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

Seyed Esmaeil Asgharpour and Gholamreza Taleghani
Table 1: Ranking <strong>the</strong> critical factors for success <strong>of</strong> knowledge management in Aran firm
Factors Numbers Average Deviation <strong>of</strong> scale
Attitude <strong>of</strong> senior management 25 21.64 1.91
Culture & information sharing 25 21.40 4.28
Using information technology 25 20.20 3.29
Educating & learning 25 19.64 2.64
A Center for knowledge reserving 25 17.39 2.99
Table 2: Ranking <strong>the</strong> critical factors for success <strong>of</strong> knowledge management in Delapar firm
Factors Numbers Average Deviation <strong>of</strong> scale
Culture & information sharing 32 23.21 3.88
Attitude <strong>of</strong> senior management 32 20.25 2.92
Educating & learning 32 20.15 1.98
Using information technology 32 20.06 2.38
A center for knowledge reserving 32 17.46 2.61
Table 3:Comparing <strong>the</strong> critical factors for success <strong>of</strong> KM in both firms
Rank Aran firm Delapar firm
1 Attitude <strong>of</strong> senior management Culture & information sharing
2 Culture & information sharing Attitude <strong>of</strong> senior management
3 Using information technology Attitude <strong>of</strong> senior management
4 Educating & learning Using information technology
5 A center for knowledge reserving A center for knowledge Reserving
Table 3 shows that in Aran firm, <strong>the</strong> highest rank related to attitude <strong>of</strong> senior management and <strong>the</strong>
lowest rank to center <strong>of</strong> knowledge reserving whereas Delpar firm, has <strong>the</strong> highest rank in culture
sharing , <strong>the</strong> lowest rank is related to knowledge reserving center, <strong>the</strong> same as Aran firm.
Table 4: A Comparison between <strong>the</strong> five critical success factors <strong>of</strong> KM in two bread factories by using
<strong>the</strong> T-test
Critical
success
factors
1.Attitude <strong>of</strong>
Senior
Management
2.Knowledge
& Culture
sharing
3.Education &
Learning
Firm Average
Aran
Delapar
Aran
Delapar
Aran
Delapar
64.21
25.20
21.4
23.21
64.19
15.20
Standard
deviation
2.99
2.61
2.64
1.98
3.29
2.92
t Freedom Significant
difference
0.122 55 1.123
2.05
55 0.015
0.43 55 0.648
4. Information
Technology
Aran
Delapar
20.2
20.06
4.28
3.88
0.09 55 0.985
5. Knowledge
Reserving
Aran
Delapar
17.36
17.46
1.91
2.38
0.125 55 0.903
As <strong>the</strong> table 4 shows, <strong>the</strong> main significant difference between <strong>the</strong> two companies is knowledge &
culture sharing.
Clearly firms have always had important connections with o<strong>the</strong>r organizations ,especially ,customers
and suppliers .Assumption is now changing as firms recognize that many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> skills and resources
essential to <strong>the</strong>ir future success lie outside <strong>the</strong> firm`s boundaries and outside <strong>the</strong>ir direct control.
Competitive challenge is an important factor in producing firms, so applying knowledge management
in <strong>the</strong>se two industrial bread firms has increased productivity. Knowledge management has high
potential ability for dynamic organizational survival .It can promote innovation, strategic planning,
learning ability, product quality and productivity. Consequently, competitive advantage can be
obtained. Regarding to <strong>the</strong> mentioned discussions,<strong>the</strong> critical factors that were surveyed by T-test for
KM in <strong>the</strong>se two firms .It was inferred that <strong>the</strong> only significant difference which observed in <strong>the</strong>se two
bread firms ,was knowledge and culture sharing that <strong>the</strong>y have .In comparing <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r four critical
factors that were discussed in this paper, have similar situation to each o<strong>the</strong>r
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