A Framework to the Assessment and Promotion of Knowledge Management Maturity Level in Enterprise: Modeling and Case Study

Abstract

Systematic management of enterprise knowledge, e.g. new ideas, innovations and patents, has a great impact on business sustainability and growth. Without comprehensive assessment of knowledge assets, agile companies can not design and run knowledge promotion programs required for survival in competitive environments in modern economy. A comprehensive framework for the assessment of as-is situation and development of knowledge promotion plans includes: (a) assessing the as-is situation- the quantity and quality of organizational knowledge; (b) developing a situational program based on assessment results, business strategy and knowledge maturity indicators; (c) and working out an action plan in managerial and operational levels to promote knowledge. There is a wide variety of techniques for each step, if considered separately; however, there exists no integrated model to cover all steps thoroughly; in other words, no framework is available to lead wise managers towards KM-related goals in enterprises. In an attempt to fill this gap, in this paper, we introduce an integrated framework which covers three aspects including evaluation, maturity level and implementation road map. Another contribution of this paper is integration formed between the modules. Furthermore, a decision support system (DSS) was developed to facilitate the systematic use of the framework. To test the model in real world, it was used in Metra Consulting Engineers Co., a very active and influential company in the field of transportation management and traffic engineering. Having discussed the framework, we elaborate the test results to show how easy and effective the application of the model in the real world will be