Organizational Capabilities and Knowledge Management Success: Evidences from Two Mid-Sized Indian IT Companies

Literature on KM has greatly emphasized the role of IT as a decisive element in the success of KM while other capabilities are ignored or are not taken into account together. How these capabilities work together to support KM is a subject under-explored in the literature. The present study makes an attempt to bridge this gap and tries to answer the following research questions: a how organizational capabilities manifest themselves in the knowledge management processes; b how do the capabilities support the KM initiatives; and c how similar knowledge management systems can lead to different KM success patterns with difference in capabilities. Paper makes use of qualitative case study research design to explore the above questions in two mid-sized Indian IT Companies. Findings of the study show that companies operating in the same industry and having similar knowledge management systems can exhibit different level of success and acceptance based on their organizational capabilities.

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