Enablers of implementing knowledge management systems for better organisational outcomes: An Indian study

Abstract

In the era of knowledge economy, how to exploit knowledge assets is essential for businesses to improve their competitive advantage. Issues such as how to enable or facilitate knowledge management systems (KMS) in an organisation have proven to be important for academia and industry. For the reason that sharing and managing knowledge involves a series of activities that are related to culture, the findings in a geographic area or a certain industry may not necessarily be applicable to other areas or industries with different cultural backgrounds. Research issues such as what are the enablers for organisations in implementing their knowledge management systems with a focus on reaching better organisational outcomes have been discussed and highlighted in literature. However, a more comprehensive investigation, with an effort on gathering all the enablers and examining them altogether in a certain context, has not been completed. Therefore, this study is motivated to investigate the research issue 'What are the enablers for implementing knowledge management systems in India?'by using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Firstly, the authors used a multiple case study method to examine whether the enablers identified in the literature still influence the implementation of KMS in India. Secondly, the results were further tested with a larger sample (400 organisations in four Indian cities) to confirm and consolidate the findings. These findings indicate that all the enabling factors of KMS identified in the literature are applicable in the Indian context. However, there exists a significant difference between metropolitan and regional cities. The findings of this study depict a more complete blueprint for researchers and practitioners in understanding the enabling factors for Indian businesses and organisations in implementing knowledge management systems.