Assessment of knowledge management practice in jimma university: consideration of technology, leadership, organization and learning pillars

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.