Review on the KM Applications in Public Organisations

Abstract: 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\u27s 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 underresearched 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. Keywords: KM, Public Sector, Literature Revie

Educating Knowledge Management Professionals in the Era of Knowledge Economy

以知識為核心的新經濟時代已來臨，「知識」成為企業的關鍵資源，如何持續不斷的創造並利用新知識，就成為現代企業管理的重要課題。展望未來，如何將「知識」這項資源有效的管理必將成為未來重要的課題。然而，不同學科背景的人看知識管理，常從不同角度來切入，因缺乏整體的概念而無法發揮知識管理最大的功效。臺灣大學圖書資訊學系、工商管理學系、資訊管理學系與資訊工程學系共同規劃了一個「知識管理學程」，期望能透過該學程培育出全方位的知識管理人才。本文首先提出知識管理是21世紀企業經營之潮流，接著闡述知識管理人才需要跨學科的培育，之後介紹知識管理人才培育之管道，最後以台大知識管理學程為例，說明大學對知識管理人才培育之規劃理念，希望能拋磚引玉並提供其他學校規劃相關學程之參考。期望未來培訓更多優秀的知識管理人才，為提升臺灣產業的競爭力盡一份心力。The Era of knowledge Economy has come, and “knowledge” has become a key resource for enterprises. How to keep creating and utilizing new knowledge has become an important topic for modern business management. In the future, how to manage “knowledge” efficiently and effectively will be a crucial issue. However, due to differences in training backgrounds, people may have different perspectives on knowledge management; and effectiveness of knowledge management may not be maximized due to lack of integration. Because of this, the Departments of Library and Information Science, Business Administration, Information Management, Computer Science and Information Engineering in National Taiwan University have worked together to propose a “Knowledge Management Curriculum Program” with an aim to educate and to train all-round knowledge management professionals. This paper begins with that knowledge management (KM) will be the trend of business management in the 21st century, followed by the need to train cross-field KM professionals and channels for such training. Lastly, it takes “KM Curriculum Program, NTU” as an example to explain the ideas behind its education and training. Furthermore, by sharing of experiences, it is our hope to motivate other colleges and universities to draw up similar programs to train more skillful KM professionals and to improve Taiwan's competitiveness in the business world

The implications of knowledge management for library and information science education: a mixed method investigation

Knowledge Management (KM) is a popular topic emerging from the business sector, which has influenced many fields of study, among them Library and Information Science (LIS). As KM is quite recent, there is still much ambiguity as to its nature and its place in LIS education. The current study sought to shed a light on these issues. To help achieve better understanding of KM and its implications for LIS education, the researcher employed a mixed method approach, using both a web-based survey of LIS professionals and in-depth interviews with 18 LIS Heads of schools or senior staff at schools operating KM programs and courses. The research indicates that although to an extent, confusion remains over the nature of KM and its relevance to LIS, there is at least recognition among the research community of the need for a proper understanding of knowledge management, as distinct from information management and of the importance of looking at KM from a generalist perspective. The findings further indicate that the LIS community is seeking to expand its boundaries into a wider professional environment than that of traditional librarianship, and that it sees KM as an effective vehicle for this purpose. The indications are also that apart from at the elective level, KM education should be offered not just as a distinct and separate track, but also as a subject pervading the entire LIS curriculum. The findings also highlight a need for greater integration between research and teaching in knowledge management, and for improved links between the curriculum and the outside world of KM practice. This implies the need for LIS schools to import aspects of KM practice into their activities. Participants also acknowledged the importance of matching KM education both to the needs of students and of the marketplace. Furthermore, the research results highlight the necessarily multidisciplinary character of KM curricula, with the need for LIS curricula to focus on tacit knowledge and the human dimension of KM, as well as on business, management and organisational issues. The findings also support a collaborative approach to KM education in order to achieve the creation of a holistic curriculum, with contributions particularly, from business schools, industry and practitioners. Based on the findings of this study, a partial or improper understanding of KM among the LIS community, and a lack of realisation of the value of KM education among LIS students and educators, are key issues facing KM education in the LIS sector. To solve these problems, LIS schools not only need to provide courses in knowledge management, and promote it among the LIS community, but also they must actively market the concept and their own contribution to the field. This thesis makes an innovative contribution to the literature of KM education, and to the understanding of the subject and its related concepts. It is also one of the few such pieces of research into the implications of KM for LIS education to have been conducted on a global basis