Assessment of knowledge management growth: a South Africa perspective

Purpose – Wilson argues that knowledge management (KM) maturity is an extension of information management and effective management of work practices. Gallagher and Hazlett state that there is too much effort addressing technological concerns in KM while offering little practical assistance. Kruger and Snyman believe KM is a strategic resource with ICT and information management as enablers in establishing KM maturity. These three positions of KM growth and maturity reflect the huge spectrum of and diverse views. But, very little is known about the KM growth or maturity that occurs in different industries, or how employees and managers perceive growth in KM maturity. This paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approach – From a large urban South African University engaged in numerous collaboration programmes with industry, the authors gain insight into the growth of KM in industry groupings over a five‐year period. The authors apply an inventory developed by Kruger and Snyman to a set of 86 ...

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