Download (1157Kb) - E-Ait

The reward system should not leave staff in suspense. It should state clearly the level of
contribution meriting a reward. This notion is supported by the McKinsey Non-profit Practice
report, "Building Knowledge Management Capabilities”. They indicate the need to establish
minimum standards for expected contribution, offer rewards or recognition for outstanding
efforts, and provide quick, easy access to submitted knowledge as a tangible result of efforts.
See more about this report in (Liebowitz & Watt, 2006). The need to set minimum standards
is important to rule out the possibility of discontent among staff who may feel that the
selection of who is to be awarded is unfair. The placement of the standard should consider
different capabilities of the participating staff. Ideally the standard should start by setting low
minimum requirements to accommodate whoever has knowledge and wishes to contribute
and then increase with time as staff get more acquainted with the reward system. The
standard is not supposed to be a barrier but a guideline to what is expected from staff. When
it is too high it may obstruct some from participating.
Extra care is needed when matching the contribution to the reward. Self interest and
motivation toward creating and sharing knowledge should not be interfered with by the
financial benefit posed by the rewarding system. The introduction of a reward system may
bring together with it some financial benefits. This is the time when, if the knowledge is
directed toward a centralised knowledge base, then the organisation should think of buying
extra storage devices. They will be a mass contribution nonetheless the quality of what is
contributed may be more of a problem than a value to the company. There should be a
moderator in whatsoever system is to be implemented. In Tanzania Public Universities
Libraries this can be done for instance by asking staff to think on how to customise the
available software to accommodate addition information pertaining to specific libraries.
4.2. The need for Tanzania public university libraries to share
knowledge
Having discussed how knowledge is shared and what the incentives for knowledge sharing
are, this section discusses why it is important for Tanzania public university libraries to share
knowledge. When asked to give their opinion about what they think about knowledge sharing
seven out of thirteen respondents suggested the need for more education on the importance of
knowledge sharing. The remaining respondents acknowledged the significance of knowledge
49