Knowledge management at universities: The roles of leadership, culture, and information technology

Abstract

The influences of leadership, organizational culture, and information technology could be remedial factors for effective knowledge management at Malaysian public universities. Interactions between these factors are postulated to have significant impact on knowledge management that are worth investigating in an academic setting. Built on an integrative review of the literature, this paper offers insights into the potential roles of leadership, organizational culture, and information technology in sustaining effective knowledge management efforts. The drawbacks of existing knowledge management practices are highlighted and a conceptual framework for effective knowledge management at universities is proposed, where three interconnected factors are discussed: (1) leadership with knowledge orientation, (2) organizational culture to promote learning, and (3) information technology-mediated management. The proposed framework highlights the need for the sustainable effectiveness of knowledge management as public universities face rapid changes in education to accommodate shifting teaching and learning approaches. Current knowledge management issues are discussed to understand the current context of knowledge management in public universities. Finally, the proposed framework situates information technology as a mediator in the interactions, following which some future research directions on this topic have been recommended.