Identification of critical knowledge management enablers for implementation of KM in manufacturing organisations

Abstract

In the globalisation of business, knowledge management (KM) plays an important role in manufacturing organisation to create, build and maintain competitive advantage through utilisation of knowledge. The performance of KM adoption in manufacturing organisation affected by various influencing factors but it is always difficult for the practitioners to improve all aspects at the same time. The aim of this study is to identify critical knowledge management enablers (KMEs) of KM adoption in manufacturing organisations. This study presents a favourable method combining fuzzy set theory and the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method to segment the critical enablers for successful KM adoption in manufacturing organisation. The results gathered from the implementation of the fuzzy DEMATEL method are to identify critical enablers of KM adoption in manufacturing organisation through six different clusters. Twenty two highlighted as critical enablers out of total forty six enablers for successful adoption of KM in manufacturing organisation. The decision makers can apply a phased implementation of these KMEs to ensure the effective KM adoption under the constraints of available resources. This proposed method provides a more accurate, effective and systematic decision support tool for identifying KMEs of KM adoption in manufacturing organisation.