Organisational factors for information technology implementation in knowledge management:a Malaysian perspective

Abstract

Managing knowledge appears to be a key in improving competencies for Asian Pacific organisations in the face of global competition. In this region, IT has been identified to play a critical role in an organisation’s capability to manage knowledge. In the case of Malaysian organisations, extant studies revealed a gap between perceived importance of information technology (IT) and its actual utilisation to support knowledge management (KM) in Malaysian organisations. In view of this problem, this paper attempts to identify the organisational factors for successful IT implementation to support KM in a Malaysian setting. Review of literature indicates six dimensions of organisational factors for successful IT implementation in KM, which are organisational culture, reward and incentive, knowledge classification, institutionalisation of IT, perceived advantages of using IT, and management’s perception on the use of IT for KM.Findings from interviews in three Malaysian organisations generally support the relevancy of all proposed dimensions. An ‘IT for KM’ model was developed along with a survey instrument to measure constructs, test hypotheses, and validate the model. A pilot study of the instrument was conducted to determine its validity, reliability, and for further refinement of the instrument. Results from a sample of 150 Malaysian publicly listed organisations in the pilot study indicate that all organisational factors proposed are significantly correlated to the level of IT use for KM in Malaysian organisations, with the exception of one factor, which is management’s perception on the use of IT for KM. This paper provides an insight for effective IT implementations for KM in Malaysian organisations, validates the existing theoretical framework for IT use for KM in a Malaysian context, and contributes towards managing complexities in the Asian Pacific region.