Elvis Asiedu
Knowledge Management (KM) is currently one of the hottest concepts in all industries. Driven by pressures such as increased competition, the need for innovation, need to improve quality of products and services and availability of new and effective information management tools, firms are increasingly investing in technology and humans with the aim of leveraging intellectual assets. Numerous scholars have shown that knowledge is an important resource to a firm as it contributes to successful organizational performance if well managed. This paper critically explores the various factors that influence successful implementation of knowledge management projects within organizations. A review of literature on the factors that influence success and failure of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) implementation projects is conducted. This is followed by a summary of the crucial managerial and technological factors that support a successful performance of KMS implementation project. To understand this issue better, the paper derives qualitative data on National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) related to the subject matter. NTPC is an Indian power generation company and it is one example of firms that have implemented KMS recently. Content analysis is applied on the data and a detailed outline of the implementation approach undertaken by this company is given. The challenges encountered during the process, the technology adopted and the benefits derived from the project are also examined. The analysis of this company finds that the KMS project has encountered numerous challenges and some of the challenges have come from failure to incorporate some of the crucial factors in the implementation process such as the use of motivational aids. Organizations need to incorporate all crucial factors during implementation process and to find strategies to overcome the challenges in order to increase value of the project.
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