Knowledge Management In Public Sector Research Articles

Advancing public sector knowledge management: towards an understanding of knowledge formation in public administration

ABSTRACT The article proposes a novel way of conceptualising knowledge management in public sector by highlighting the social process of knowledge formation, where knowledge for public policies emerges and takes shape. This approach aims to overcome three main criticisms levelled at knowledge management, namely its excessive internal focus, solving tame organisational problems, and focusing on data over meanings. We take knowledge formation to be a social process in which information is collected, interpreted, and shared. We expand and contribute to the ongoing debate on KM in public sector by integrating insights from administrative sciences, organisation studies, and political science. The suggested approach provides an opportunity to understand the diverse conceptions regarding the role of information and the nature of knowledge in organisational decision-making and policy-making that complements the organisation-centric and instrumentalist approach to KM.

Remodelling public sector knowledge management system using key knowledge management processes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to recommend a framework for remodelling a public sector knowledge management system (KMS) using key knowledge management (KM) processes. The rationale is to provide insight and guidelines to organisations that struggle with KM. Design/methodology/approach This desktop study adopted the qualitative approach and literature to support the understanding regarding the remodelling of the public sector KMS using key KM processes. Findings The study found that if KM processes are not considered, the prospect of KM is limited. The best way to manage public sector knowledge is following KM processes using information technology. Without proper KM, organisations may not know how knowledge is generated, codified, stored, shared and used in an organisation. Originality/value The paper provides a framework to guide public sector organisations in the implementation of electronic KM. Thus, proposing a new way of managing knowledge by using the electronic KM processes in the public sector organisations. The study will also benefit other organisations implementing KM programmes.

Knowledge management and hybridity of institutional logics in public sector

ABSTRACT This article analyses national policies, strategies, and programmes formulating knowledge management as a factor of national-level competitiveness. The article analyses a project, which aims to develop a service operator responsible for collecting and co-ordinating well-being data on the Finnish population. We present an in-depth analysis of an almost ten-year period in Finland, which is one of the leading societies in terms of public sector efficiency and governance. The article calls for a major shift in perspective and shows how hybridity of institutional logics significantly guides the perception of knowledge management, the measures taken and the development and selection of concrete methods and tools in knowledge management. We see the essence of public sector knowledge management in a combination of national-level knowledge governance and processes, where public institutions, private organisations and third-sector actors create, store and utilise a shared information base to convert knowledge into action in their everyday operations.

Pursuing sustainable development with knowledge management in public sector

Purpose Knowledge management (KM) is increasingly becoming critical to public sector organizations as it is to private sector organizations. This is because public sector organizations are increasingly held accountable for their actions and are forced to move away from traditional bureaucratic approaches to more managerial ones. For instance, public sector is facing pressure to improve its operational efficiency such as productivity, lead time and expenditure. Similarly, it is also facing pressure to improve its transparency, trust, reliability and accountability, which are key elements of sustainable development (SD). The purpose of this study therefore is to understand the intricate relationship between KM processes, operational efficiency and SD in the public sector. Design/methodology/approach A framework consisting of eight constructs (knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation, knowledge capture, knowledge storage and retrieval, knowledge sharing, knowledge utilization, operational efficiency and SD) and their underlying items was developed through an extensive literature review. Using 383 usable responses collected through a structured questionnaire from the UAE public sector, the constructs and framework were first validated and then the current level of implementation/achievement of KM processes, operational efficiency and SD was assessed along with the hypothesized relationships between the constructs. Findings The findings show that KM processes had a positive and significant direct impact on operational efficiency and SD. Also, operational efficiency was found to strongly mediate the relationship between KM processes and SD. Practical implications The findings are expected to help UAE public sector organizations devise strategies and policy interventions to align and improve their KM processes for achieving operational efficiency and SD. Public sectors looking to focus on SD must focus on KM processes and strive to improve stakeholder engagement, which is a vital aspect of SD. Originality/value Integration of KM processes, operational efficiency and SD has not been attempted previously and hence constitutes the novelty of this work.

Review on the KM Applications in Public Organisations

The rise in awareness of knowledge management as a viable organisational resource and potential source of competitive advantage has been the subject of a myriad of research to date. The phenomenon covers a multitude of disciplines, roles and procedures, and its subjectivity has at times mitigated its potential for pertinent study. Add to this mix, the public sector, which exhibits unusual, specific, bureaucratic and insular hierarchies which can make it difficult to assess it from a research perspective, and a pertinent case can be made for investigating the process of implementing knowledge management initiatives in this area. Today's public organisations are confronted with considerable challenges in the dynamic knowledge economy and continuously adapt to shifts in societal needs, behaviour, and expectations. To keep pace with global trends and new demands, public sector organisations have to embrace new paradigms that place the management of intangible assets at the core of their strategies. Recognising the vital role of knowledge resources in driving organisations can lead to better performance. The idiosyncratic nature of governmental institutions creates peculiar barriers for attempts to manage knowledge within the public domain. Public organisations tend to be highly bureaucratic and cloistered in rigid hierarchies which require knowledge management (KM) strategies that are able to address their specific context, and equally consider their unique cultural and legal implications. The purpose of this paper is to present an inclusive literature review of the current state of KM research in the public sector in order to further research. An extensive review collated KM articles that have interest in public organisations during the last number of years. Initial findings of this research indicate that KM in the public sector is relatively under‑researched compared with its private sector counterpart. Despite the existing research that has been undertaken, more efforts are required towards the development of applied frameworks to support public KM initiatives. Inducing culture changes in public organisations and introducing mechanisms of accountability have also been revealed as imperative issues of importance in the context of KM. From an application perspective, most studies have been conducted within the education and healthcare organisations, with a dearth of research in certain important government departments such as the Police and Army forces.The purpose of this paper is to highlight the level of research into KM in the public sector and assess the benefits of taxonomising the literature. This will offer significant new insights into public sector literature and will benefit future researchers in the field. The historically dichotomous roles of public and private sector research present a unique case for reviewing the nuances of public sector KM and investigating whether there is a case for unilateral supposition of the public sector and its unique nuances and if so, is it fortuitous for this to continue. A total of 3000 articles published in peer reviewed journals over selected time periods have been analysed for content pertaining to public sector knowledge management. From this analysis a total of 150 papers have been selected for their direct relevance to public sector knowledge management.There are viable areas of demarcation in public sector literature, and these serve to illustrate a lack of research in some crucial areas, such as the emergency services and the military. The research also suggests that efforts to marry the principals of private sector KM to the public sector are difficult as the uniqueness of public sector culture and orientation makes KM reform challenging.

Employee perception of impact of knowledge management processes on public sector performance

PurposeThe application of knowledge management (KM) is critical to public sector firm as it is to private sector firm. However, despite its significance, the academic enquiry of KM in public sector is at its nascent stage. This forms the motivation of the present work; this paper aims to analyze and understand the intricate relationship between KM processes and public sector firm performance in terms of operational, quality and innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive KM processes–performance framework consisting of seven constructs (four constructs of KM processes and three constructs of KM performance) and their underlying factors was developed through an extensive literature review. The employee perceptions of these seven constructs were captured on a five-point Likert scale using a country-wide survey in the UAE public sector. The 270 valid responses captured were then used to first validate the KM framework and then test the hypothesized relationships between KM processes and KM performance.FindingsThe findings show that all four KM processes (knowledge creation, knowledge capture and storage, knowledge sharing and knowledge application and use) had a positive and significant impact on operational, quality and innovation performance of public sector in the UAE.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings confirm the validity and reliability of all the seven constructs and their underlying factors and the assessment framework. Overall, this study fills a gap in the literature about applying/implementing a KM framework for the public sector and therefore significantly contributes toward the theoretical advancement of the field. However, the study does acknowledge the use of perceptual measures of individual employees as a limitation instead of more objective measures to capture the impact KM processes on KM performance.Practical implicationsThe strong and significant impact of KM processes on firm performance is expected to provide the impetus for practitioners and policymakers to implement and leverage from KM processes and improve firm performance in the public sector.Originality/valueA comprehensive development, validation and assessment of a KM framework for the public sector has not been attempted previously anywhere, let alone UAE, and hence constitutes the novelty of this work.

Knowledge management, organizational commitment and knowledge-worker performance

PurposeKnowledge management in the public sector is relatively an ignored avenue of research and practice that has recently been given attention. Knowledge management initiatives in the public sector are now not limited to the developed countries anymore. The public sectors of various developing countries including Pakistan have developed knowledge management functions to address the problems of low organizational commitment (higher turnover rates) and knowledge-workers’ performance. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediation role of organizational commitment in the relationship between knowledge management practices and knowledge-worker performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data were gathered from 341 knowledge workers of the public sector health department of Punjab Province, Pakistan, where knowledge management unit initiative has been taken. It was then analyzed using the structural equation modeling.FindingsOrganizational commitment partially mediates the relationship between knowledge management practices and knowledge-work performance.Practical implicationsThe public sector policy makers are strongly advised to implement knowledge management units and practices in order to enhance knowledge-work performance as well as organizational commitment.Originality/valueFirst, the model on the mediating role of organizational commitment has never been examined before. Second, the data collection from the public Health Department of Pakistan, a developing country, is relatively rare because the public sector knowledge management studies have mostly been conducted in developed countries. Finally, this study extends the literature on knowledge management in the public sector that is the developing theme in knowledge management discipline while adding knowledge management as a toolkit to enhance knowledge-workers’, organizational commitment and knowledge-work performance.

Gestão do conhecimento no setor público: um estudo sobre os artigos publicados em periódicos nacionais no período 2005-2015

O conhecimento é um recurso de difícil tangibilização, sendo um desafio para os gestores gerenciá-lo, inclusive nas instituições públicas. Assim, são necessárias pesquisas que contribuam para o processo de gestão desse ativo nessas organizações. Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar os artigos sobre gestão do conhecimento no setor público publicados em periódicos nacionais da área, no período 2005-2015. A pesquisa caracterizou-se como uma bibliometria. Destacaram-se como principais resultados a grande quantidade de autores com uma publicação, poucas pesquisas com foco nos governos e temática centrada na estratégia e na tecnologia da informação. Concluiu-se que os estudos brasileiros nessa área estão em evolução e seguindo as tendências internacionais, com oportunidades para análise de outros campos relacionados à gestão do conhecimento no setor público.

Upravljanje znanjem u javnom sektoru - slučaj lokalne vlasti u Srbiji

Knowledge has become an increasingly important determinant of competitiveness for the local governments. The purpose of this paper was to explore the existence of knowledge management (KM) in Serbian local government (LG) and to identify and analyzes processes and infrastructure that supports KM practices. The paper consists of two parts; the first part covers comprehensive literature review that summarizes the existing research done on the subject of knowledge management in public sector in order to put research in context and to highlight the contribution of this paper to the existing body of knowledge. The second part consists of empirical research conducted to get a preview of the current state of the KM practice in Serbian local government. There were several important findings regarding KM practices in Serbian LGs identified in the study, i.e., public servants have a positive attitude toward KM concept; KM activities are mostly technology supported; KM is perceived as a management priority; there is not any formal attribution of responsibility for knowledge practice to executive staff, human resource unit or IT unit, neither any mention of knowledge capacity development in strategies or plans of LGs. Finally, the results of this research study provide valuable guidance for future research for both academics and practitioners.

The study of knowledge management capability and organizational effectiveness in Taiwanese public utility: the mediator role of organizational commitment.

Many studies on the significance of knowledge management (KM) in the business world have been performed in recent years. Public sector KM is a research area of growing importance. Findings show that few authors specialize in the field and there are several obstacles to developing a cohesive body of literature. In order to examine their effect of the knowledge management capability [which consists of knowledge infrastructure capability (KIC) and knowledge process capability (KPC)] and organizational effectiveness (OE), this study conducted structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses with 302 questionnaires of Taipei Water Department staffs in Taiwan. In exploring the model developed in this study, the findings show that there exists a significant relationship between KPC and OE, while KIC and OE are insignificant. These results are different from earlier findings in the literature. Furthermore, this research proposed organizational commitment (OC) as the mediator role. The findings suggest that only OC has significant mediating effects between KPC and OE, whereas this is not the case for KIC and OE. It is noteworthy that the above findings inspired managers, in addition to construct the knowledge infrastructure more than focus on social media tools on the Internet, which engage knowledge workers in “peer-to-peer” knowledge sharing across organizational and company boundaries. The results are likely to help organizations (particularly public utilities) sharpen their knowledge management strategies. Academic and practical implications were drawn based on the findings.

Public sector knowledge management: a structured literature review

Purpose– This paper aims to review and critique the public sector knowledge management (KM) literature, offers an overview of the state of public sector KM research and outlines a future research agenda.Design/methodology/approach– Articles published in KM journals are analyzed using a structured literature review methodology. The paper analyzes 180 papers published within ten journals specializing in the field of KM.Findings– Public sector KM is a research area of growing importance. Findings show that few authors specialize in the field and there are several obstacles to developing a cohesive body of literature. Low levels of international cooperation among authors and international comparisons mean that the literature is fragmented. Some research topics and some geographical areas within the public sector theme are over-analyzed, while others are under-investigated. Additionally, academic researchers should re-think their methodological approach if they wish to make significant contributions to the literature and work toward developing research which impacts practice in conjunction with practitioners.Originality/value– The paper presents a comprehensive structured literature review of the articles published in KM journals. The paper’s findings can offer insights into future research needs.

Benefits and challenges of knowledge management in public sector : a case study of local authorities in Malaysia

The potential impact of knowledge management in the public sector organizations on the stakeholders is greater than that in the private sector organizations. Knowledge management is regarded as an essential component to the Electronic Government evolution in Malaysia because it uses people and technology to generate creativity and innovation in the existing systems to improve productivity and quality of services. Thus. this paper explores the role ofknowledge management in the Local Authorities in a broader perspective towards achieving the Electronic Government. A case study research of knowledge management in the Local Authorities is imperative as it provides empirical evidence on whether knowledge management is a suitable platform for Electronic Government evolution in Malaysia. Survey questionnaires were distributed to the senior and middle management government officers in the Local Authorities located in the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory and Selangor State. This group ofgovernment officers was selected as they are responsible for the strategic policies and operational management in various departments ofthe Local Authorities. The responses from the questionnaires were aimed to identify the potential benefits and challenges in using KM as a strategic management tool to improve the internal operational efficiency and electronic service delivery system ofthe Local Authorities. Thefindings revealed a high level ofperceived importance ofKM benefits in achieving the Electronic Government paradigm. However, the main obstaclesfor the Local Authorities to adopt knowledge management are non-standardized processes and procedures of organizational systems and outdated information and communication technology and inadequate knowledge management tools.

A Comparative Analysis of the activities of Knowledge Management in Public Sector: With Focus on the Central Government, Local Government and Public Enterprise

A Comparative Analysis of the activities of Knowledge Management in Public Sector: With Focus on the Central Government, Local Government and Public Enterprise

Powerful public sector knowledge management: a school district example

PurposeDrawn from a recent research study of the Toronto District School Board, this paper aims to examine how the District employs knowledge management to initiate and improve early literacy instruction and achievement.Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on Nonaka and Takeuchi's framework to explore how focusing on tacit‐to‐tacit knowledge‐sharing strategies influence early literacy‐based knowledge sharing within and across schools. Data collection involved the collection and analysis of documents used and designed by Early Years Listeracy Project (EYLP) staff members. The second phase engaged a cross‐section of 34 EYLP teachers, administrators and senior TDSB superintendents and EYLP management team members in individual semi‐structured interviews. Participants commented on their experience vis‐à‐vis the various knowledge management strategies used to support its implementation. Data from the interviews was codified, analyzed and summarized and summaries were shared with participants for comment.FindingsThe District has employed a comprehensive strategy designed to build instructional and leadership capacity via the use of in‐school knowledge activists and informal professional networks. This paper explores the impact of these strategies on school and district‐level teacher and leader learning and organizational culture.Originality/valueThe overall impact of these strategies for professional and organizational learning and the challenges associated with employing knowledge management within education and the broader public sector are presented.

Public-sector knowledge management in Denmark

Throughout Europe, countries are having to face the prospect of declining professional expertise, competence and experience. This paper looks specifically at the problems facing public-sector technical administration in Denmark and describes a new knowledge management (KM) project that has now been established. The KM system enables its users to share know-how and experience on various topics within the public technical sector. The paper outlines the system and shares the experiences to date.

Managing Knowledge Strategically: A Comparison of Managers' Perceptions between the Private and Public Sector in Australia

This paper compares the perceptions of private and public sector managers in regard to knowledge management (KM), using data derived from a survey conducted in Australia. The objective is to develop understanding of the current practice to assist in developing strategies to improve public sector KM practice. Findings revealed that public sector respondents in Australia had a less developed understanding in KM and intellectual capital (IC), as compared to the private sector respondents. This poorer understanding had led to a much weaker KM practice in the public sector: KM initiatives were not commonly addressed at the strategic level; employees were less trained and developed; few measurement systems were developed and almost no incentive and reward measures were established. In addition, public sector respondents were less confident about the roles of organisational culture, organisational structure and IT in KM in their organisation. They had lower agreement on the role of organisational structure, culture and IT as knowledge creation and sharing facilitators. The study, to a certain extent, supports the proposition that industrial context has an effect on managers' perceptions of KM.

School Reform: The District Policy Implications of the Effective Schools Literature

School Reform: The District Policy Implications of the Effective Schools Literature