Kathiravelu et al, 2013). Previous studies by Lin (2007); Mueller (2012); Bock, Zmud, Kim, and Lee, 2005, and Kharabshesh (2008) show that when there is top management support, positive team interactions and trust between team members and management, and having a supportive, positive culture are all factors that can influence in knowledge sharing.
Technological factor
Technological factors such as Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have facilitated management to share information and knowledge in an organisation. The implementation of knowledge management projects has become more accessible and practical. The value of KM is more when readily available at the right time to the right people. Thus, KM is enhanced through communication and information technologies, including telephones, computers, databases and data-mining systems. The development of scanners and cameras has enabled the collection and analysis of data in KM in recent years. However, when it comes to sharing knowledge the use of technologies can be more effective for larger teams as smaller teams are more reliant on face-to-face contact with team members (Mohamed & Rajib, 2014) Also, using software packages have contributed to recognising and identifying patterns and details more easily than before. Knowing that knowledge management requires a different process to perform various tasks, technology provides multiple tools to achieve these goals. It enables the KM to choose the appropriate technology to apply for maximum use in the field. Furthermore, KM has assisted in exploiting the progress made in technology, such as mechanical devices that facilitate achievements.
Regulation
Knowledge management is a powerful tool, and there has to be regulations that help in creating essential goals for every organisation. Public utility regulations are designed to address the gap between the potential of an organisation and the reality of its performance (Payne & Fryer, 2020). However, public utility regulation faces a crisis that demands increased attention to the intellectual attributes of public utility commissions. Regulatory organisations enable to bring tools that bear complex regulatory problems. However, in an organisation, processes, structure, and human dynamics usually inhibit the sharing and creating new knowledge across the organisation. Among the factors inhibiting knowledge creativity and acquisition are incentives to board’s information, inadequate use of technology and short-term focus (Nunn, 2013). Though their other factors enable people to share information naturally, they cannot overcome knowledge sharing.
Regulatory usually tries to reverse natural imbalance and create long term organisation success. Public utility commissions are particularly suited to reap the importance of knowledge management when knowledge focuses on regulatory processes. Regulatory agencies are motivated by ideas and learning on applying innovative approaches and techniques to the resolution of public issues. Historically, most knowledge creation platforms in organisations have focused instead on the mechanism and explicit knowledge in organisation for sharing and creating it (Ranf & Herman, 2018). A key figure in the knowledge creation activities of any organisation is the activities of the community of practices. Communities of practices typically establish informally among people with shared interests. That allows knowledge to be shared across and within organisation boundaries.
Physical and Technical infrastructure
When experiencing rapid changes in the knowledge capacity, an organisation envisioned with creating competitive advantages should enhance constant updates on knowledge assets (Oyemomi et al., 2016). However, experience shows managing critical factors demands resolving complex KM issues and understanding of challenges. Organisations have typically invested significantly in business operations, and logically related processes performed to gain the excellent results. Therefore, constant updates behind the technicality of business processes are essential.
Response mechanism and traditional business performance postulate a systemic approach as a necessary portion of business processes (Oyemomi et al., 2016). Leadership always starts at the facilitation and initiation stage of every organisation (Ranf & Herman, 2018). The aspect of business process implementation and knowledge sharing requires the contribution of top management, offering the relevant leadership and resources. The responsibility of processes integration includes the effective and efficient cooperation of the organisation’s approaches by relevant bodies and departments within the organisation.
Challenges That Can Affect The Implementation of an Effective Knowledge Management System
Project Challenges
An organisation faces numerous challenges when applying project management. These challenges may raise or reduce in severity dependent upon an organisation’s setup. On one end of the spectrum is an organisation that may run very few projects and is not ideally complete to deal with particular rigours of project management Cost (Ren, 2018). Cost, time and quality represents the most significant challenge faced by many organisations. misestimating can lead to confounding complication in a project development lifecycle. In this way, a delivery of a successful project depends on the ability of the management to estimate the required resources to complete different tasks. However, (McGrath & Kostalova 2019) raise concern that due to the ever-changing world of the workplace specifically social, technological and economical changes then project management will need to evolve and adapt to be able to remain relevant.
Organizational culture is another major challenge that affects the implementation of an effective knowledge management system. Organizational culture influences behaviours central to knowledge management (Warrick, 2017). Organizational culture in an organization helps to shape what knowledge is and which is worth managing. Organizational culture plays an important role in shaping knowledge management (Alavi, Kayworth, and Leidner, 2005). Culture builds a relationship between organizational and individual knowledge within a project (Warrick, 2017). It mediates what knowledge is to be included in the project and thus determining the right systems to be included in the knowledge management system. Also, culture helps the organization determine how to create, share and apply knowledge and the extent to which the knowledge will be used to manage the system (Suppiah and Sandhu, 2011). An effective knowledge management system is shaped by how the organization embraces culture in dealing with uncertainties that may affect the organization. For effective implementation of a knowledge management system, organizational culture needs to be compatible with the different systems of the organization as well as the employees (Salojärvi, Furu, and Sveiby, 2005).
Funding
Insufficient funding is a significant challenge that can affect the implementation of an effective knowledge management system. Any system’s success is determined by the level of funding it receives in its implementation (Desouza and Awazu, 2006). When the knowledge management system does not receive enough funding from the project management, it is likely to have loose holes when implemented or be ineffective after the implementation. When a project has insufficient funding for its systems, there is the possibility that the working of the system will be affected and its performance as well (Rubenstein-Montano et al, 2001). A knowledge management system would also likely lead to poor results when the determinants in charge of its control do not receive enough funding. The project should adopt cost control measures that align with the objectives of the shareholders. In this case, the project members should create a financial plan to allocate all the expected expenditures. Lack of appropriate budgeting can lead the management to face serious consequence that directly impede the successful delivery. The challenge can directly impact the project schedule, quality, and scope. The worse cases occur during budget deficits that impede the team to continue with the project. Shareholders can take drastic measures, such as litigation measures, to end the contract. In this context, the management must demonstrate the cause of the budget deficit to comply with accountability issues. Cost management plays a central role in project success; therefore, lack of funds can impede implementation of effective knowledge management system.
Project Risk management
Poor risk management also accounts for substantial turndowns in market capitalisation. According to Chand et al (2014), there are several challenges that a company faces during risk management such as the lack of communication between levels of management, underestimating the size of the risk and a lack of accountability when it comes to managing risks. At any level, the project manager, sponsor, and teams need to be constantly watched for any potential risks and plan to mitigate or avoid the impact of these risks altogether, thereby the need to have adequate risk management software to achieve significant control. In this way, lack of appropriate risk management can limit the management’s capacity to identify problems in particular phases. Inadequate risk control can cause many surprises that project can fail to overcome at the right time. Project managers do not like surprises because they can result in huge losses. Therefore, a robust risk management strategy can allow the team to communicate better about the project needs and mitigate possible perils. In this way, early awareness of the possible challenges can help the management to save time and cost. Besides, quality risk management can enable the management to obtain relevant data for decision making. The approach allows the management to base significant processes, such as budgeting, on reliable data. Lack of risk management can expose project managers to critical threats.
Project Deadlines
Meeting deadlines is a common project management challenge faced by project managers. It is normal to have delays in attaining different milestones in a project but need to prevent the project to go off schedule due to unrealistic deadlines. These factors must be composed relative to the overall scope of the project (Wolf, 2010). When a project manager meets project deadlines, he or she is likely to achieve the desired goal for the project and keep the workers motivated to do their best. Deadlines help project managers to achieve the expected outcomes for their project making it clear of what is expected to be delivered and when it should be delivered (Gevers, van Eerde and Rutte, 2009). Failure to meet deadlines comes with several challenges that may put the projects at a greater risk. Some such consequences of not meeting deadlines for a project include missed opportunity for a potential deal to happen, forcing team mates to work on off days and losing sales contract (Raudeliūnienė, Davidavičienė and Jakubavičius, 2018). Knowledge management helps the project managers to keep in touch with customers and thus keeping and meeting deadlines. In current situations, knowledge is an asset or a strategy that provides a systematic approach for the universal growth of the organisation. The concept of using knowledge on project management accelerates society and the world as a whole. All the relevant work involves knowledge, so it must be created, shared and used among all stakeholders in organisations (Runera, 2014). When all members share knowledge, the project manager can manage staff accordingly and adequately. However, the management must formulate robust strategies to ensure that they have sufficient resources to complete the project within the stipulated time. In this case, project baseline plays significant role in determining the possibility of the team to finish the program. Leaders must ensure that everything is in place to meet the deadline. Meeting deadlines by the project managers helps them to keep clients and attract more and thus making their project effective and marketing it using a positive image (Weber, 2020). Project managers help the workers within a project to learn to meet deadlines and the desired quality by providing close supervisions and training that help them to possess the required knowledge to work on various project needs.
Role of the Project Manager in KM
A project manager has many responsibilities such as managing, investing, coordinating, controlling, organising, and directing, that can be effectively achieved through knowledge management. Therefore, it is obvious that corporate expenditure on knowledge initiatives increases considerably to numerous project-based processes (Ajmal et al., 2010). A project manager is entitled to control all process involved in the organization and making knowledge management system central to all systems where consultations begin. Knowledge management system is the key system that leads all other process and systems within an organization because every process and system must be planned and shaped based on the knowledge management system (Meng and Boyd, 2017). Organisations that implement a wide range of sharing, identifying, and exploiting knowledge assets can manage their competitive resources. Organizational culture plays a central role in determining the way workers cooperate in meeting particular goals with (Smircich, 1983) defining organisational culture as “the social glue that holds members and its organisation together”. In this case, leaders with ineffective skills fail to guide their followers to success. An appropriate project management requires competent human resources to lead the project members to achieve specific goals. In this way, leaders should know all the activities that determine the success of a project. Leaders who do not know the baseline of their projects cannot create substantial relationship organizations to satisfy particular goals.
Creating Effective Knowledge Management Process
Organisations that experience constant change must learn and evolve to adapt continually. To allow for the employees to learn knowledge needs to be created, improved, reused and shared. According to Ranf & Herman (2018), the learning process comprises of different stages that include acquiring knowledge, knowledge, and sharing of knowledge. Organisations working on projects ensure the working environment is conducive for KM among the staff involved, its interaction in different projects and project stages resulting in explicit and tacit knowledge. Reusing knowledge assist in avoiding the past mistakes that might cost the project’s profitability.
According to López-Richer and Thompson 2021, the knowledge management process involves obtaining, creating, and sharing knowledge within an organization. Therefore, the KM process focuses on the knowledge shared amongst the employees and their experiences and how it is efficiently transferred within the organisation. Creating an effective knowledge management process is based on establishing program objectives that guide the entire process (Barão et al., 2017). Establishing KM program objectives helps the process to function effectively. Creating an effective knowledge management process is done by determining and prioritizing technology needs and preparing for future change.
Every process that would likely thrive in the future, whether in good or bad conditions, is based on how adaptive the technology used is to such challenges that may arise. Therefore, when creating an effective knowledge management process, it is essential to prepare for future changes and determine the technologies necessary to handle such changes when they take place (Abubakar et al., 2019). While implementing an effective knowledge management process, it is important to consider the kind of knowledge to be implemented in the system.
Management is the main concept for an effective project, and if the knowledge is not effectively managed, valuable intellectual capital is lost (Sayyadi, 2019). It causes additional work and lost opportunities and managers. The organisation’s knowledge must hold a context to be beneficial. The project manager can improve the benefits by aligning the project with the unique organisational culture and restricting or propagating important details (Ranf & Herman, 2018). How knowledge is broadcasted is linked to every member’s Vision. The management factors in any organisation affect the spread and creation of knowledge in organisations.
According to Becerra-Fernandez et al. (2004) a positive KM culture can improve a company by creating knowledge and first-hand improvements such as retaining employees within the company and in turn their experience, strengthen customer satisfaction and in turn customer relations.
Techniques
Since adequate knowledge management plays a considerable role in organisational success, companies adopt different techniques to ensure that their workforces have the correct information to realise success. The process involves the consideration of various factors that affect knowledge management programs in organisations. Inkinen (2016) states that a successful knowledge management system comprises of people, processes, technology, structure, and culture. Further stating that organisations should formulate approaches that integrate these factors to align with the required knowledge management process In this case, an effective knowledge management system should consider the capacity of the workforce to acquire skills and use them to promote organisational growth and development. Kulkarni, Ravindran, and Freeze (2006) concur that human resources are critical in knowledge management process because their knowledge reflects the information the business can access in a particular industry. Employees’ knowledge constantly changes with specific trends in the industry; therefore, organisations must adopt new techniques to deliver market needs. Webb (2017) suggests that managers focus on the organisation’s knowledge and determine suitable ways to share it among workers. The process considers the target audience’s current knowledge and formulates an approach to fill the knowledge gap within a specified period. In this case, efficient managers adopt techniques that include the most suitable practices and governance for the correct dissemination of knowledge (Lim, Tseng, Tan, & Bui, 2017). In this way, integrating processes and the workers’ needs can allow organisations to create an effective knowledge management plan.
R and D
Project managers should complement the knowledge the organisation possess by locating in different areas. Appropriate organisations should have clues on the specific places where they can acquire a unique ability to meet particular goals. With Lim et al. (2017) concurring that the management receives relevant data from primary and secondary sources, such as databases and reports. Project managers can request funds to obtain knowledge that directly impacts the success of their organisations. Through the research and development department, organisations can facilitate successful research to determine the tools and techniques required to locate and retain specific knowledge. With this, Yap and Lock (2017) concur that managers should identify and prioritise technological needs that can enable them to automate knowledge management related activities. The approach must ensure that the selected technology allows the management reflects the organisational goals. Therefore, the administration should prioritise its knowledge management technology with the corporate vision and mission statement. Yap and Lock (2017) reveal that companies can acquire appropriate knowledge management technologies from different vendors in the technological industry. It is recognised that it is important to know specific providers who can offer the best programs to solve organisational problems. In this case, factors such as cost and quality should play a significant role in deciding the most effective software to realise specific goals. Meanwhile, the management must review the utility of the current technology to justify the need for new technology. In this case, the administration should not introduce new technology without affirming that it would help the firm meet specific goals.
Retaining Data
After acquiring appropriate knowledge, organisations require sufficient retention tools to manage it. According to (Inkinen, 2016) sharing knowledge within the organisation is the most appropriate strategy to retain relevant data in the company. While this process may involve the complex application of technologies, (Inkinen 2016) further states that an inclusive organisational culture can help retain essential data in the company. This is further substantiated by (Bontis et al,. 2011) who proffers that when employees have sufficient information and knowledge to carry out their job then they are more satisfied with their role. In this case, management can utilise tactical or explicit tools to allow employers to keep important information. The primary tactical tools in knowledge management include coaching and training. Coaching involves the facilitation of individuals to acquire and retain knowledge. In this process, leaders allow their trainees to make critical decisions using organisational learning (Webb, 2017). Coaching is different from training because the latter directs workers while the former inspires them to apply significant concepts to make independent decisions. Explicit tools for effective knowledge management include documentation and on the job training. Organisations can improve knowledge management by keeping essential records for constant references. At the same time, employees can take notes on the job training. Overall, a correct combination of tactical and explicit tools can enable organisations to achieve practical knowledge management.
Many organisations introduce KM initiatives to enhance business processes, make financial savings, generate more significant revenue, and enhance user acceptance. According to Ajmal et al. (2010), organisations that apply KM project and strategy must consider the different workflow conditions, processes, corporate culture, and group members’ knowledge integration. However, these factors may provoke internal oppositions from the organisation stakeholders. Therefore, these organisations demand strong budgetary and moral support from the top management.