Addressing Contextual Issues in Knowledge Management: A Guiding Framework

Abstract

Cultural diversity and wide disparities in the extent of up-to-date infrastructure make managing knowledge challenging in developing countries, even as the urgent human needs in these countries makes knowledge management (KM) especially valuable as a tool in economic and human development. Cultural diversity and infrastructural gap issues are also related to a variety of government, educational, political, social and economic factors. These environmental factors interact with organizational variables and information technology to enable or constrain knowledge management processes in the creation and protection of knowledge resources. Case studies in India, The Gambia, and Nigeria are used to develop an empirically grounded contextual framework of knowledge management (KM). This guiding framework is intended to help organizations address contextual issues in knowledge management, leading to better preparation, implementation and assessment of KM projects.