The Practice of Knowledge Management Processes- A Comparative Study of Public and Private Higher Education Institutions in Udupi & South Kanara Districts

Abstract

Knowledge is one of the most important driving forces for business success. Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are becoming more knowledge intensive and in the global market they are aware of this, and try to explore the field of knowledge management (KM) in order to improve and sustain their competitiveness. HEIs create and apply knowledge in their processes and activities. The growth in the number of private HEIs in India, in the last decade, has multiplied and hence it has increased the competition and the pressures for performing better. The institutions are forced to recognize the need for knowledge management (KM) practices. The objective of this research work is to investigate and compare the practices of knowledge management processes (knowledge creation, capture, organization, storage, dissemination and application) in both public and private HEIs in Udupi and South Kanara districts. The methodology used in this research is based on Lawson’s (2003) model. The variables used for comparing the practices of knowledge management process in public (NITK) and private (MIT) HEIs in Udupi and South Kanara districts are Knowledge creation, capture, organisation, storage, dissemination, and application. The target population of the research is consisting of all faculty members in these two HEIs (N=782). The Sample size was estimated about 201 people based on Morgan’s table. A questionnaire, which was applied lesson’s theory, was used to assemble the needed data, and the SPSS software was used for analysing the data. The results showed no significant differences among the knowledge creation, knowledge capturing, organizing and application in both HEIs. And there is a significant difference among knowledge storing, dissemination and KM effectiveness in both the HEIs.