Knowledge management barriers, practices and maturity model

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the barriers and practices associated with knowledge management (KM), which is characterized as an important management tool to add value to products and services of companies and, thus, allow them to become more competitive and unique, of large Brazilian companies. Design/methodology/approach – As a conceptual framework, the author adopted the main theories on KM to extract the barriers and practices included in the literature, aiming to confirm them through quantitative research with managers from large Brazilian companies. Based on the responses obtained, the author conducted several multivariate analyses, including descriptive analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regression. Findings – In addition to presenting the main barriers and key practices associated with KM, our main result also presents a model for the evaluation of the level of maturity in KM based on the practices adopted by large Brazilian companies. Originality/value – The main result presents a model for the evaluation of the level of maturity in KM based on the practices adopted by large Brazilian companies.