Barriers to Knowledge Management: A Theoretical Framework and a Review of Industrial Cases

Firms have invested heavily in knowledge management (KM) with the aim to build a knowledge capability and use it to achieve a competitive advantage. Research has shown, however, that not all knowledge management projects succeed. Some studies report that about 84% of knowledge management projects fail. This paper has integrated studies on the impediments to knowledge management into a theoretical framework. Based on this framework, five cases documenting failed KM initiatives were analysed. The analysis gave us a clear picture about why certain KM projects fail. The high failure rate of KM can be explained by the gaps that exist between users and management in terms of KM perceptions and objectives

Authors:

• Chihab BenMoussa

Keywords:

• Knowledge management
• barriers to knowledge management
• Knowledge-gaps
• supply-driven approach to knowledge management.

References:

[1] Alavi, M., Leidner, D.E. (2001), "Knowledge management and
knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research
issues", MIS Quarterly, Vol. 25 No.1, pp.107-36.
[2] Alavi M.and Leidner, DE (1999) "Knowledge Management systems
issues, challenges and benefits" Communication of the Association of
Information Systems, Februry, pp:1-36.
[3] Alvesson, M. (1993), "Organization as rhetoric: knowledge-intensive
firms and the struggle with ambiguity", Journal of Management Studies,
Vol. 30 No.6, pp.997-1020.
[4] AMR Research (2007) "The Knowledge Management Spending Report,
2007-2008".
[5] Binney, D., (2001) "The Knowledge Spectrum -Understanding The KM
Landscape", Journal Of Knowledge Managemen, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 33-
42.
[6] Braganza, A and Möllenkrame, G.J (2002) "Anatomy of a Failed
Knowledge Management Initiative: Lessons from PharmaCorp-s
Experiences", Knowledge and Process Management Volume 9 Number
1 pp 23-33.
[7] Hult, G.T.M (2003) "An integration of thoughts on knowledge
management", Decision Sciences, Vol.34, p.189.
[8] Huysman, M., Wulf, V. (2006), "IT to support knowledge sharing in
communities, towards a social capital analysis", Journal of Information
Technology, Vol. 21 pp.40-51.
[9] Davenport, T., Probst, G.J (2002) "Knowledge management case book:
Best practices, second edition, Publicis Corporate Publishing and John
Wiley & Son.
[10] Davenport, T, Prusak, L (1998), Working Knowledge: How
Organizations Manage What They Know, Harvard Business School
Press, Boston, MA.
[11] Davenport, T.H., Delong, D.W., Beers, M.C. (1998), "Successful
knowledge management projects", Sloan Management Review, Vol. 39
No.2, pp.43-57.
[12] Desousza, K.C (2003) "Knowledge management barriers: Why the
technology imperative seldom works", Business Horizons, vol. 46, issue
1, pages 25-29.
[13] Du Plessis, M (2005) "Drivers of knowledge management in the
corporate environment", International Journal of Information
Management, Vol. 25, pp:193-202.
[14] Drucker, P., Interview in Wired Magazine, July/August, p.5, 2003.
[15] Du Plessis, M (200)8 "What bars organisations from managing
knowledge successfully?" International Journal of Information
Management, Vol. 28, Issue 4, pp:285-292.
[16] Ekbia, H and Hara, N (2008)" The quality of evidence in knowledge
management research: practitioner versus scholarly literature", Journal
of Information Science, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp 110-126.
[17] Edvinsson, L., Sullivan, P. (1996), "Developing a model for managing
intellectual capital", European Management Journal, Vol. 14 No.4,
pp.356-65.
[18] Frappaolo, C. (2006) "Knowledge management" Capstone publishing
[19] Hansen, M.T, Nohria, N. (1999), "What-s your strategy for managing
knowledge?", Harvard Business Review, pp.106-16.
[20] Hibbard, J., Carillo, K.M (1998), "Knowledge revolution", Information
week, Vol. 5 No.663, pp.49-54.
[21] Kalling, T. (2003), "Knowledge management and the occasional links
with performance", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 7 No.3,
pp.67-81
[22] Keen, P.G.W (2006) "Knowledge mobilization: The challenge for
information professionals." In C. Khoo, D. Singh & A.S. Chaudhry
(Eds.), Proceedings of the Asia Pacific Conference on Library &
Information Education & Practice (A-LIEP 2006), Singapore, 3-6 April
2006 (pp. 1-9).
[23] Keen, P., and Mackintosh, R. (2001) "The freedom economy: gaining
the m-commerce edge in the era of the wireless internet", Berkeley, CA:
Osborne/Mcgraw-HILL.
[24] Kotnour, T., Orr, C., Spauding, J. and Guidi, J. (1997) Determining the
Benefits of Knowledge Management Activities. In IEEE International
Conference on Systems Man & Cybernetics, Vol. 1 Orlando, Florida.
[25] KPMG, M.C. (2001), Knowledge Management Research Report, KPMG
Website, London.
[26] Lang, J.C (2001) "Managerial concerns in knowledge management",
Journal of Knowledge Management, Volume: 5, Issue: 1, pp: 43-59.
[27] Levy, Y., and Ellis. T.J (2006) " A system approach to conduct an
effective literature review in support of information systems research",
Information Science Journal, Vol. 9
[28] Lin, C., Shu-Mei, S (2005) "The implementation gaps for the knowledge
management system", VOl.105, N 2, pp. 208-222
[29] Lin, C., Yeh, J.Y., Tseng.S.M (2005), "Case study on knowledgemanagement
gaps", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol.9, No.3,
pp:36-50.
[30] Lorrich, N.P. Jr, Pierce, J.C., John, P.C. (1984), "ÔÇÿKnowledge gap-
phenomena: effect of situation-specific and trans-situational factors",
Communication Research, Vol. 11 pp.415-35.
[31] Lynne, M., Marcus, R. (1997), "The magic bullet theory in IT-enabled
transformation", Sloan Management Review, Vol. 38 No.2, pp.55-68.
[32] Lucier, C, Torsiliera, J (1997 a), "Why knowledge programs fail",
Strategy and Business, pp.14-28.
[33] Lucier, C., & Torsilieri, J. D. (1997b). Why knowledge programs fail: A
CEO-s guide to managing learning. Strategy & Business, 4, 14-28.
[34] Lukas & Ogilvie (2006) L.M. Lukas and D.T. Ogilvie, "Things are not
always what they seem: How reputations, culture and incentives
influence knowledge transfer", The Learning Organisation 13 (1)
(2006), pp. 7-24.
[35] McCann, J.E & Syke, J.H. (2004) "Strategically integrating knowledge
management initiatives", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol.8,
No.1, pp 47-63.
[36] McKinlay, A. (2002), "The limits of knowledge management", New
Technology, Work and Employment, Vol. 17 No.2, pp.76-88.
[37] Ndedla, N.D and Du Toit A.S.A , (2001) "Establishing a knowledge
management programme for competitive advantage in an enterprise",
International Journal of Information Management Vol. 21 pp. 151-165.
[38] Nevo, D and Chan, Y.E (2007) "A Delphi study of knowledge
management systems: Scope and requirements" Information and
Management, Vol.44, pp: 583-597,
[39] Newell, S. (2001), "From global knowledge management to internal
electronic fences: contradictory outcomes of intranet development",
British Journal of Management, Vol. 12 No.2, pp.92-106.
[40] Patton, K. and Carlsen, A., (1998), Strategies, techniques and tools for
knowledge reuse, Internal Report, Sintef, Trondheim, Norway, pp 1-24.
[41] Rezgui, Y (2007) "Knowledge systems and value creation: An action
research investigation", Industrial Management & Data System, Vol.
107 No. 2, pp: 166-182.
[42] Riege, A (2005) "Three-dozen knowledge-sharing barriers managers
must conside" Journal of Knowledge Management, Volume:9, issue 3,
pp 18-35.
[43] Ruggles, R (1998), "The state of the notion: knowledge management in
practice", California Management Review, Vol. 40 No.3, pp.80-9.
[44] Sabherwal, R and Becerra, F (2003) "An empirical study of the effect of
knowledge management processes at individual, group and
organizational levels" Decision Sciences, 34, p:225.
[45] Scarbrough, H, Swan, J. (1999), Case Studies in Knowledge
Management, IPD, New York, NY.
[46] Sor, R. (2004), "Information technology and organisational structure -
vindicating theories from the past", Management Decision, Vol. 42
No.2, pp.316-29.
[47] Stewart, T.A. (1997), Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of
Organizations, Currency Doubleday, New York, NY.
[48] Storey, J. and Barnett, E (2000) "Knowledge Management Initiatives:
Learning From Failure". Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol.4,
No.2, pp 145-156.
[49] Swan, J (1999), in Scarbrough, H, Swan, J (Eds), Case Studies in
Knowledge Management, IPD, London.
[50] Ulrich, D. (1998) Intellectual Capital = Competence Commitment, Sloan
Management Review, winter, pp 15-26.
[51] Useem, M. (1996), Investor Capitalism: How Money Managers are
Changing the Face of Corporate America, Basic Books, New York, N.
[52] Tiwana, A. (2001), "The Knowledge Management Toolkit: Practical
Techniques for Building Knowledge Management Systems", Prentice-
Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.
[53] Yeh, Y.J., Lai, S.Q., Ho, C.T. (2006), "Knowledge management
enablers: a case study", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol.
106 No.6, pp.798-810.
[54] Wild, R.H., Griggs, K.A., Downing, T. (2002), "A framework for elearning
as a tool for knowledge management", Industrial Management
& Data Systems, Vol. 102 No.7, pp.371-80.
[55] Wilson, T. (2002, October) "The nonsense of knowledge management,
Information Research", available at http://informationr.net/ir/8-
1/paper144.html┬© Last accessed September 10, 2008
[56] Ying, J.Y., Sun-Quae, L., and Chin-Tsang, H (2006) "Knowledge
management enablers: a case study", Industrial Management & Data
Systems, Vol.106 No. 6, pp: 793-810.