An operations management perspective of knowledge management: towards a knowledge management assessment and improvement tool.

Abstract

This thesis describes the development of a Knowledge Management (KM) Assessment tool for the Operational level of the organisation. Its main focus is to help organisations to identify the KM activities and mechanisms that they could improve in order to improve their operational efficiency. Current KM literature is lacking in guiding organisations in what they need to do in order to implement and formalise KM in their operations with a view to improving operational efficiency. Therefore the aim of this thesis is to fill this gap in the literature and also to influence the manner in which KM is practiced. The research project has three distinct stages: the model development, modification and testing stages. The model development stage synthesises KM literature and a pilot study in order to develop a conceptual model of the KM assessment tool. The second stage of the research project describes the application of the tool in three organisations and details the modifications that were made as a result. Finally, the third stage tests the final version of the KM Assessment tool using four case organisations. The KM Assessment tool presented in this thesis is not a prescriptive KM solution; it emphasises the need to approach KM from a process and task specific perspective. Put another way, KM improvements should be implemented to reflect the processes and task charactaristics of each individual organisation. However, the thesis presents a method of evaluation of such that is unform across organisational types