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4.5 Data Analysis

4.5.1 Current levels of awareness and understanding of knowledge management

KM. Table 4.2 summarises the questions that are asked. All participants’ responses to these questions and the answers are presented in the sub-sections below.

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Table 4.2: Interview questions concerning levels of awareness and understanding of KM

Interview questions concerning levels of awareness and understanding of KM Question 1: What is your understanding of knowledge management?

Question 2: Is the concept of KM clear to you and your cluster? (Please elaborate)

Question 3: Do you think knowledge as a form of expertise and competence is a valuable asset in your business unit? (Please elaborate)

Question 4: Do you think that the quality and availability of knowledge can help individuals to perform their duties effectively? (Please elaborate)

Question 5: What is your understanding of knowledge transfer?

Question 6: Is the concept of knowledge transfer clear to you and your cluster or is it similar to information sharing? (Please elaborate)

4.5.1.1 Understanding of knowledge management

The participants were asked if they understand KM. From the participants’

responses five characteristics on what defines KM, emerged. The characteristics are summarised in Table 4.3.

Table 4.3: Characteristics relating to the understanding of KM by the participants

Current levels of awareness and understanding of KM characteristics Storage

Managing in-house information Accessibility

Sharing of knowledge Knowledge conversion

Seven participants (P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, P11) cited storage when they defined KM. P3 stated that “KM is about standardising the storage of factual data points that is important to the company and making sure that they are stored effectively and that there [are] version controls and there is an audit trail on data point” (Appendix C).

Five participants (P4, P9, P13, P14, P15) cited that KM has to do with managing in- house information. According to P4, “KM is managing in-house information that the business has, the information in their systems, from their suppliers and what people bring in the organisation and retaining it” (Appendix C). Another five participants (P1, P7, P8, P10, P12) cited accessibility in their definition. P10 stated that “KM is the recording of information and made available to [the] recipient in a manner that is

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easily accessible” (Appendix C). P2 and P9 identified the sharing of information as important. P9 said that “KM is about managing the knowledge that is there and make sure that it is transferred in an effective way so that the upcoming people can benefit from the documented experience” (Appendix C). In relation to sharing knowledge P2 also indicated that “how individuals and as a business people share knowledge and how it’s managed between individuals and teams” (Appendix C).

Lastly, P6 mentioned knowledge conversion when defining knowledge management:

“KM is a framework used to take the tacit and make it explicit. Store is somewhere that it can be easily used by the organisation. If a person is looking for information on a process or generic business information, they can find it somewhere. Also I think it caters for progression; if people are moving on it does not leave a big gap, so you have a system where it is stored. There are [a] few things that I think constitute knowledge transfer in my opinion; one of the things I think its proper IT infrastructure, KMS and content management systems. The other thing is to put together things like knowledge warehouses where we can store this knowledge. Also the other critical thing as well is on putting together groups of people to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing before it can be captured” (Appendix C).

Finding 1: There is no common understanding of knowledge management among the participants in the selected organisation

4.5.1.2 The concept of knowledge management

Interview question two was used as a follow up to question one. The participants were asked if the concept of KM is clear to them and their departments. Presented in Figure 4.4 are the results.

Figure 4.4: The concept of knowledge management

Figure 4.4 shows that 47% of the participants indicated that the concept of KM is not clear while 33% said the concept is clear. A further 20% opined the concept is only partially clear.

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According to P3, KM is not clear as it is a new concept that the organisation only started to grasp over the past year or two. The participant further explained that the importance of KM is known, but questions how, and the operationalisation is only theoretical. Contrary to this, P7 said the concept is clear but the implementation and execution is not as clear; there are gaps. Among those that said the concept is partially clear, P14 said the following:

“I think elements of it are. I think people interpret KM as MIS, managing data [rather] than knowledge. I think the two are different, data are, I guess, the rawest data, while information is when data has been analysed, categorised, and packaged so that meaningful decisions can be made out of it” (Appendix C).

Finding 2: The concept of knowledge management is not clear in the selected organisation

4.5.1.3 Knowledge as a valuable asset

Participants were asked if they think knowledge as a form of expertise and competence is a valuable asset in their business unit. All participants answered positively. P7 said that knowledge “is an exception[ally] valuable asset as it gives the competitive edge over our competitors and within the market which is very important. It is one thing that can distinguish you from your competitors. It adds value to people’s lives in terms of the daily functions and outputs” (Appendix C).

Finding 3: Knowledge is recognised as a valuable asset in the organisation 4.5.1.4 Quality and availability of knowledge

In question four the participants were asked whether they think the quality and availability of knowledge can help individuals to perform their duties effectively. All participants answered positively. Participant 7 said:

“Absolutely. I think this is what this business is about, having that knowledge and applying it. Like I said earlier on sharing of the information and knowledge is more important than having it for yourself. How you do it is through reading, understanding and so forth. It makes people’s performance better, the quality of service better. It makes things better” (Appendix C).

Finding 4: The quality and availability of knowledge can help individuals perform better in their duties

4.5.1.5 Understanding of knowledge transfer

The fifth question is on employees’ understanding of KT. Among all participants there is a universal understanding of what KT is. Most of the participants are in

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agreement hat the term “knowledge transfer” defines itself, hence the understanding. P10 said: “KT is exactly what it is, transferring aspects of the business information or understanding from one person to the other, not necessarily verbally but [by] other mediums too”. P6 stated that,

“…in my experience I have worked with people who have processes in their heads. For me knowledge transfer is trying to get the implicit things and formulate them and make them explicit. However some of the implicit things maybe a bit harder to formulate, we have to find different ways to obtain that knowledge which is not really processes but the method of thinking” (Appendix C).

Finding 5: There is a general understanding of what knowledge transfer is in the selected organisation

4.5.1.6 The concept of knowledge transfer

Question six is a follow up on question five. Participants were asked if the concept of KT is clear to them and their departments. The results are presented in Figure 4.5.

13%

40%

47%

Yes Somewhat No

Figure 4.5: The concept of knowledge transfer

Only 13% of the participants said the concept is clear, while 47% indicated that the concept is not clear. A further 40% said the concept is partially clear. Among those who said no, P3 stated: “As the person that started I would not say the process is efficient. The governance around KT is not in place” (Appendix C). Of the 13% who said yes, P8 stated that KT is linked to the way employees perform their functions.

Of those who felt the concept is only partially clear, P14 said there are pockets in the business where KT is clear and pockets where it is not clear. Although the previous question shows that KT in general is understood by the participants, the concept per se is not well understood.

Finding 6: The concept of knowledge transfer is not clear in the organisation

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