Preface for the Third Edition - Read

136 B. Concepts and Theories
5.3.2 Barriers
Successful KM initiatives also focus on lowering barriers to knowledge management.
In addition to barriers negatively affecting individual learning, there are
numerous barriers to an effective organizational learning and consequently to an
effective KM. Due to space limitations, only the most important barriers can be
listed here as well as some literature references for the interested reader 225 . Barriers
to KM are due to the following characteristics of:
knowledge providers: lack of motivation, provider not perceived as reliable,
ignorance, lack of skills to explicate knowledge, skilled incompetence,
knowledge seekers: lack of motivation, limited absorptive, processing and learning
capacity, limited retentive capacity, lack of knowledge about what knowledge
already exists in organization, conservative tendency to avoid innovative
learning due to an orientation towards the individual history, role-constrained
learning, superstitious learning,
transferred knowledge: causal ambiguity, unproven knowledge, inadequate context,
inadequate framing/problem representation, inadequate temporal context,
infrastructural context: barren organizational context, e.g., inflexible power
structures, lack of management support, vertical, horizontal and lateral information
filters, specialization and centralization, lack of resources and time, lack of
ICT support, problems with the use of ICT,
cultural context: lack of social relationships between knowledge provider and
recipients, group think, exaggerated unified culture and inward-orientation.
5.3.3 Knowledge risks
Knowledge intensity of activities, products and services has increased substantially
over the last decades. Knowledge assets as a subset of organizational assets more
and more form the basis of competitive advantages (Mentzas et al. 2003, 1). Organizations
are increasingly dependent on intangible resources, particularly knowledge
assets as primary sources of competitive advantage 226 . KM typically aims at
increasing documentation and thus visibility of knowledge, specifically knowledge
domains, sources, media, structure, processes and systems that support handling of
knowledge. KM also helps to codify knowledge, eases access to knowledge and
enhances knowledge sharing in order to improve (re-)use of knowledge assets 227 .
However, this bears the risk that knowledge-based competitive advantages are
diluted. A large number of KM activities, measures, instruments, processes and
tools can be applied striving to improve productivity of knowledge work, but do
not consider how knowledge can be secured (Desouza/Vanapalli 2005, 76).
225. E.g., March/Olsen 1976, 56ff, Schüppel 1996, 107ff, Szulanski 1996, 30ff, Glazer
1998, 178ff, Alex et al. 2000, 50f, Astleitner/Schinagl 2000, 139ff.
226. See section 5.1.1 - “From market-based to knowledge-based view” on page 94, particularly
Figure B-12 on page 99.
227. This is evident in the list of goals that KM initiatives direct their attention to which has
been described in section 5.2.1 - “Strategic goals” on page 114.