Information technology integration for accelerated knowledge sharing practices: challenges and prospects for small and medium enterprises

Abstract

This paper argues that business enterprises in this competitive global market cannot compete and remain sustainable without effective knowledge sharing to improve business intelligence processes. The central argument hinges on the deployment and use of information technology (IT) as strategic tools to promote business decision making through quick business data analysis and dissemination of business ideas across business units and locations. The study reiterated the critical role IT plays in facilitating a culture of organizational learning and knowledge sharing practices. The study utilized surveys and questionnaires that were distributed to 230 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to present the results. Findings showed that firms are still using one-on-one meeting to share knowledge, while knowledge sharing activities are controlled through a rigid and inflexible process at the top management level, thereby hindering knowledge flow that is crucial for real-time decision making. The advances in IT have not been used advantageously to improve knowledge sharing and to advance business management. The paper concludes that without strong positive correlation between IT infrastructure integration, and communication strategies and knowledge sharing, the SMEs may not be able to compete in a highly competitive knowledge economy. Consequently, they may lose leverage to another competitor with more robust and mature IT infrastructure alignment for sharing business analytics and intelligence efficiently. A technologically driven, open, and informal approach to knowledge sharing for productive and innovative engagement is recommended. Furthermore, the use of IT that can promote agile and real-time knowledge sharing is recommended.