KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION : APPLICABILITY OF LKMC MODEL IN SAUDI UNIVERSITIES

This paper stresses on the need of using Knowledge Management (KM) in the higher education institutions of Saudi Arabia. The paper is based on the literature review and personal experience of the author in the education sector. The paper aims at highlighting the importance of KM for the educational institutions particularly for developing countries. It also reviews the readiness of Saudi Arabia for KM application by illustrating different development initiatives taken by the Saudi government in different sectors. However, the literature also identifies many barriers on the way. Keeping the importance of KM for the higher education institutions in view, this paper proposes to adopt the model of Library Knowledge Management Center (LKMC) with needed modifications for Universities of Saudi Arabia. This LKMC model was proposed by Parker, Nitse, and Flowers (2005) for the small business corporate for providing the Knowledge Management (KM) and Competitive Intelligence (CI) services. The paper discusses different components of the LKMC model and their relevance to the education sector.

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