Km Implementation and its Influence on Performance: an Empirical Evidence from Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Companies

This paper investigates how information technology (IT) companies in Malaysia, particularly those with Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status, perceived the importance and degree of implementation of knowledge management (KM) success factors in their organisations and how these factors impact on their performance. Data were generated from a questionnaire survey of 427 middle managers from 194 MSC-status companies operating in Malaysia. Although the IT companies are highly aware of the importance of KM, the factors were only moderately implemented, with the exclusion of removal of organisational constraints. Some significant interactions were found between the KM success factors and organisational performance. Such significant findings provide important information on whether the MSC-status companies perceived KM as important to their success. In addition, based on the empirical results, recommendations are made on how the companies could improve their performance by narrowing the gaps through better organising their KM practices from the right perspective. This paper provides new information not only in terms of filling the gap of the newness of KM practices in Malaysia, it also has implications on the relationships between KM success factors and the performance of the MSC-status IT organisations in Malaysia.

[1]  Mary Anne Devanna,et al.  Strategic Human Resource Management , 1984 .

[2]  A. Zuckerman,et al.  IS THE WORLD READY FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT , 1998 .

[3]  Martha de Jager,et al.  The KMAT: benchmarking knowledge management , 1999 .

[4]  Ganesh D. Bhatt,et al.  Knowledge management in organizations: examining the interaction between technologies, techniques, and people , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[5]  Soumitra Dutta,et al.  Strategies for implementing knowledge-based systems , 1997 .

[6]  Mark S. Demarest.  Understanding knowledge management , 1997 .

[7]  Rosemary H. Wild,et al.  A framework for e-learning as a tool for knowledge management , 2002, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[8]  T. R. Davis.  Managing Knowledge-Work Support Functions , 1996 .

[9]  M. Bonaventura,et al.  The benefits of a knowledge culture , 1997 .

[10]  I. Nonaka,et al.  How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation , 1995 .

[11]  Michael H. Zack,et al.  Developing a Knowledge Strategy , 1999 .

[12]  Henry Mintzberg.  Musings on management. Ten ideas designed to rile everyone who cares about management. , 1996, Harvard business review.

[13]  Nicholas Bahra,et al.  Competitive Knowledge Management , 2001 .

[14]  Pervaiz K. Ahmed,et al.  Measurement practice for knowledge management , 1999 .

[15]  Atefeh Sadri McCampbell,et al.  Knowledge management: the new challenge for the 21st century , 1999, J. Knowl. Manag..

[16]  Alberto Carneiro,et al.  The role of intelligent resources in knowledge management , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[17]  Shi-Ming Huang,et al.  Critical factors in adopting a knowledge management system for the pharmaceutical industry , 2005, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[18]  Binshan Lin,et al.  Roles of knowledge management in online procurement systems , 2002, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[19]  Thomas Kalling,et al.  Organisation-internal Transfer of Knowledge and the Role of Motivation. A Qualitative Study , 2003 .

[20]  Victor R. Prybutok,et al.  Factors Affecting the Adoption of Knowledge Management Technologies: A Discriminative Approach , 2001, J. Comput. Inf. Syst..

[21]  Ganesh D. Bhatt,et al.  Management strategies for individual knowledge and organizational knowledge , 2002, J. Knowl. Manag..

[22]  Elizabeth Barnett,et al.  Knowledge management initiatives: learning from failure , 2000, J. Knowl. Manag..

[23]  Morten T. Hansen,et al.  What's your strategy for managing knowledge? , 1999, Harvard business review.

[24]  Yong Suk Choi,et al.  An empirical study of factors affecting successful implementation of knowledge management , 2000 .

[25]  George Macgregor,et al.  The Nature of Information in the 21st Century: Conundrums for the Informatics Community? , 2005 .

[26]  J. Spender.  Making knowledge the basis of a dynamic theory of the firm , 1996 .

[27]  David J. Skyrme,et al.  The Knowledge Agenda , 1997, J. Knowl. Manag..

[28]  Brian P. Hall,et al.  Values development and learning organizations , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[29]  E. Çivi.  Knowledge management as a competitive asset: a review , 2000 .

[30]  Mark E. Van Buren,et al.  Valuing investments in intellectual capital , 1999 .

[31]  D. Ulrich.  Intellectual Capital = Competence x Commitment , 1998 .

[32]  Ahn-Sook Hwang,et al.  Training strategies in the management of knowledge , 2003, J. Knowl. Manag..

[33]  H. D. Thomas,et al.  SUCCESSFUL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS , 1998 .

[34]  Charles Harley Bixler.  Creating a dynamic knowledge management maturity continuum for increased enterprise performance and innovation , 2000 .

[35]  Rikard Lindgren,et al.  Using Competence Systems: Adoption Barriers and Design Suggestions , 2002, J. Inf. Knowl. Manag..

[36]  Thomas Clarke,et al.  Corporate initiatives in knowledge management , 2001 .

[37]  William F. West.  Controlling the Bureaucracy: Institutional Constraints in Theory and Practice , 1995 .

[38]  Dean Call,et al.  Knowledge management - not rocket science , 2005, J. Knowl. Manag..

[39]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Concept of “Ba”: Building a Foundation for Knowledge Creation , 1998 .

[40]  Jinette de Gooijer,et al.  Designing a knowledge management performance framework , 2000, J. Knowl. Manag..

[41]  Alison Halstead,et al.  Knowledge and learning in female team‐managed firms adopting information communication technologies (ICTs) , 2003 .

[42]  E. Wenger,et al.  Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier , 2000 .

[43]  Ganesh D. Bhatt,et al.  Organizing knowledge in the knowledge development cycle , 2000, J. Knowl. Manag..

[44]  D. Teece.  Strategies for Managing Knowledge Assets: the Role of Firm Structure and Industrial Context , 2000 .

[45]  Jimmy J.M. Ng,et al.  Implications of ICT for knowledge management in globalization , 2003, Inf. Manag. Comput. Secur..

[46]  P. Drucker.  Management Challenges for the 21st Century , 1992 .

[47]  Ross Dawson,et al.  Knowledge capabilities as the focus of organisational development and strategy , 2000, J. Knowl. Manag..

[48]  Salleh Yahya,et al.  Managing human resources toward achieving knowledge management , 2002, J. Knowl. Manag..

[49]  L. Prusak.  The knowledge advantage , 1996 .

[50]  Roelof P. uit Beijerse.  Knowledge management in small and medium-sized companies: knowledge management for entrepreneurs , 2000, J. Knowl. Manag..

[51]  Babita Gupta,et al.  Knowledge management: practices and challenges , 2000, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[52]  F. Blackler.  Knowledge, Knowledge Work and Organizations: An Overview and Interpretation , 1995 .

[53]  R. Frank,et al.  Leadership for growth , 1996 .

[54]  N. Bontis,et al.  Intellectual capital and business performance in Malaysian industries , 2000 .

[55]  Robert Raeside,et al.  Knowledge: the key to organisational survival , 2001 .

[56]  Radoslav P. Kotorov,et al.  A model for enterprise portal management , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[57]  Patricia A. Galagan.  The learning organization made plain , 1991 .

[58]  Liam Fahey,et al.  The Eleven Deadliest Sins of Knowledge Management , 1998 .

[59]  P. Klahr,et al.  Managing Customer Support Knowledge , 1998 .

[60]  N. D. Ahanotu,et al.  Empowerment and production workers: a knowledge‐based perspective , 1998 .

[61]  J. Slocum,et al.  Designing organizations for competitive advantage: The power of unlearning and learning , 1999 .

[62]  Carla O'Dell,et al.  If Only We Knew What We Know: Identification and Transfer of Internal Best Practices , 1998 .

[63]  Patrick Gunnigle,et al.  Contemporary HRD research: a triarchy of theoretical perspectives and their prescriptions for HRD , 2000 .

[64]  S. Renukappa,et al.  Knowledge management for sustainable competitiveness in small and medium surveying practices , 2005 .

[65]  Derek Binney,et al.  The knowledge management spectrum - understanding the KM landscape , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[66]  Martin Whitehill,et al.  Knowledge-based strategy to deliver sustained competitive advantage , 1997 .

[67]  Paul H. J. Hendriks,et al.  Many rivers to cross: from ICT to knowledge management systems , 2001, J. Inf. Technol..

[68]  R. Grant,et al.  Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration , 2022 .

[69]  Thomas A. Pearson,et al.  Measurements and the knowledge revolution , 1999 .

[70]  I. Nonaka,et al.  A firm as a knowledge-creating entity: a new perspective on the theory of the firm , 2000 .

[71]  Sandra Moffett,et al.  An empirical analysis of knowledge management applications , 2003, J. Knowl. Manag..

[72]  Carla O'Dell,et al.  Overcoming cultural barriers to sharing knowledge , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[73]  Jonathan D. Pemberton,et al.  Black and Decker—towards a knowledge‐centric organization , 2002 .

[74]  H. Demsetz.  The Theory of the Firm Revisited , 1988 .

[75]  Amrit Tiwana,et al.  The Knowledge Management Toolkit: Practical Techniques for Building a Knowledge Management System with Cdrom , 1999 .