Improving Public Sector Service Delivery through Knowledge Sharing

Abstract

Since the publication of the first knowledge management article in Harvard Business Review (Nonaka, 1991), the world has witnessed a revolution in management practice. While the origins of knowledge management extend further back in history (see Prusak, 2001; Wiig, 1997), it is certainly true that in the last decade the creation, sharing and application of knowledge are increasingly seen as a source of competitive advantage. However, knowledge management is largely a private sector innovation at the present time, although gradually moving towards the public service sector (Bate & Robert, 2002; Hartley & Allison, 2002). The implementation of knowledge management places an emphasis on organizational factors such as learning capability, culture and leadership as well as renewed focus on the importance of information quality (Alavi & Leidner, 2001). The ability to manage the sharing of information (and hence knowledge) effectively remains one of the most important but still least understood activities in modern organizations, no less so in public services.