Purpose – This paper aims to review and critique the public sector knowledge management (KM) literature, offers an overview of the state of public sector KM research and outlines a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach – Articles published in KM journals are analyzed using a structured literature review methodology. The paper analyzes 180 papers published within ten journals specializing in the field of KM. Findings – Public sector KM is a research area of growing importance. Findings show that few authors specialize in the field and there are several obstacles to developing a cohesive body of literature. Low levels of international cooperation among authors and international comparisons mean that the literature is fragmented. Some research topics and some geographical areas within the public sector theme are over-analyzed, while others are under-investigated. Additionally, academic researchers should re-think their methodological approach if they wish to make significant contributions to th...

Public sector knowledge management : a structured literature review

Purpose – How knowledge management theories and frameworks are applied in the public sector is not well understood due to little evidence being published in the literature. This paper aims to identify core issues and challenges that governments face in delivering effective public policy, particularly challenges presented by increasing community expectations, and to highlight the importance of developing public policy via knowledge‐based partnerships with its stakeholders.Design/methodology/approach – Arguments draw on relevant theory in knowledge management and related fields as well as from public sector experiences.Findings – The main discussion examines some issues, challenges and opportunities in public policy developments and proposes some practical models to assist governments develop and capitalize on more effective knowledge‐based stakeholder partnerships.Practical implications – This paper suggests that some existing process frameworks can provide a good starting‐point to capturing knowledge abou...

Knowledge management in the public sector: stakeholder partnerships in the public policy development

This research focuses on contracting firms within the construction sector. It characterizes and evaluates the composition of organizational culture using four culture types (clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy), the strategic approach for knowledge flow, and the success of knowledge management (KM) systems at different hierarchical levels of contracting organizations (project and parent organization level). Responses from managers of local or overseas contracting firms operating in Hong Kong were collected using a carefully constructed questionnaire survey that was distributed through electronic mail. The organizational value is analyzed in terms of the four cultural models. Clan culture is found to be the most popular at both project and organization levels, which means that the culture of contracting firms very much depends on honest communication, respect for people, trust, and cohesive relationships. On the other hand, hierarchy culture, which focuses on stability and continuity, and analysis and control, seems to be the least favored at both levels. Another significant finding was that the two main KM strategies for knowledge flow, codification and personalization, were employed at both project and organization levels in equal proportion. This indicates that successful KM efforts at both enterprise levels utilize a hybrid and balanced approach for their knowledge flow, and that they complement each other. The findings also revealed that knowledge management system success factors emphasize the support of the management level. The results show that KM is critical and beneficial as indicated by 64% at the project and 74% at the organization level. The expectation is higher for organizations as they are the organizational memories in which experiences of past projects are archived and connected. Understanding these factors and the relationships among them has been demonstrated to be critical in order to increase the chances of success or to help with making decisions when applying KM.

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Organizational Culture and Knowledge Management Success at Project and Organizational Levels in Contracting Firms

The application of knowledge management (KM) is critical to public sector firm as it is to private sector firm. However, despite its significance, the academic enquiry of KM in public sector is at its nascent stage. This forms the motivation of the present work; this paper aims to analyze and understand the intricate relationship between KM processes and public sector firm performance in terms of operational, quality and innovation performance.,A comprehensive KM processes–performance framework consisting of seven constructs (four constructs of KM processes and three constructs of KM performance) and their underlying factors was developed through an extensive literature review. The employee perceptions of these seven constructs were captured on a five-point Likert scale using a country-wide survey in the UAE public sector. The 270 valid responses captured were then used to first validate the KM framework and then test the hypothesized relationships between KM processes and KM performance.,The findings show that all four KM processes (knowledge creation, knowledge capture and storage, knowledge sharing and knowledge application and use) had a positive and significant impact on operational, quality and innovation performance of public sector in the UAE.,The findings confirm the validity and reliability of all the seven constructs and their underlying factors and the assessment framework. Overall, this study fills a gap in the literature about applying/implementing a KM framework for the public sector and therefore significantly contributes toward the theoretical advancement of the field. However, the study does acknowledge the use of perceptual measures of individual employees as a limitation instead of more objective measures to capture the impact KM processes on KM performance.,The strong and significant impact of KM processes on firm performance is expected to provide the impetus for practitioners and policymakers to implement and leverage from KM processes and improve firm performance in the public sector.,A comprehensive development, validation and assessment of a KM framework for the public sector has not been attempted previously anywhere, let alone UAE, and hence constitutes the novelty of this work.

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Employee perception of impact of knowledge management processes on public sector performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide the systematic analysis of an innovative, intergenerational knowledge transfer strategy in a knowledge‐intensive organization.Design/methodology/approach – The case study method was adopted to study the intergenerational knowledge transfer activities. A triangulated approach was employed in respect of the data collection, which included non‐participatory observation, focus groups, documentary analysis, and semi‐structured interviews. A pattern analysis of data account was undertaken.Findings – Two models for intergenerational knowledge transfer are presented: the source‐recipient model and the model of mutual exchange. This research also shows how a context conducive to knowledge transfer was developed, and concludes that this context allowed both explicit and tacit knowledge to be transferred.Research limitations/implications – Often ignored or underestimated this study highlights the need for motivation, inspiration, and empowerment in knowledge transfer...

Managing organizational memory with intergenerational knowledge transfer

The new economy not only poses challenges, but also offers opportunities for both private and public sectors alike. To meet the challenges and take the opportunities, government must take active initiatives to adopt new management tools, techniques and philosophies of the private sector and adapt to its circumstance. Knowledge management (KM) is such an area that needs to be further explored and exploited for its full benefits to be reaped. Key issues, challenges, and opportunities of KM in the public sector need to be addressed and better understood

Issues of Knowledge Management in the Public Sector

Current development of network infrastructures is undergoing rapid transformation. With the emergence of the Open Grid Service Architecture and Globus Toolkit as incubators for evolving ASP business model to maintain profitability, this paper presents an in-depth analysis of the hypothetical Grid Service Provision (GSP) model by firstly giving an historical account of evolutionary factors in Internet architectures leading to Grid and P2P and secondly, investigating GSP model in the contexts of Service Level Agreements metrics and GSP implementation details. It is acknowledged by some experts that this hypothetical model is technologically feasible in reality.

Xiaoming Cong

Papers

Issues of Knowledge Management in the Public Sector

In-Depth Revealing Grid Based Web Service Provision Model: Grid Service Provision (GSP)