Knowledge management practice system: Theorising from an international meta-standard

Abstract

The emergence of a new international knowledge management (KM) standard reflects convergence in KM practice. The aim of this study is to theorise KM from the new standard, by addressing the following research questions: what are the important themes of the standard; and what are the key mechanisms and how do they explain KM practice system from a theoretical perspective? This paper adopts a sensegiving reflective insider account using practice theory as a lens and social mechanisms as a method in theorising KM practice system. This study makes three contributions. Firstly, the paper identifies four themes from the KM standard: context-driven, performance-led, enabler-savvy and sustainably-supported. Secondly, three mechanisms emerge that robustly ‘explains’ KM practice system: learning and knowledge creation culture; organizational knowledge architecture for adaptive and exaptive capacity; and ‘business model’ for knowledge capitalisation and value capture. Thirdly, a new theoretical framework of KM practice system is developed.