Knowledge Management For SMEs In Developing CountriesWord下载.docx

Knowledge Management For SMEs In Developing CountriesWord下载.docx

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,AdnanAhmed²

¹

ShanghaiUniversity,China,²

MuhammadAliJinnahUniversity,Pakistan

ABSTRACT:

Knowledgemanagementhelpsinincreasingproductivity,effectivenessandefficiencyinoperations.OverlookingKMcanseriouslyhamperthegrowthandprosperityofaSME.Acomprehensiveliteraturestudywasundertaken.ThestudyaccessedthestatusofKMinSMEsindevelopingcountriesandalsoexaminedthefactorsthatinfluencetheadoptionofKMforSMEsindevelopingcountries.ManyorganizationshaveprofitedfromKMbecausetheyrecognizetheimportanceoftheKMinbusinessgrowthanddevelopment.HoweverthestudyfoundSMEs,indevelopingcountrieshavenotrealizedthisimportanceandstillarevulnerable.ThestudytakesthisfactorintoconsiderationandproposedaKMapproachspecifictoSMEsindevelopingcountries.ThestudycontributesonKMandSMEsliteratureindevelopingcountriesandisoneofthefewstudiesconductedindevelopingcountries.

Keywords:

Knowledgemanagement,SME,Developingcountries,Organization

1.Introduction

KMhelpsinincreasingproductivity,effectivenessandefficiencyinoperations.OverlookingKMcanseriouslyhamperthegrowthandprosperityofanSME.KMcreatesalternateprofitableprospectsforSMEs.ThestudyconsideredtheliteratureonKMwithaviewtoascertaininghowthismightbeappliedtoSMEsindevelopingcountries.ThisisimportantbecauseKMhavereceivedrenewedinterestwiththeemergenceoftheknowledgeeconomy.ManyorganizationshaveprofitedfromKMbecausetheyrecognizetheimportanceoftheKMinbusinessgrowthanddevelopment.HoweverthestudyfoundSMEs,indevelopingcountrieshavenotrealizedthisimportanceandstillarevulnerable.ThestudytakesthisfactorintoconsiderationandproposedaKMapproachspecifictoSMEsindevelopingcountries.ThestudycontributesonKMandSMEsliteratureindevelopingcountriesandisoneofthefewstudiesconductedindevelopingcountries.

ThepotentialwhichKMoffersinimprovingefficiencyandinnovationhasbeencitedasakeysourceofcompetitiveadvantage（MacKinnonetal.,2002）.Despitethispressingneed,itiswidelyacceptedthatsmallcompanies–eventhemostknowledge-intensiveones–arecharacterizedbyalackofuptakeofKMinitiatives（Nunesetal.,2006）.PerhapsduetothereasonthatKMsystemsareexpensivetopurchase,useandmaintain.TheaimofthisstudywastoproposeanalternativeapproachtodevelopingKMsystemsforSMEsindevelopingeconomies.Insteadofusualapproaches,whereKMneedsheavyfinancialandotherresources,studysuggestedsolutioncentricapproach（Patrick&

Dotsika,2007）.

Smallandmediumenterprises（SMEs）makesubstantialcontributionstonationaleconomiesandareestimatedtoaccountfor80percentofglobaleconomicgrowth（Pavicetal.,2007）.Todaythebusinessenvironmenthasbecomemorecompetitivethaneverbefore.Inthiscompetitiveenvironmentknowledgeisthoughttobetheprimaryresource.Theconventionalfactorsofproductionhavebecomesecondary.Itisstraightforwardtoobtainthem,providedthereisknowledge（Chenetal.,2006）.DavidsonandGriffin（2003）pointedoutsmallbusinesseshavecontributedmanyinnovativeideasandtechnologicalbreakthroughstooursociety.InordertomaintainanddevelopfurthertheirinnovativeskillsSMEsneedtodeveloptheirunderstandingofknowledgemanagement（KM）,asakeybusinessdriverratherthanasaresource-intensiveadditionalinitiative（Zanjanietal.,2008）.“KMhasbecomethelateststrategyinincreasingorganizationalcompetitiveness”（DeTienne&

Jackson,2001）.ThecriticalassumptionofKMisthatorganizationsthatmanageorganizationalandindividualknowledgebetterwilldealmoresuccessfullywiththechallengesofthenewbusinessenvironment.KMisseenasavitalfactorinrealizingandsustainingorganizationalsuccessforimprovedefficiencyandinnovation.Today,knowledgeistheprimarysourceofcompetitiveadvantageandthekeytosuccessfororganizationsintheknowledgeeconomy（MacKinnonetal.,2002;

Patriotta,2003）.ThisstudyanalyzeddifferentaspectsofKMwithrespecttodevelopingcountriesandproposedstrategiesforbetterimplementationofKMprogramsindevelopingcountries.

Thestudyconsistsofsixsections.Followingintroduction,section2containsliteratureaboutknowledge,KM,SMEs,andKM&

SMEs.Section3discussedtheroleofSMEsindevelopingcountriesandtheneedforKMinSMEs.Section4highlightedthebenefitsofKMforSMEsandsection5containstheresearchfindings.Section6concludesthepaperandprovidesfutureresearchdirections.

2.LiteratureReview

2.1.Knowledge

Knowledgehasbeendefinedinmultipleways.DavenportandPrusak（1988）definedknowledgeasfollows:

‘Knowledgeisafluidmixofframedexperience,values,contextualinformation,andexpertinsightthatprovidesaframeworkforevaluatingandincorporatingnewexperiencesandinformation.Itoriginatesandisappliedinthemindsofknower.Inorganizations,itisoftenbecomesembeddednotonlyindocumentsorrepositoriesbutalsoinorganizationalroutines,processes,practices,andnorms.’Knowledgeistheprimaryresourceforindividuals,organizationsandtheeconomy.Delahaye（2003）concludedthatknowledgeisadistinctivesourceasithasnolawofdiminishingreturns,growsfromsharing.Wiig（1997）arguedthatknowledgeisnotanewconcept,fromveryearlytimespeoplehavetransferredknowledgebysuccessiontothenextgeneration.Inancientcultures,thishastakentheformofnarrativesandsongs,whichwereintendedtoteachthenewgenerationnewskillsandsurvivaltechniques.

Samuel（1775）wroteinhisearlydictionary"

Knowledgeisoftwokinds:

weknowasubjectourselves,orweknowwherewecanfindinformationuponit”.Knowledgecanbedividedintotwocategories:

tacitandexplicit.Explicitknowledgereferstotheknowledgewhichcanbearticulatedinformallanguagesuchasgrammaticalstatements,mathematicalexpressions,specifications,manuals,andthuscanbetransmittedacrossindividualsformallyandeasily.Onthecontrary,tacitknowledgereferstotheknowledgewhichishardtoarticulatewithformallanguage,butispersonalknowledgeembeddedinindividualexperienceandinvolvesintangiblefactorssuchaspersonalbelief,perspective,andvaluesystems（David,2006;

Nonaka&

Takeuchi,1995）.

2.2.KnowledgeManagement

KMinvolvesknowledgeidentification,creation,acquisition,transfer,sharingandexploitation.KMisvitalforefficiencyandorganizationalcompetitiveness（Egbu,2001）.Boh（2007）describedthatKMisasystematicprocessforacquiring,organizing,sustaining,applying,sharingandrenewingboththetacitandexplicitknowledgeofemployeestoenhanceorganizationalperformanceandcreatevalue.Menkhoffetal.,（2002）definedKMasthetaskofdevelopingandexploitingbothtangibleandintangibleknowledgeresourcesofanorganization.Pillania（2006c）definedKMas“asystematic,organized,explicitanddeliberateongoingprocessofcreating,disseminating,applying,renewingandupdatingtheknowledgeforachievingorganizationalobjectives'

'

.KMisaprocesswhichinvolvesthemanagementofexplicitandtacitknowledge（Nonaka&

Takeuchi,1995）.

2.3.SMEsAndTheirRoleInDevelopingCountries

AccordingtoOECD（2000）SMEsmake-upthelargestproportionofbusinessesallovertheworldandplaytremendousrolesinemploymentgeneration,provisionofgoodsandservices,creatingabetterstandardofliving,aswellasimmenselycontributingtothegrossdomesticproducts（GDPs）ofmanycountries.TheEuropeanCommissiongaverisetothetermSMEin1996anddefinedthetermasorganizationsemployingfewerthan250people（Burns,2001）.Indevelopingcountries,SMEsaredefineddifferentlyforvariouscountries.ThetermSMEcoversaheterogeneousgroupofbusinessesinadevelopingeconomy,rangingfromasingleartisanworkinginasmallshopmakinghandicraftsforavillagemarkettosophisticatedengineeringfirmssellinginoverseasmarkets（Fischer&

Reuber,2003）.GenerallySMEsindevelopingcountrieshavenotmorethan250employees.SomeimportantcharacteristicsofSMEsinclude:

Ø

Thecompanyischaracterizedbytheentrepreneurwhoveryoftenalsoistheownerofthecompany.

Theentrepreneurnormallyisthe“generalmanager”,thusheactsonhisownrisk.

Theentrepreneurhasanetworkofpersonalcontactstocustomers,suppliersandtherelevantpublicsector.Sothecontactiscloseandratherinformal.

Thecompanyusuallyactsverylocal.

Theproductsofferedcanbeveryindividualtothecustomer’sneeds.

Theformoforganizationisratherinformalandflat.

Thecompanycanreactquicklytochangesintheenvironment.

Thecompanyisnotdominatedorruledbyanothercompany,e.g.partofbigbusinessconcern.

Themarketshareisnormallysmall.

Theproductsarelittlediversified.

About36%oftheSMEsarenotolderthan10years（specificdevelopmentstage）.

SMEsarethebackboneoftheindustrializationprocessofmanydevelopingcountriesandplayavitalpartinexpandingacountry'

seconomy.InThailand,SMEsaccountformorethan90%ofthetotalnumberofestablishments,65percentofemploymentand47percentofmanufacturingvalueaddedwhileinPhilippines,SMEscomprise99percentofthetotalmanufacturingestablishmentsandcontribute45percentofemploymentand18percentofvalueaddedinthemanufacturingsector.AcrosstheSouthAsia,thecontributionofSMEstotheov