Impact of Knowledge Management Practices on Job Satisfaction: A Case Study of Toyota Kenya Limited

It is crucial for organizations to fully understand Knowledge Management in order to serve their markets better. Particularly this research tried to establish the impact of Knowledge Management Practices on Job Satisfaction (A case study of Toyota Kenya Limited).It was guided by specific objectives that sought out to: examine whether KM policies and strategies impact on job satisfaction; find out whether knowledge capturing; transfer and sharing leads to job satisfaction and to establish the value of training and mentorship programs on job satisfaction. The target population in this study was thirty (30). The response rate was 85%.The study established that 76.5% of the respondents agreed they are satisfied with the Knowledge Management Policies and Strategies, 41.2% strongly agreed that the organization facilitated knowledge capture, storage and retrieval and 64.7% strongly agreed they had experienced that trainings and mentoring programs improved their job performance. The study found out that mentorship and training programs are excellent motivators and therefore organizations should focus on. The researcher recommended that organizations should start taking advantage of corporate Knowledge Management practices by implementing knowledge creation methodologies and knowledge application strategies. The researcher recommends further studies on roles of knowledge management practices on organizational development. Keywords: Knowledge, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Practices, Job satisfaction and Toyota Kenya Limited

Strategic Utilization of What Organizations Know for Value Creation: the case of Kenyan Financial Regulatory Enterprises

A Journal article by Dr. Edward Otieno Owino, an Adjunct Faculty in the Chandaria School of Business in USIU- Africa.With the increasing uncertainty in business-operating environment in the knowledge-driven economy, organizations should not only know what they know, but know it well for effective strategic utilization. This study sought to find out the extent to which organizations know what they know and whether they strategically utilize that knowledge for value creation. This study used descriptive approach which revealed that organizations know what they know to a great extent but strategically utilizing it to some extent. The respondents gave varying score rates on the extent of strategic utilization of knowing capability especially on the highly tacit knowledge. The study found out that managing knowledge as a strategic asset has not received strategic focus and attention. The study argued that not knowing your critical knowledge in a knowledge driven economy is a serious capability problem. This study was limited to financial regulatory enterprises in Kenya. However, we gave insight that can stimulate discussion and further research on knowing capability and value creation using diverse population in diverse industries

Institutionalization of Knowledge Management in Manufacturing Enterprises in Kenya: A Case of Selected Enterprises

A Journal article by Dr. Edward Otieno Owino, an Adjunct Faculty in the Chandaria School of Business in USIU- AfricaIn the fast changing business environment, knowledge has turn out to be the basis of every organization in creating and sustaining competitive differentiation. This study sought to examine factors that influence institutionalization of Knowledge Management (KM) in manufacturing enterprises in Kenya. A sample of 60 senior managers in the three selected manufacturing enterprises revealed that there are two critical factors that influence institutionalization of knowledge management. These factors are organizational practices and technological infrastructure. This paper concludes that the organizational practices have the highest influence and therefore when a comprehensive view is taken in instituting knowledge management practices, organizational practices be considered first and technological infrastructure second

Knowledge Management and Business Performance

This paper aims to examine the views of the global knowledge management (KM) community on the research area of KM and business performance and identify key future research themes. An interview study spanning 222 informants in 38 countries was launched to collect data on KM expert views concerning the future research needs of the KM field. The value contribution of KM requires more research despite experts agreeing on the complexities involved in solving this challenge. Further research areas identified were related to the influence of KM to support business strategy, intellectual capital, decision-making, knowledge sharing, organizational learning, innovation performance, productivity and competitive advantage. The sample is dominated by European-based KM experts and the self-selecting sampling approach that was used by relying on the networks of each partner could have biased the structure of this sample. The recognition of the complexity to demonstrate the value contribution of KM could prevent practitioners from using over-simplified approaches and encourage them to use more advanced measurement approaches. The paper is unique, in that it reports on the views of 222 KM experts from 38 countries representing both academia and practice, on the issue of future research needs in terms of KM and business outcomes. As such it provides valuable guidance for future studies in the KM field and related subjects