Drivers for managing sustainability-related knowledge

Abstract

As organisations try to meet sustainability challenges, they need to be innovative. This often calls for the creation, use and exploitation of new knowledge. Therefore, knowledge resources must be properly managed to enable well-informed decisions. There is, however, little empirical research on the key drivers for managing sustainability-related knowledge in the UK industrial sectors – which is the core aspect of this paper. For this study, four industry sectors: energy and utilities, transportation, construction and not-for-profit organisations were considered, based on the environmental, social and economic impact on UK society. A semi-structured interview method was used to collect industry perception, which was then analysed at both aggregate and sector levels using content analysis for inference and conclusion. The data analysis revealed four key drivers that have fuelled the need for managing sustainability-related knowledge. They are: to improve access to knowledge associated with sustainability initiatives, to identify knowledge assets associated with sustainability initiatives, to improve the flow of knowledge associated with sustainability initiatives and to capture key knowledge associated with sustainability initiatives. The paper concludes that identifying and understanding the key drivers for managing knowledge within the context of sustainability is a complex process. Before embarking on a knowledge management journey, decision makers have to understand what they would like to achieve with their knowledge management programme and what value it needs to add to their organisation in the context of sustainability.