Knowledge Management Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Knowledge Management Systems - Essay Example The objective of this paper is to identify and review the challenges of building and implementing knowledge systems. Also included in the discussion are the advantages of curbing failure factors of KMS as well as effective strategies in developing knowledge management initiatives. Identifying the challenges in building knowledge management systems (KMS) is a major concern. Bartczak (2002) claims that an intervening action towards achieving the objective of knowledge management (KM) is to determine the problems that inhibit knowledge transfer in different types of organisations. When a particular problem is recognised, organisations become capable of implementing approaches to reinforce organisational value through improved knowledge management. Knowledge is at the core of managing knowledge in organisations. In management literature, numerous studies have been proposed integrating the contribution of knowledge in enhancing management performance. Nevertheless, there are few researches about studying the chief failure causes in the domain of knowledge management (Chatzkel 2003). Through a comprehensive review of literature about the failure causes of knowledge management Malhotra (2004, as cited in Akhavan, Jafari, & Fathian 2005: para 3-4) states that: .. Prior discussion has highlighted that knowledge management system fail because of two broad reasons. ... For these inputs to result in business performance, the influence of intervening and moderating variables such as attention, motivation, commitment, creativity, and innovation, has to be better understood and accounted for in design of business models. Second, the efficacy of inputs and how they are strategically deployed are important issues often left unquestioned as 'expected' performance outcomes are achieved, but the value of such performance outcomes may be eroded by the dynamic shifts in the business and competitive environments... In other words, Malhotra is arguing that the most frequent mistake in building knowledge management system is incompetence in synchronising endeavours between human resources and information technology. He also emphasises that KMS design should guarantee that adjustment and improvement of organisational performance outcomes transpires in harmony with evolving processes of the business environment. At the same time, envisioning a wide range of future courses of human contributions and information technology implanted in the KMS can reduce the threat of rapid obsoleteness of these systems. The objective of this study is to analyse and discuss some of the most apparent problems or challenges in building knowledge management systems in organisations. The first section will discuss the inherent challenges in the management of organisational knowledge, such as employee characteristics and the trend of knowledge work. Then the challenges in embedded knowledge and information systems, as well as the failure causes in KMS will be discussed. The final section will provide an overall analysis and inclusive conclusion on the knowledge management