Knowledge management issues in knowledge‐intensive SMEs
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a study of knowledge management understanding and usage in small and medium knowledge‐intensive enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has taken an interpretitivist approach, using two knowledge‐intensive South Yorkshire (England) companies as case studies, both of which are characterised by the need to process and use knowledge on a daily basis in order to remain competitive. The case studies were analysed using qualitative research methodology, composed of interviews and concept mapping, thus deriving a characterisation of understandings, perceptions and requirements of SMEs in relation to knowledge management.
Findings
The study provides evidence that, while SMEs, including knowledge intensive ones, acknowledge that adequately capturing, storing, sharing and disseminating knowledge can lead to greater innovation and productivity, their managers are not prepared to invest the relatively high effort on long term knowledge management goals for which they have difficulty in establishing the added value. Thus, knowledge management activities within SMEs tend to happen in an informal way, rarely supported by purposely designed ICT systems.
Research limitations/implications
This paper proposes that further studies in this field are required that focus on organisational and practical issues in order to close the gap between theoretical propositions and the reality of practice.
Practical implications
The study suggests that in order to implement an appropriate knowledge management strategy in SMEs cultural, behavioural, and organisational issues need to be tackled before even considering technical issues.
Originality/value
KM seems to have been successfully applied in large companies, but it is largely disregarded by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This has been attributed primarily to a lack of a formal approach to the sharing, recording, transferring, auditing and exploiting of organisational knowledge, together with a lack of utilisation of available information technologies. This paper debates these concepts from a research findings point of view.
Keywords
Citation
Baptista Nunes, M., Annansingh, F., Eaglestone, B. and Wakefield, R. (2006), "Knowledge management issues in knowledge‐intensive SMEs", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 62 No. 1, pp. 101-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410610642075
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited