Diagnosis of Knowledge Management Process in Companies

Purpose – The paper presents a description and research results pertaining to knowledge management process in companies representing Polish IT sector. The main objective of the study was to diagnose the process. The study embraces Probst, Raub, Romhardt’s process knowledge management model. Therefore, the diagnosis pertained to locating, acquiring, developing, sharing, applying and maintaining knowledge. In order to supplement the description of the process, the following were included: association of the process with a strategy, companies’ level of knowledge management implementation, causes and barriers for the application, tools and determinants facilitating the implementation, sources of knowledge. Design/Methodology/Approach – In order to arrive at the objectives and obtain unbiased results, quantitative studies based upon surveys were conducted. The questionnaire contained questions pertaining to individual stages and additional aspects of knowledge management process. Respondents presented their views by means of a 4-point scale evaluating a particular area associated with the process and the intensity of its presence. Findings – Research results enable the following observations to be made. Knowledge management in the studied organizations is a planned activity originating from the organization’s strategy. The implementation of knowledge management is to improve the quality of services and boost client satisfaction. Structural solutions facilitating the implementation have been developed. All stages of knowledge management process have been implemented in the studied companies. However, the extent of the implementation varied. The creation of knowledge is the most popular. Its utilization – the least. Knowledge management processes in the studied companies face several obstacles limiting the effectiveness of the idea, such as insuficient interpersonal communication and inadequate management style. Research limitations/implications – Research results obtained in the study do not offer opportunities for generalizations. On the other hand, results can be compared with those for other sectors or countries. In addition, the comparison of knowledge management processes in companies diversiied with regards to size, form of ownership, type of activity would constitute an interesting research opportunity. In order to expand knowledge of the process, additional aspects of the individual stages of knowledge management and the process’ determinants may also be considered. Originality/Value – In the theory of management, knowledge is frequently considered as a signiicant issue in economy. Therefore, the present study and paper constitute a contribution to the expansion of knowledge on the course, determinants, objectives, barriers and implementation of knowledge management.

1.The nature of knowledge management "Knowledge management is based upon the premise that just like people are unable to completely rely upon full capability of their minds, organizations are unable to fully utilize knowledge they possess.Owing to knowledge management, in the process of acquiring or creating knowledge, organizations seek potentially useful expertise.Such knowledge is rendered accessible to those who may use it in the time and place which maximize its effective application in order to exert a positive inluence upon the organization's operations.In general, it is believed that if an organization is able to improve its effective application of knowledge by only a fraction, it will result in the emergence of signiicant advantages" (King, 2009, p. 3).The above-mentioned deinition presents knowledge management as a process.It is deined by numerous authors from such a perspective.Perez and Ordóñez de Pablos deine knowledge management as a process revolving around "creating or capturing knowledge, organizations, and offering value accumulated in knowledge, imparting it, and determining mechanisms of its utilization, including re-use, both by individuals and groups in an organization" (2003, p. 84).The process facilitates the realization of particular objectives of an organization by an application of various tools.According to Probst, Raub and Romhardt, knowledge management constitutes "an integrated set of actions whose objective lies in knowledge resources being properly molded" (2002, p.35).Such actions constitute a process encompassing location, acquisition, creation, dissemination, application and maintenance of knowledge.Therefore, the essence of knowledge management is found in an organization of processes which develop new knowledge and distribute it to those in need.Knowledge is rendered accessible in order to be applied in the future by the whole organization.All areas of knowledge are interconnected (Van der Spek and Spijkervet, 1997, p. 35).
As a consequence, process approaches to knowledge management are diverse.They differ in the number of stages and terminology.In addition, these individual stages are not equally signiicant in knowledge management.Some stages are indicated much more frequently than others.These include creation, acquisition, diffusion (both sharing and dissemination of knowledge) and application of knowledge.Knowledge creation is considered as the most critical stage.The fact was acknowledged in studies by Mertins, Heisig and Vorbeck (2003, pp. 5-7).On the basis of their studies, the authors indicated application, diffusion, creation and maintenance of knowledge as the most vital stages of knowledge management.
Knowledge management embodies a complex process.Its constituting elements are closely interconnected and one impacts others.Therefore, focusing on one or selected stages of knowledge management seems inappropriate.The process ought to be perceived and realized comprehensively.
Location of knowledge constitutes the irst stage of the process.It revolves around sources of internal knowledge, including individual, group and one in the organization's surrounding environment, being revealed.According to Łapniewski and Szczerbicki, location of knowledge "pertains to revealing its sources and is also associated with developing methods for knowledge acquisition -via structuring intellectual resources of an organization and designing maps of knowledge location" (2006, p. 15).Identiication of the sources "enables a necessary fragment of knowledge to be located" ( 115 2006, p.75) and "constitutes a fundamental factor of it being applied at a later time" (Klincewicz, 2008, p. 90).There exist numerous sources enabling location of knowledge.Organizations utilize them to a various extent and take into account factors such as knowledge gap, costs of knowledge acquisition, prospective beneits of its possession, or its availability.Some organizations designate a special position designed for a search of information employees may require.Other companies use services of knowledge brokers.
Knowledge acquisition constitutes a stage which follows location.According to Latusek, it may have a dual understanding.First of all, it may be perceived as learning of organizations' members.Secondly, it may be viewed as a systematic monitoring of the surrounding environment and acquisition of knowledge regarding the market, competition, changing conditions of operation, which may subsequently serve for sound managerial decisions to be made (2008, p. 247).Holsapple and Joshi observed that knowledge acquisition "refers to an activity associated with the identiication of knowledge in the surrounding environment, and its transformation into a representation which may be internalized and/or applied " (2004, p. 106).
The signiicance of knowledge acquisition from the surrounding environment results chiely from the fact that it allows for the primary gap identiied in the location stage to be minimized.Secondly, the acquired, current and well-adjusted to organizations' needs knowledge forms a basis for sound decisions to be made, and constitutes a success factor in modern business.Next, knowledge acquired from the environment may "considerably improve an organization's functioning and decrease costs of day-to-day operations because knowledge originating from other areas or cases may be applied to this effect" (Latusek, 2008, pp. 246-247).Companies seeking to acquire knowledge from the surrounding environment may do it by employing specialists, cooperating with other organizations, acquiring knowledge from market participants, purchasing products associated with knowledge (Probst, Raub and Romhardt, 2002, pp. 122-136).
Apart from the acquisition of knowledge, its development aims at bridging the gap in organizations' knowledge resources.Knowledge development is characterized by a growing theoretical and practical signiicance when compared with the acquisition stage.Stankiewicz explains such a tendency by stating that "acquired knowledge requires constant development.Otherwise, sooner or later it expires and ceases to be a resource helpful in creating a competitive advantage.At present, due to globalization of economies and growing competitiveness, expiration of knowledge is especially dynamic (…) Knowledge development presents a source of original knowledge i.e. one possessing characteristics of a strategic resource" (2006, p. 354).Creation of knowledge may occur in various places inside and outside of organizations.They may conduct own research, utilize internal sources of knowledge.They may also develop various types of research cooperation with external entities and utilize their sources of knowledge.
According to Wiig, sharing knowledge revolves around "distributing knowledge where it is required" (1997, p.76).It is a process of "mutual transfer of knowledge by people in communication and cooperation" (Mikuła, 2007, p.137).In addition, Mertins, Heisig and Vorbeck highlight cultural determinants of knowledge sharing and deine these as "a part of corporate culture which facilitates active exchange of information, knowledge and experiences among employees and departments of the  company" (2003, pp. 5-7).Sharing knowledge is signiicant because if knowledge is not used and applied, and employees do not share it, it does not constitute an asset to the organization.Teamwork contributes to knowledge sharing the most.It may occur in the form of a community of practitioners, formal work groups, project teams, and informal networking.Sharing occurs during project work, discussions, group problem solving, day-to-day cooperation within teams representing a particular ield, and alliances with entities in the surrounding environment.Apart from occurring among people, knowledge sharing may also be realized by means of direct contacts or via IT tools and systems.
Application of knowledge denotes it becoming tangible in the form of innovation, changes in the organization or in the product for end users.Application of knowledge in order to create something new and boost organizations' value constitutes a dominant interpretation.King, Chung and Haney claim that a natural consequence of knowledge sharing may be its "application in the process of development (development of various interpretations), infusion (identiication of basic issues) and speciication (compilation of several understandings by various people or groups) in order to be useful in facilitating innovation, joint learning, individual learning and/or joint problem solving.It may also be incorporated into procedures, systems, products and relations in organizations" (2008, p. 168).Van der Spek and Spijkervet deine knowledge application as "use of knowledge in order to offer new products and services" (1997, p. 76).
Knowledge maintenance is an important stage of knowledge management.It is responsible for the emergence of organizational memory and prevents knowledge loss.Organizational memory consists of knowledge resources which are "available to all employees, and controlled by the whole organization instead of individual people" (Klincewicz, 2008, p. 80).It is a "source of knowledge for new cognitive activities" (Morawski, 2005, p. 46).It aims at "securing the organization's operation in the future" (Mikuła, 2007, p. 138).Knowledge maintenance is perceived as the most "technical" of all stages of the process due to the fact that it focuses on tools and procedures associated with storing knowledge.Such an approach is dictated by a rapid build-up of knowledge resources both in electronic and traditional form, the necessity of lowering costs of information processing and storage, and boost of eficiency of these activities.
Naturally, what follows is an increase in the signiicance of tools and activities for knowledge storage, and focus on their optimization.

Methodology
The objective of the study was to identify knowledge management processes.Results were to enable knowledge management to be described.Details of the description were based upon several research problems posed in the form of the following research questions: • Do companies realize knowledge management processes?
• Does the implementation of the process constitute an element of a strategy?What results are expected?The study focused on knowledge management.Probst, Raub and Romhardt's knowledge management concept was applied in the study.In accordance with the model, the study pertained to the location, acquisition, creation, dissemination, application and maintenance of knowledge.Companies representing Polish IT sector constituted the object of the study.
The study utilized survey method with the use of a questionnaire.It consisted of questions regarding the evaluated stages of knowledge management and a few additional ones on its determinants.Respondents presented their views on the subject and identiied individual stages of the process by means of a 4-point scale evaluating a particular area associated with the process and the intensity of its presence.
The study encompassed 100 companies representing Polish IT sector.There were 1 large, 10 medium, and 89 small companies among them.Various types of partnerships dominated (88).In addition, there were 5 state-owned enterprises, and 7 cooperatives.All of them handled manufacture of computer hardware, software, and provided IT-related services.
The sample featured 415 respondents consisting of IT managers and specialists.

Knowledge management -research results
The starting point of the knowledge management analysis in the evaluated companies was the establishment of the extent to which the process is applied in these organizations.
The greatest number of respondents (33%) declared their companies applied knowledge management.The second most numerous group (24.1%) stated the need for knowledge management was present, however, the process was not applied.According to 19.5% of respondents, their companies plan to implement knowledge management or the implementation has already commenced.Lack of interest in knowledge management was expressed by 23.3% of respondents.
Possessing broad, comprehensive and in-depth knowledge in the state of changing environment, risk, and insecurity, constitutes a success factor.Knowledge management is critical, especially when strategic decisions are to be made.Knowledge management constituted an element of organizations' strategy (72.9%).In order for the process to be implemented, employees occupying positions associated directly with the issue were appointed (69.3%).The existence and application of measurement systems regarding knowledge management was acknowledged by 60.5% of respondents.
The use of knowledge sources is enabled by tools facilitating fast penetration of information systems and swift information transfer.Research results indicate that two of these are used deinitely the most frequently i.e. the Internet, indicated by 21.8% of respondents, and electronic mail selected by 18.6%.In addition, the intranet (10.3%), databases (14.9%) and teleconferences (10.3%) were indicated quite frequently as tools facilitating knowledge management.
Research results enable the following observation to be made.In the evaluated companies, stages of knowledge management are realized with varied intensity.Respondents scored knowledge creation the highest, whereas its application -the lowest.When arranging the stages of knowledge management according to percentage of respondents' indications, the following ranking emerges: 1. Knowledge creation -66.6%; 2. Knowledge location -64.7%; 3. Knowledge sharing -60.6%; 4. Knowledge maintenance -60.4%; 5. Knowledge acquisition -53.7%; 6. Knowledge application -47.4%.
Knowledge location scored high (64.7%).According to respondents, only knowledge creation occurs more frequently.The diagnosis of knowledge location was based upon several issues.These pertained to the familiarity with knowledge sources i.e. people, databases, availability of information, security of information, and association of databases with key processes.In general, respondents expressed positive opinions upon the subject.Respondents evaluated the way the contents of the database match the organization's key processes as very high.In addition, employees' identiication of individuals possessing speciic knowledge as well as information stored in databases and document worklow systems was perceived as good.They also acknowledged the existence of the practice of isolating knowledge which is under protection.Shortcomings with regards to knowledge location are associated with the lack of particular pieces of information in databases.
The occurrence of knowledge acquisition in the evaluated companies was assessed relatively low (53.7%) when compared with location, creation, sharing and maintenance Chart 1.
The occurrence of knowledge acquisition in the evaluated companies was assessed relatively low (53.7%) when compared with location, creation, sharing and maintenance of knowledge.Only knowledge application was evaluated lower.The assessment of this particular stage of the process of knowledge.Only knowledge application was evaluated lower.The assessment of this particular stage of the process pertained to several means of the acquisition such as employees' recruitment, services of consulting companies, cooperation with other organizations, outsourcing, purchase of products associated with knowledge.Respondents' evaluation of these activities associated with knowledge acquisition varies.Services of consulting companies were indicated as a very signiicant source of knowledge acquisition.Cooperation with other organizations was also seen as positive from the perspective of knowledge acquisition.On the other hand, according to respondents, other sources of knowledge acquisition, such as recruitment of employees possessing speciic knowledge, outsourcing of particular processes, and purchase of products associated with knowledge, were insuficient.
Knowledge creation is the most frequently occurring stage of knowledge management (66.6%).The following issues were included in its diagnosis: research and development infrastructure, purchase of R&D results, presence of conditions facilitating knowledge creation by employees, acceptance of mistakes being made, undertaking tasks enabling employees' individual knowledge to be developed.When analyzing research results in this area, multi-faceted activities enabling knowledge creation can be observed.Managers and specialists considered the purchase of R&D results as the chief source of knowledge creation.Apart from that, knowledge creation is facilitated by the presence of conditions encouraging employees to think independently, experiment, selfdevelop, and by the awareness that mistakes are allowed.Knowledge is also created by own research and development facilities.
Knowledge sharing and dissemination was assessed as high (60.6%).The following were included in its assessment: the scope of information disseminated, the role of the department tasked with disseminating information, forms of information exchange, activities facilitating knowledge sharing and willingness to do it.Research results in this area present a positive picture of activities associated with knowledge sharing.Restricting the dissemination of information only to the type necessary for employees to conduct their duties, as well as initiating activities facilitating knowledge sharing among members of the organization, were evaluated the highest.In addition, the assessed companies systematize activities associated with knowledge transfer.The willingness to share information with other employees also constitutes a positive aspect.
Knowledge application was the least frequently selected stage of the process (47.4%).The diagnosis of the stage was based upon the following: the purpose of new knowledge, preferred means of execution, convenience of application, activities facilitating knowledge application.Research results pertaining to this area indicate a diversiied assessment of knowledge application.Positive aspects include: good organization of knowledge sources as far as their availability is concerned, inspiration for employees to apply knowledge at work which was derived from the surrounding environment, and acceptance for questions to be posed.At the same time, knowledge application is limited by a strong inclination of employees to apply the hitherto approaches, and associating new knowledge merely with its innovative application.

Morawski ,
Pobrane z czasopisma International Journal of Synergy and Research

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Are conditions and solutions facilitating knowledge management developed?•What aspects of the process are present?