Measuring Organizational Readiness for Knowledge Management

Abstract

While organizations continue to grapple with the implementation of knowledge management, there remains a need for empirical research into the practical difficulties they encounter. In this chapter, we investigate the challenges faced by one multinational telecommunications company in a post-merger environment. We develop an instrument to evaluate the knowledge-sharing culture and information infrastructure and, by using qualitative and quantitative data from a survey of five European sites, we illustrate how managers can measure gaps between the effectiveness of current practices and their importance, and decide whether to direct resources toward changing employee attitudes, organizational practices, or knowledge-management infrastructure. More significantly, we highlight the need for senior managers to be in agreement about the strategic direction of their business and the strategic alignment between business strategy and knowledge-management strategy. Without such consensus, knowledge management is likely to remain, at best, a series of fragmented and unrelated initiatives at local levels.