Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Knowledge management practices and systems in county governments in developing countries

Knowledge management practices and systems in county governments in developing countries While several studies have indicated the critical role played by the ability of countries to exploit knowledge as an economic resource, it would appear that there have been very few studies conducted on understanding the practices adopted by governments in relation to exploring knowledge, particularly in Africa. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevailing knowledge management practices and technological solutions used by governments to support knowledge management.Design/methodology/approachTo address the research objective of this study, semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used. The interviews were conducted with both senior and junior county officials from five counties in Kenya, with a total of 31 county officials participating. Further, various county documents were analysed both to seek convergence and corroborate the interview findings.FindingsThe study findings revealed that no systematic knowledge management practices existed in the county governments in Kenya, which were investigated. On the few occasions that the study did find evidence of knowledge management practices, these practices were isolated, informal, uncoordinated and rarely documented and/or communicated. Furthermore, the study found that there were inadequate policy frameworks in place to support knowledge management practices. The study also revealed a scarcity of relevant technological solutions tailored to support knowledge management practices.Research limitations/implicationsIt was, thus, hoped that this research would promote an understanding of the prevailing local circumstances that hinder the effective utilisation of knowledge management practices and systems. The study recommends that county governments develop the capabilities required for creating and sustaining an enabling knowledge management environment through frameworks and policies that foster knowledge management practices and systems. The findings have practical implications for the way in which county governments in Kenya and other developing countries may improve their knowledge management practices and adopt appropriate technological solutions to support such practices.Originality/valueMuch of the existing literature on knowledge management is focussed on exploring such practices in large businesses. Studies centred specifically on the analysis of knowledge management practices in county governments in Africa, and how technological solutions may be used to build such practices are conspicuously lacking in the relevant literature. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems Emerald Publishing

Knowledge management practices and systems in county governments in developing countries

Download PDF
20 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/knowledge-management-practices-and-systems-in-county-governments-in-oW5veXILBr
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2059-5891
DOI
10.1108/vjikms-01-2019-0014
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

While several studies have indicated the critical role played by the ability of countries to exploit knowledge as an economic resource, it would appear that there have been very few studies conducted on understanding the practices adopted by governments in relation to exploring knowledge, particularly in Africa. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevailing knowledge management practices and technological solutions used by governments to support knowledge management.Design/methodology/approachTo address the research objective of this study, semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used. The interviews were conducted with both senior and junior county officials from five counties in Kenya, with a total of 31 county officials participating. Further, various county documents were analysed both to seek convergence and corroborate the interview findings.FindingsThe study findings revealed that no systematic knowledge management practices existed in the county governments in Kenya, which were investigated. On the few occasions that the study did find evidence of knowledge management practices, these practices were isolated, informal, uncoordinated and rarely documented and/or communicated. Furthermore, the study found that there were inadequate policy frameworks in place to support knowledge management practices. The study also revealed a scarcity of relevant technological solutions tailored to support knowledge management practices.Research limitations/implicationsIt was, thus, hoped that this research would promote an understanding of the prevailing local circumstances that hinder the effective utilisation of knowledge management practices and systems. The study recommends that county governments develop the capabilities required for creating and sustaining an enabling knowledge management environment through frameworks and policies that foster knowledge management practices and systems. The findings have practical implications for the way in which county governments in Kenya and other developing countries may improve their knowledge management practices and adopt appropriate technological solutions to support such practices.Originality/valueMuch of the existing literature on knowledge management is focussed on exploring such practices in large businesses. Studies centred specifically on the analysis of knowledge management practices in county governments in Africa, and how technological solutions may be used to build such practices are conspicuously lacking in the relevant literature.

Journal

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems – Emerald Publishing

Published: Sep 12, 2019

Keywords: Knowledge management; County governments; Developing countries; Kenya

References

  • Knowledge management critical failure factors: a multi-case study
    Akhavan, P.; Pezeshkan, A.
  • Review: knowledge management and knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research issues
    Alavi, M.; Leidner, D.
  • Determinants of knowledge sharing in a public sector organization
    Amayah, A.T.
  • Harnessing knowledge for innovation: an integrated management framework
    Andrew, L.S.
  • Knowledge management as the basis of sustained high performance
    Bogner, W.C.; Bansal, P.
  • Cognitive overload in organizational knowledge management: case study research
    Bolisani, E.; Scarso, E.; Padova, A.
  • Document analysis as a qualitative research method
    Bowen, G.A.
  • About US: council of governors – county integrated development plans
  • Knowledge management, innovation and firm performance
    Darroch, J.
  • Knowledge acquisition: a complex networks approach
    De Arruda, H.F.; Silva, F.N.; Costa, L.D.; Amancio, D.R.
  • The effect of bring your own device (BYOD) adoption on work performance and motivation
    Doargajudhura, M.S.; Dell, P.
  • Sustaining the future of the public sector: insights into a Swedish municipality’s dealing with knowledge management and succession planning
    Durst, S.; Bruns, G.
  • Powerful public sector knowledge management: a school district example
    Edge, K.
  • Fostering knowledge sharing behaviour among public sector managers: a proposed model for the Malaysian public service
    Gangeswari, T.; Roziah, M.R.; Maimunah, I.; Bahaman, A.S.
  • Analysis of the effects of ICTs in knowledge management and innovation: the case of Zara group
    García-Álvarez, M.T.
  • The impact of IT-based knowledge management systems on internal venturing and innovation: a structural equation modeling approach to corporate performance
    Giudice, M.D.; Peruta, M.R.
  • How many interviews are enough to identify metathemes and cross-cultural research? Another perspective on Guest, Bunce, and Johnson's (2006) landmark study
    Hagaman, A.K.; Wutich, A.
  • ForgGovernment: Smart counties
  • Managing governance complexity and knowledge networks in transparency initiatives: the case of police open data
    Ingrams, A.
  • A model of knowledge management success
    Jennex, M.E.; Olfman, L.
  • Factors hindering effective management of government information in Kenya
    Kamar, N.; Lynden, I.; Wu, J.
  • Knowledge management systems success: a contingency perspective
    Khalifa, M.; Yu, A.Y.; Shen, K.N.
  • An exploratory study of knowledge management for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness: the transformation of the planning system in the UK local government
    Khilji, N.K.; Roberts, S.A.
  • Knowledge management jobs in Kenya: a functional analysis
    Kwanya, T.; Ogutu, J.; Muthuri, E.; Turandi, T.; Maina, E.; Omach, C.
  • Strategic knowledge management and evolving local government
    Laihonen, H.; Mäntylä, S.
  • Examining the factors influencing knowledge management systems adoption and continuence intention
    Lin, H.F.
  • Knowledge management in organizations
    Lu, W.
  • Knowledge management in the public sector
    Malik, H.; Al-Toubi, S.; Syed, J.; Murray, P.; Hislop, D.
  • Significant factors for enabling knowledge sharing between government
    Mannie, A.; Niekerk, H.J.; Adendorff, C.M.
  • Artifacts in knowledge management
    Mariano, S.; Awazu, Y.
  • Visual representations in knowledge management frameworks and cases
    Martin, J.E.; Remo, A.B.
  • Public sector knowledge management: a structured literature review
    Massaro, M.; Dumay, J.; Garlatti, A.
  • Designing a knowledge management system for social services not-for-profit organisations
    Massingham, P.; Massingham, R.; Pomering, A.
  • Investigating the impact of information systems on knowledge sharing
    Mirzaee, S.; Ghaffari, A.
  • An information security behavioural model for the bring-your-own-device trend
    Musarurwa, A.; Flowerday, S.; Cilliers, L.
  • Addressing the challenges of e-Government: learning from the IT industry
    Nath, A.; Kanjilal, D.
  • The national assembly: the Kenyan parliament website
  • Kenya law
  • Developing a corporate knowledge management strategy
    Oluikpe, P.
  • The role of knowledge management in enhancing government service-delivery in Kenya
    Ondari-Okemwa, E.; Smith, J.G.
  • The global knowledge management framework: towards a theory for knowledge management in globally distributed settings
    Pawlowski, J.; Bick, M.
  • Designing an integrated methodology for knowledge management strategic planning: the roadmap toward strategic alignment
    Pour, M.J.; Zadeh, Z.K.; Zadeh, N.A.
  • Intellectual capital in action: evidence from Italian local governments
    Rossi, F.M.; Citro, F.; Marco, B.
  • The extent of influence of learning factors on tacit knowledge sharing among public sector accountants
    Salleh, K.; Chong, S.C.; Ahmad, S.N.; Ikhsan, S.O.
  • The internet of things: building a knowledge management system for open innovation and knowledge management capacity
    Santro, G.; Vrontis, D.; Thrassou, A.
  • Open government data (OGD) in Iran, Lebanon and Jordan: a comparative approach
    Saxena, S.
  • On the use of benchmarking and good practices for knowledge management for development
    Sharma, R.; Noorjahan, M.L.; Victoriano, M.M.
  • Knowledge management system for governance: transformational approach creating knowledge as product for governance
    Shilohu, R.N.; Ravi, S.C.; Dhrubajit, G.; Lenart-Gansiniec, R.
  • Exploring effective work unit knowledge management (KM): roles of network, task, and KM strategies
    Song, S.; Sun, J.
  • New ICTs for knowledge management in organizations
    Soto-Acosta, P.; Cegarra-Navarro, J.-G.
  • Top management’s perception of knowledge management in a vocational education and training organization in Finland
    Syysnummi, P.; Laihonen, H.
  • Culture effect on knowledge management adoption in Nigerian hospitality industry
    Usoro, A.; Abiagam, B.
  • Co-Lab: research and development of online learning environment for collaborative scientific discovery learning
    Van Joolingen, W.R.; De Jong, T.; Lazonder, A.W.; Savelsbergh, E.R.; Manlove, S.
  • Virtual communities as narrative networks: developing a model of knowledge creation for crowdsourced environments
    Weeks, M.R.; Veltri, N.F.