The practice of knowledge management processes: A comparative study of public and private higher education institutions in Malaysia

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to investigate and compare the practices of knowledge management (KM) processes, which have been grounded in the KM literature, between public and private higher education institutions (HEIs).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 594 academics from three public and three private HEIs in Malaysia.

Findings

The analyses suggest that all the six KM processes (knowledge creation, capture, organisation, storage, dissemination, and application) are moderately practiced by the institutions surveyed and that there are significant differences in the overall practices of KM processes between the public and private HEIs.

Practical implications

This paper raises awareness and provides initial guidelines to the HEIs as knowledge‐intensive organisations in formulating strategies on how to properly implement and manage their KM processes.

Originality/value

This study has extended knowledge in KM for it is probably the first to provide a comparative analysis between public and private HEIs. It further opens up new lines of future research possibilities.

Citation

Devi Ramachandran, S., Choy Chong, S. and Ismail, H. (2009), "The practice of knowledge management processes: A comparative study of public and private higher education institutions in Malaysia", VINE, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 203-222. https://doi.org/10.1108/03055720911003978