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Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

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<strong>Knowledge</strong> Management Across <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Globe – An<br />

Internati<strong>on</strong>al Survey <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM Awareness, Spending,<br />

Practices and Performance<br />

Aino Kianto 1 , Tatiana Andreeva 2 and Xing Shi 1<br />

1 School <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Business, Lappeenranta University <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Technology, Finland<br />

2 Graduate School <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Management, St. Petersburg State University, Russia<br />

aino.kianto@lut.fi<br />

andreeva@gsom.pu.ru<br />

xing.shi@lut.fi<br />

Abstract: Several decades since its uprising, knowledge management (KM) has now filtered companies all<br />

across <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> globe. Issues like knowledge ec<strong>on</strong>omy, intellectual capital, social capital and renewal have become<br />

part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> standard language <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> strategy processes and business magazines. However, even though main ideas<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM have spread, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re are surprisingly few studies exploring what actually really is d<strong>on</strong>e in firms related with<br />

KM outside few countries where KM originated. Therefore, we still lack a bigger picture that could reveal to which<br />

extent KM is actually applied in various companies, especially operating in various cultural and ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />

c<strong>on</strong>texts. Also, as KM has spread around <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> world, it would be interesting to know what kind <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />

differences <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re are in KM practices between firms operating in different countries. This paper aims to address<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> aforementi<strong>on</strong>ed gaps. It examines and compares <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> current state <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM in 3 very different countries: Finland,<br />

Russia and China. The data collected with a web-based survey c<strong>on</strong>sists <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 74 Chinese, 84 Finnish and 64<br />

Russian companies. We analyze <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> data statistically to examine <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> state <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM and to explore country<br />

differences in KM practices and results. We start by examining general awareness about KM, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> terminology<br />

used for it, as well as resources that companies spend <strong>on</strong> it. Next, we address a number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM practices that<br />

include strategic management <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> knowledge, organizati<strong>on</strong>al culture, HRM practices, organizati<strong>on</strong>al structure and<br />

ICT tools that are aimed to support efficient usage <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> knowledge in organizati<strong>on</strong>s. Finally, we discuss percepti<strong>on</strong>s<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM outcomes. This paper c<strong>on</strong>tributes to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> deeper understanding <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM practice in real organizati<strong>on</strong>s<br />

functi<strong>on</strong>ing in different cultural, social and ec<strong>on</strong>omic envir<strong>on</strong>ments and thus is be <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> interest for a wide audience<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM experts.<br />

Keywords: knowledge management, survey, Finland, China, Russia<br />

1. . Introducti<strong>on</strong><br />

The role <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> knowledge as <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> key productive factor has become <strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> truisms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> current<br />

managerial discourse. The literature c<strong>on</strong>tains many normative but ra<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r abstract prescripti<strong>on</strong>s for<br />

knowledge management (KM) as well as anecdotal pieces <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> evidence from world-class leading firms.<br />

Some recent surveys, e.g., Canada KM practice survey 2001(Statistics Canada 2002), OECD 2002<br />

Danish KM Survey (OECD 2002), and New Zealand KM practice survey (Gerry et al.2004)<br />

dem<strong>on</strong>strate that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> usage <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM practices grows. However, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se surveys still leave some blank<br />

spaces.<br />

First, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y are predominantly based <strong>on</strong> data from <strong>on</strong>e country. As <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir methodologies differ, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y do<br />

not allow for direct comparis<strong>on</strong> and deeper analysis <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> factors that influence KM practice in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

particular country. To address this issue, several comparative internati<strong>on</strong>al surveys have been<br />

implemented, e.g. KPMG survey that examined KM in UK, France, Germany and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Ne<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rlands<br />

(KMPG 2003) and a survey <strong>on</strong> law firms in U.S, U.K. and Australia (Curve 2002).<br />

Sec<strong>on</strong>d, all <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> abovementi<strong>on</strong>ed surveys are focused <strong>on</strong> developed countries. Few studies tried to<br />

address this gap recently, e.g., Turkish KM survey (Bozbura 2007), Malaysia KM survey (W<strong>on</strong>g<br />

2008), and a survey <strong>on</strong> KM in India, Singapore, Ind<strong>on</strong>esia, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia,<br />

Vietnam and Philippines .(Serafin and Talisay<strong>on</strong> 2007). Yet we still know very little about KM practices<br />

in developing and emerging ec<strong>on</strong>omies.<br />

Third, most <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se surveys focused <strong>on</strong> some particular aspects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> KM, and did not provide <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> full<br />

and comprehensive picture <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> state-<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>-<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>-art KM across various ec<strong>on</strong>omic and cultural c<strong>on</strong>texts<br />

(e.g. Peng et al. 2007). For example, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> above menti<strong>on</strong>ed survey in Asian Pacific countries (Serafin<br />

and Talisay<strong>on</strong> 2007) focused <strong>on</strong> examining KM indicators.<br />

514

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