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Toward a Model of Effective Knowledge Management and Directions for Future Research: Culture, Leadership and CKOs

May 31, 2005 

"In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the field of knowledge management (KM).  Appropriately managing knowledge is a critical factor in a business' ability to create and maintain distinctive core competencies; unfortunately, doing so has become a major challenge (Hinds & Pfeffer, 2003).  When KM became a substantial issue in the early nineties, academics and professional scrambled to provide answers to KM questions.  Because technological breakthroughs were seen as fix-all solutions, the great majority of these hastily-adopted KM solutions seemed to offer the same advice: invest in more technology (Fiol, 2003).  Consequently, as organizations are now realizing that technology is not a fix-all solution, knowledge management has begun shifting its focus to people (Poole, 2002).

A model describing the key factors that contribute to effective KM identifies four major factors: (1) organizational culture, which encompasses cooperation, trust and incentives; (2) organizational leadership; (3) CKOs; and (4) technology.

O'Dell and Grayson (1998) describe knowledge management as 'a conscious strategy of getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time and helping people share and put information into action in ways that strive to improve organizational performance' (p. 6).  Effective knowledge management also requires that organizations incorporate KM into their overall strategies and that they include successfully managing knowledge among their corporate objectives.

Culture - the first element in our model of factors leading to effective KM - represents the desires, end goals, and customary practices of the corporation.  An effective corporate culture of KM consists of norms and practices that promote the free-flow of information among employees and across department lines.  Organizational practices include the way people answer phones and fill out time reports, company standards for performance reviews and weekly parties.   Research now suggests that a knowledge hoarding culture is not an insignificant problem in implementing KM programs.

One of the core necessities for knowledge creation, transfer, and sharing is that employees contribute their knowledge or expertise to the company.  Businesses that create opportunities for employees to openly share what they know have better success with KM programs than those that don't.  The optimal culture for KM programs is one that fosters interaction between employees and uses these occasions to leverage the greatest amount of knowledge possible (McDermott, 1999).

Cultures that are highly cooperative are built upon a foundation of trust.  Researchers and professionals in all types of organizations concur on the importance of trust in a culture that is conducive to knowledge sharing.  Although trust is a complex and multidimensional concept, researchers have concluded that it can be divide into two distinct categories: (1) trust in others, or knowledge-based trust; and (2) trust in the organization as a whole, or institution-based trust (Ardichvili, Page & Wentling, 2003; Hinds & Pfeffer, 2003).

While cooperative involvement and trust are critical elements in a culture that is conducive to knowledge sharing, a third element, incentives, must not be overlooked.  Self-interest is, after all, a principle motivator for many - if not most - people's actions. Incentives - whether tangible or intangible - are an integral part of the knowledge management process because they can be used to motivate employees to share knowledge they otherwise might hoard (Hansen, Nohria & Tierney, 1999; Stewart, 1997).

Because leaders set the example for others in the company, they have a direct impact on the organization's culture and on how the company approaches and deals with knowledge management.  A recent study of 431 U.S. and European organizations confirms this: of the executives surveyed in the study, more than 67 percent admitted that their number one obstacle to knowledge management - culture (i.e., barriers related to cooperative involvement, trust and incentives)- could be overcome by 'more deliberate management' (Ruggles, 1998).  KM practices must be actively and aggressively endorsed and practiced by the company's leaders; if KM does not permeate all levels of an organization, beginning at the top, it is unlikely that KM programs will ever catch on or be effective.

The position of Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) is relatively new because Knowledge Management itself is a very young field.  What exactly does a CKO or knowledge manager do?  Chief Knowledge Officers are at the heart of the KM process.  Stewart's (1998) research shows that most CKOs shoulder at least three core responsibilities.  The first is evangelizing the necessity of knowledge sharing in every department of the organization.  The second is to find and endorse projects that effectively distribute knowledge throughout the firm.   The third responsibility of CKOs should maintain the performance levels of their own staff.

Matching the right person to the right job is difficult - yet vital - task in KM.  Without a clear set of responsibilities, it is difficult to prescribe the optimal qualifications for the job.  With the intense growth that has occurred in the KM field, executives have rushed to fill their newly created posts with those whom they believe are competent and capable.  This has led to the hiring of friends and acquaintances already in the upper echelons of the company.  Most of these have not come from technology-related posts (Bonner, 2000).  Instead, the roots of most CKOs are in human resources, organizational development, or sales and marketing.

Directions for future research in each of the areas that have been discussed in this article: cooperative involvement, trust, incentives, organizational leadership, and CKOs.

The issue of cooperative involvement raises many questions that need to be further examined.  Measuring the benefits of initiatives such as interdisciplinary debates, research should also determine the factors that lead employees to interact in the first place.  Another area that needs to be examined is the effect that sharing has on the sharer.

Research can examine trust from both the organizational level and the individual level.  Studies that examine correlation between an individual's level of trust - in the organization itself as well as in its members - and the amount of knowledge he or she contributes will further researchers' understanding of how trust functions in a KM environment.

Many questions arise concerning incentives for both long - and short-term employees.  The correlation of the size of the knowledge contribution to the size of the incentive is another area in need of further examination.  An area for advanced research is to perform a cost/benefit analysis on the use of different incentive programs.

Researchers should examine the productivity of firms with specialized knowledge managers as well as firms with managers who are not directly responsible for KM success.  A cost-benefit analysis that compares specialized KM managers to general managers trained in KM practices would be helpful to companies as they face implementation decisions.  An important area task that must be undertaken by organizational leaders implementing and maintaining KM programs is that of determining what knowledge is valuable for the firm in the first place.  Leaders must then determine how best to distribute knowledge based upon its value.

One of the key knowledge leaders in an organization is the CKO.  A CKO's impact on KM is another issue that needs further evaluation.  The effects of leaders on KM initiatives reach beyond the culture of the company alone.  Research should also be done to determine where the CKO should be positioned in the organizational structure of the company.  Concerning the qualifications of a CKO, more research should be done to find the training and experiences that will be most useful for a CKO.

Both professional and academics agree that an organization's knowledge base is one of its most valuable assets.  To stay competitive among the fast-paced companies of the twenty-first century, managers must find effective ways to leverage the knowledge that exists within their own organization.  Organizational culture plays a vital role in the knowledge creation, sharing, and transfer process.  Ultimately, without effective leaders who set appropriate examples, employees will not be motivated to freely participate in the KM programs.  Setting a research agenda will enhance the productivity of future KM programs.  Taking the time to evaluate what has been discovered and then thoughtfully considering where to go next are two principles that always benefit business research.  Businesses that facilitate knowledge management and promote effective knowledge transfer today will have a competitive advantage tomorrow (DeTienne, Dyer, Hoopes, & Harris, 2004, p. 26-43)."

Reference:  DeTienne, K.B., Dyer, G., Hoopes, C., and Harris, S.; (2004).  Toward a Model of Effective Knowledge Management and Directions for Future Research: Culture, Leadership, and CKOs.  The Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 10, No. 4.

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Created: 2007-08-28, Updated: 2009-02-17