Abstract:
In today’s knowledge based economy, there is a dire need for modern organizations to integrate
Knowledge Management (KM) practice in their organization process and structure in order to
extend their success and values for sustainable organizational development and competency in the
increasingly competitive global economy. Higher learning institutions (HLIs) are among the most
vulnerable organizations in terms of gaining from good and/or losing from poor quality of KM
practice in their structure. However, KM practice seems to be relatively overlooked by Ethiopian
higher learning institutions and there is lack of evidence on their current KM practice. The main
objective of this study was investigating KM practice in Jimma University in the year 2013.
Combination of quantitative and qualitative study methods were used to assess KM practice using
four pillars of KM. A total of 364 staff; 168 academic and 196 non academic staff were randomly
sampled to fill a self administered structured questionnaire, adopted from Knowledge Management
Assessment Tool (KMAT) and the know all ten KM practice tools. Moreover key informants were
used for in-depth interview. Independent sample t-test was used to compare KM practice and also
proportions and means with standard deviation (SD) were calculated findings from the in-depth
interview were analyzed thematically. The findings indicated that the total KM practices in the
university, based on the four pillars (53items) were ranked above average level with the mean score
of 175.2. But, the level of leadership and organization of academic participants was found to be
lower than average with a score of 32.7 and 41.3 respectively. Moreover, the result of the study
reveals that there was a significant difference in the perception of KM practice in the university
between academic and non-academic groups. A ranking of the four pillars based on perception of
participants in the existing KM practice from the most problematic to least was found to be
leadership, learning, organization and technology where as the desired conditions to prioritize
among the four pillars to improve future KM practice was found to be learning, leadership,
technology, and organization. Finally, based on the finding and review of literatures,
recommendations and guidance on improving KM practice in the university were proffered.
