Knowledge management infrastructure: Preliminary evidences of Malaysian banking practice

Knowledge Management (KM) has become a vital concept for Malaysian banking industries in enhancing their competitive advantage.Leveraging the power of knowledge occurs when individuals intended to share their knowledge.When there is a trust and secure feeling of ownership, the knowledge will spread without any constraints.With an adequate infrastructure in organizations, it can ease the communication and employees interaction for knowledge sharing. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of infrastructure, organizational culture, organizational structure and technology towards knowledge sharing in banking industries

Antecedents of Knowledge Management Practices: Case of Malaysian Practitioners

In this paper, we investigated the knowledge management (KM) behavior of executives in Malaysia who work in different sectors and involved in Information Technology (IT) related fields. We proposed a conceptual framework based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to study their intention and involvement in KM initiatives. The knowledge creation theory (SECI process) was employed to operationalize KM intention and KM behavior. We proposed six independent variables that represent the social-cultural nature of KM as the antecedence of KM intention. These variables are trust, management support, decentralization, IT support, performance expectancy (PE), and effort expectancy (EE). Seventy-four executives from both private and government-linked organizations responded to our online questionnaire. SmartPLS3 was used to run the analysis. The reliability was ensured with the factor loadings, Cronbach’s alpha, Composite Reliability (CR) that met the fit requirement of above 0.6, 0.7 and 0.7 respectively. The convergent validity was confirmed through average variance extracted (AVE) that met the fit requirement of above 0.5. The discriminant validity was assessed by using Fornell and Larcker’s criterion. Finally, the structural model confirmed that only PE of KM, and EE of KM are the significant predictors of KM intention and the KM intention significantly predicts KM behavior. The implications of the findings are discussed in detail at the end of the paper

The Social Approach Of Knowledge Management: The Effect On The Organizational Learning Capacity

(WP 08/03 Clave pdf) The present study focuses on the issue of establishing behavioral initiatives of knowledge management for facilitating the development of a learning capacity in organizations. The analysis is accomplished through a validated questionnaire that surveyed 111 Spanish companies. The research findings show the positive relations between behavioral elements of knowledge management and learning capacity in organizations. So, these results validate that by creating and nurturing a trusting, creative and innovative climate, an organization can sustain its competitive advantages.Innovation, Knowledge management, Learning capacity, Trust

Determinants of knowledge sharing among senior officers of Royal Malaysia Police (RMP)

This study aims at investigating the influence of individual, organizational and technology factors on the success of knowledge sharing among senior officers of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP). Level of education and length of service and knowledge self-efficacy are individual factors; top management support is organizational factor and ICT use is technology factor were used in this study as the independent variables. Respondents of this study were 230 senior officers that rank from Inspector to Superintendent who serve at Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) and Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) at RMP headquarter in Bukit Aman. This study is a quantitative research that formally test the conceptual model developed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22. Multiple regression and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were performed to test the hypotheses of the study. The results indicated that all of the factors (self-efficacy, top management support and ICT use) were positively and significantly related to knowledge sharing and there is no significant difference in knowledge sharing based on level of education and length of service among senior officers of RMP. It is believed that this study could contribute to theories and managerial practices

The impact of organisational culture and knowledge creation process on organisational creativity and performance in knowledge-intensive banks

Knowledge management (KM) has various implications for organisational performance and competitiveness. Proponents argue that knowledge creation (KC) is extremely important for the long-run progress of an organisation. However, previous research has not demonstrated the application of each of the socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation (SECI) conversion processes in approaches to the study of KC and performance in specific business situations. In particular, the banking sector, which is a knowledge-intensive industry. In addition, some researchers claimed that the SECI model was based on Japanese standards; so the validity of this model in different cultures is also questionable. Furthermore, there is a significant gap in the literature, in terms of lack of empirical evidence that KM makes a difference to organisational performance. To fill these gaps, this study utilises an integrated model that interconnects and analyses the relationship between organisational culture, knowledge creation processes and firm performance, and specifically the role of the KC process and creativity in this relationship. The emphasis is on knowledge creation process (KCP), such as socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation in the context of domestic banks operating in Saudi Arabia.This study adopts a quantitative research method through a case study approach to classify and examine the proposed model. A stratified random sample was drawn from 32 branches of two knowledge-intensive commercial banks in Saudi Arabia. Two hundred and fourteen self-administered questionnaires were collected to analyse the impact of organisational culture and the knowledge creation process on organisational creativity and performance. The survey data were examined by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and regression analysis. CFA revealed a decent model fit. The results confirmed that the organisational culture, which comprises trust, collaboration and learning factors, is observed to be an influential empowering agent. The results suggest KCP mediates the relationship between organisational culture and creativity, and of creativity mediates the relationship between KCP and firm performance. The internalisation process had the strongest impact on creativity and combination had an insignificant effect. In addition, the findings showed socialisation as a key antecedent for the exchange of tacit knowledge (TK) in the Saudi banks considered and the regression results indicated that the internalisation process helped Saudi banks to internalise explicit knowledge (EK) into TK during KCP. Consequently, this study supports the applicability of the SECI model in a new cross-cultural context and makes an important contribution to the existing literature by empirically investigating the relationship between organisational culture, KCP, creativity and firm performance. The findings not only provide a basis for further research in the field, but also have implications for chiefs at Saudi banks looking for management knowledge

The Nature of the Relationships between Social Networks, Interpersonal Trust, Management Support, and Knowledge Sharing

Purpose – Past research has shown that, by implementing knowledge sharing, an organisation can maintain its long-term competitive advantage. Hence, this research will explore the nature of the relationships between social networks, interpersonal trust, management support, and knowledge sharing. Methodology/approach – In order to achieve the above purpose, semi-structured interviews were used to gather qualitative data. Interviewee participants included top and middle managers and frontline employees. The total number of participants included in the research was 25, equally representing five companies. The core business of all the companies was large-scale manufacturing. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the data, augmented by the computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, Nvivo. Findings – The results reveal that social networks facilitate knowledge sharing in diverse ways. These ways are: the use of multiple communication styles, brainstorming and problem solving, learning and teaching, training, employee rotation, and consultation. In addition, the data from the interviews suggests that, through various factors, the level of interpersonal trust, influences the extent to which employees are willing to share knowledge. These factors are organisational, relational, and individual factors. Furthermore, this study shows that both middle and top managers can play significant roles in facilitating knowledge sharing between employees. These roles are: encouragement of participation in decision-making, provision of recognition, breaking down of barriers, building up of teams, providing training or assigning others to do training, encouragement of training, communication, learning, putting knowledge into practice in the form of processes, and movement of employees. Research contributions – Six models were developed from the qualitative analysis of the field data. The brainstorming and problem solving model identifies various steps for brainstorming and problem solving which influence social networks and knowledge sharing. The model of learning and teaching explains how social networks can be built based on the receivers’ levels of knowledge, namely, the novice, competent, expert, and proficient levels. The model of factors influencing social networks and knowledge sharing illustrates various factors. These are: using multiple communication strategies, brainstorming and problem solving, learning and teaching, training, employee rotation, and consultation. The model of factors influencing interpersonal trust describes three factors for achieving such trust: organisational, relational, and individual factors. This model also elaborates on three factors that negatively influence interpersonal trust. These are division between departments, team conflict, and a sense of vulnerability. The model of the role of management teams in encouraging participation in decision-making elaborates on levels of decision-making among employees and the way in which knowledge flows between top and middle management and frontline employees. The integrative model deciphers the relationships between social networks, interpersonal trust, management support, openness, and knowledge sharing. In addition, the relationships between each area of emphasis and knowledge sharing are included in the model. Based on this model, a survey questionnaire was developed. These models provide new insights into the relationships between social networks, interpersonal trust, management support, and knowledge sharing. By applying these models to appropriate field situations, both practitioners and academics may be able to improve current practices relating to how knowledge is shared and evolves within organisations

Development of a Critical Factors Model for the Knowledge Economy in Saudi Arabia

If knowledge-based economic systems are to be adopted, succeed and be disseminated, many significant barriers must be overcome regardless of how advanced a country is in terms of its infrastructure and domestic production. This paper describes an investigation of the critical factors associated with the adoption and dissemination of a knowledge economy initiative. The focus of the research is on knowledge management, national culture and other country-specific factors and how they are influencing Saudi Arabia’s efforts to develop a knowledge economy

Social science for conservation in working landscapes and seascapes

Biodiversity is in precipitous decline globally across both terrestrial and marine environments. Therefore, conservation actions are needed everywhere on Earth, including in the biodiversity rich landscapes and seascapes where people live and work that cover much of the planet. Integrative landscape and seascape approaches to conservation fill this niche. Making evidence-informed conservation decisions within these populated and working landscapes and seascapes requires an in-depth and nuanced understanding of the human dimensions through application of the conservation social sciences. Yet, there has been no comprehensive exploration of potential conservation social science contributions to working landscape and seascape initiatives. We use the Smithsonian Working Land and Seascapes initiative – an established program with a network of 14 sites around the world – as a case study to examine what human dimensions topics are key to improving our understanding and how this knowledge can inform conservation in working landscapes and seascapes. This exploratory study identifies 38 topics and linked questions related to how insights from place-based and problem-focused social science might inform the planning, doing, and learning phases of conservation decision-making and adaptive management. Results also show how conservation social science might yield synthetic and theoretical insights that are more broadly applicable. We contend that incorporating insights regarding the human dimensions into integrated conservation initiatives across working landscapes and seascapes will produce more effective, equitable, appropriate and robust conservation actions. Thus, we encourage governments and organizations working on conservation initiatives in working landscapes and seascapes to increase engagement with and funding of conservation social science