knowledge management practices in financial organisations: a case study...
TRANSCRIPT
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN
CORPORATE FINANCIAL ORGANISATIONS: A CASE
STUDY OF A NIGERIAN BANK.
A study submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of Master of Science in Information Systems Management
at
THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
by
OLADEPO OLADAPO TOLULOPE
September, 2008
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First, I would like to give thanks to Almighty God, the creator of Heaven and Earth
who made it possible for me to be in the position of recognizing people today. I thank
you for Life.
In the process of writing this dissertation, I received a lot of advice from my family,
friends and lecturers. I would want to thank them for their kind suggestions and time
they have dedicated to make my work a success.
I am thanking the Staff Members of the Department of Information Studies who have
made immense contributions to my dissertation especially my supervisor, Dr. Barry
Eaglestone for his professional counsel, guidance, encouragement and criticism. His
excellent support is well appreciated.
A lot of friends and classmates have taken part in my study, particularly Kasup De
Silva, Folake Fapohunda, Olatunde Anjorin, Toye Fasidi, Abioye Dada, Taiwo and
Kehinde Ogundein who gave me support in my work.
To my parents Professor and Mrs. O. Oladepo who altered words of encouragement
when I was discouraged. May the good Lord continue to bless you, love you both.
I would also give thanks to the employees of the bank used as my case study who
took part of the survey for their patience and support. If not for them, the completion
of this dissertation would not have been possible.
I would say a big thank- you to everyone who had contributed directly or in-directly
to my dissertation.
ABSTRACT Knowledge is a wide and conceptual idea that is clear which has been known to exist
since the 1600’s (Esanu, M.J and Uhlir F.P, 2003). In this present age, Knowledge
has now been identified by organisations to be treated as a very important
organisational resource. Although there has been a lot of literature on the practice of
knowledge management in organisations, no research has been done on the
knowledge management practices in the Nigerian banking sector. This could be as a
result of Nigerian banks being sceptical about giving information in relation to the
methods or ways of their knowledge sharing practices. In this descriptive case study,
knowledge management practices on corporate financial organisations performance of
a Nigerian bank operating in the United Kingdom was explored with a spotlight on its
relative significance and use in its functions.
The methodology adapted was divided into two segments – qualitative which was the
use of a set of questionnaire and qualitative which involved the use of interviews to
get the opinions of staffs on the topic. Quantitative analysis was done using SPSS
software and the qualitative by theme generation from responses.
The main findings show the existence of intellectual human capital in the bank given
the large crop of young highly educated staff. The organisation creates and enables
learning and sharing environment, uses knowledge from external environment for
strategic decision making, uses technology to connect staffs with information and
ensures internal knowledge sharing between all levels of the organisation. However
low trust among staffs and perceived feeling of insufficiency of shared knowledge in
the organisation were critical factors that hinder effective knowledge management
practices. Recommendations in respect of staff training on organisational trust,
innovative knowledge acquisition strategies, and policy review regarding timely
response to concerns from the bank’s external environment were made.
Overall, it could be deduced that Knowledge management is facilitated by the
utilization and development of the knowledge assets present in the bank.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................................................. 5
1.1 Introduction and Background to the study .................................................................. 5
1.2 Justification for the study ........................................................................................... 7
1.3 Purpose of Study ........................................................................................................ 9
1.4 Research questions .................................................................................................... 9
1.5 Research Objectives ................................................................................................. 10
1.6 Scope of Research ................................................................................................... 11
1.7 Limitation ................................................................................................................ 11
1.8 Dissertation Structure .............................................................................................. 11
CHAPTER 2 ........................................................................................................................... 13
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 13
2.2 What is Knowledge? ................................................................................................ 14
2.3 The features of Knowledge ...................................................................................... 15
2.4 Tacit Knowledge and explicit knowledge ................................................................. 17
2.5 Knowledge Asset .................................................................................................... 19
2.6 Differences between knowledge and Information ..................................................... 20
2.7 Knowledge Management ......................................................................................... 24
2.7.1. Organisational Culture .................................................................................... 24
2.7.2 Organisational Leadership ................................................................................ 25
2.8 The importance of Knowledge management ............................................................ 30
2.9 The growth of knowledge management ................................................................... 32
2.10 Knowledge sharing as a component of Knowledge Management .......................... 34
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2.11 Knowledge sharing component of Knowledge Management .................................... 35
2.12 Knowledge sharing in Financial Organisations ..................................................... 37
2.13 Barriers to sharing knowledge in financial organisations ...................................... 40
2.14 The Banking Sector in Nigeria ..................................................................................... 44
CHAPTER 3 ........................................................................................................................... 48
3.1 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 48
3.2 Restatement of the research question ............................................................................. 48
3.3 Research Design ............................................................................................................ 49
3.4 Methodology implemented ............................................................................................ 49
3.5 Sample Size and Procedure ............................................................................................ 50
3.6 Data Management and analysis ...................................................................................... 51
3.7 Methodology summary .................................................................................................. 52
CHAPTER 4 ........................................................................................................................... 53
4.1 RESULTS AND DISCSUSSION .................................................................................. 53
SECTION A: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents ............................................. 54
SECTION B: Organisational Culture and Leadership Style .............................................. 59
SECTION C: The Organisational internal Working Environment and Communication .... 60
SECTION D: Acquisition and management of New Knowledge in the organisation ......... 64
SECTION E: Organisational factors promoting and hindering Knowledge Sharing ......... 69
SECTION F: Discussion of Findings ............................................................................... 74
CHAPTER 5 ........................................................................................................................... 79
5.1 Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................... 79
5.2 Recommendations for further research ........................................................................... 81
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 83
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................ 95
Questionnaire ...................................................................................................................... 96
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Interview Questions .......................................................................................................... 104
CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1Introduction and Background to the study ....................................................................................... 3
1.2 Justification for the study ............................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Purpose of Study ........................................................................................................................... 6
1.4 Research questions ........................................................................................................................ 7
1.5 Research Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 7
1.6 Scope of Research ......................................................................................................................... 8
1.7 Limitation ..................................................................................................................................... 8
1.8 Dissertation Structure .................................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 10
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................ 10
2.2 What is Knowledge? .................................................................................................................... 11
2.3 The features of Knowledge .......................................................................................................... 12
2.4 Tacit Knowledge and explicit knowledge ..................................................................................... 13
2.5 Knowledge Asset......................................................................................................................... 14
2.6 Differences between knowledge and Information ......................................................................... 16
2.7 Knowledge Management ............................................................................................................. 19
2.7.1. Organisational Culture ......................................................................................................... 19
2.7.2 Leadership within Organisation ............................................................................................. 20
2.8 The importance of Knowledge management ................................................................................ 24
2.9 The growth of knowledge management........................................................................................ 26
2.10 Knowledge sharing as a component of Knowledge Management ................................................ 28
2.11 Knowledge sharing component of Knowledge Management ...................................................... 29
2.12 Knowledge sharing in Financial Organisations ........................................................................... 30
2.13 Barriers to sharing knowledge in financial organisations ............................................................ 33
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2.14 The Banking Sector in Nigeria ................................................................................................... 37
CHAPTER 3 ......................................................................................................................................... 39
3.1 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 39
3.2 Restatement of the research question ........................................................................................... 40
3.3 Research Design .......................................................................................................................... 40
3.4 Methodology implemented .......................................................................................................... 41
3.5 Sample Size and Procedure .......................................................................................................... 41
3.6 Data Management and analysis .................................................................................................... 43
3.7 Methodology summary ................................................................................................................ 43
CHAPTER 4 ......................................................................................................................................... 44
4.1 RESULTS AND DISCSUSSION ................................................................................................ 44
SECTION A: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents ........................................................... 44
SECTION B: Organisational Culture and Leadership Style ............................................................ 48
SECTION C: The Organisational internal Working Environment and Communication .................. 49
SECTION D: Acquisition and management of New Knowledge in the organisation ....................... 53
SECTION E: Organisational factors promoting and hindering Knowledge Sharing ....................... 56
SECTION F: Discussion of Findings ............................................................................................. 60
CHAPTER 5 ......................................................................................................................................... 65
5.1 Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................................. 65
5.2 Recommendations for further research ......................................................................................... 66
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................... 67
APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................................... 78
Questionnaire .................................................................................................................................... 79
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................. 85
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CHAPTER 1
1.1 Introduction and Background to the study
Business community and many other types of organizations have been showing real
interest and enthusiasm for knowledge management as revealed by the increasing
number of publications, library repositories and information press. Many types of
organisations have also developed an interest for KM. For example, a survey conducted
in 1997 showed that of the 200 large US firms, 80, 80% of the corporations had
knowledge initiatives (France Bouthillier and Kathleen Shearer, 2002).
The important role of knowledge in emerging competitive environment where
organisations can succeed or fail depending on their ability to effectively use and
manage their knowledge capital of data, information and knowledge has gained
increased recognition (Denisi et. al, 2003).
Knowledge as a strategic asset has been acclaimed as a way whereby organisations
ensure competitive advantage over others that is achieved through a variety of
knowledge management programs which explicitly and proactively harness and exploit
the intellectual resources of organizations (Boisot, 1999). Realising that knowledge
management is a dominant and economic source for today’s innovative enterprise;
many organisations struggle to ensure superior knowledge audition and its strategic
management for competitive advantage (Storehouse and Lumberton, 1999). The
competition among organisations at the international level emphasizing product and
service quality, responsiveness diversity and customization is increasing rapidly making
knowledge an important asset in modern enterprise (Denisi et. al, 2003). Given this
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situation financial institutions should strive to have competitive advantage guarantees
over other banks.
Knowledge provides a unique opportunity to create a sustainable or renewable
advantage by identifying strategically valuable areas where the organization's knowledge
leads the competition, and by investing time, effort and resources to continually built
that knowledge and to seek complementary knowledge, the organisation will be able to
maintain its knowledge superiority (Zack, 1999).. However, despite the potential
strategic advantage from acquiring and applying knowledge which has been evident in
public establishments, it appears that private organizations especially the financial
establishments are lagging behind (Sabri, 2005).
It has been reported that it is only recently that organizations are beginning to realize
that explicit knowledge is not enough to become a leader in a competitive environment
but that the vast majority of knowledge in organizations is tacit knowledge which is hard
to articulate but is held in peoples' heads, and that knowledge has t be created and shared
via direct person-to-person interactions, and shared experience (Nonaka et. al, 2000;
Zack, 1999). The situation of knowledge management in private financial organisations
is still relatively unknown and under researched.
Furthermore, previous research has found that differences in the practices between
private companies and the public sector knowledge management exists (Bouthillier and
Shearer, 2002). Private sector organizations use knowledge management to facilitate the
internal knowledge sharing process, while public sector organizations seek to share
knowledge, acquired either internally or externally, with their external partners or with
the general public (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002). These differences need to be further
ascertained especially within financial organisations such as banks.
Several recent knowledge management surveys and research projects suggest that most
companies do not put KM as part of their business strategy or as a measure of its success
(Jennex and Olfman, 2006). Despite acknowledging the strategy, many organizations
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most frequently conceive knowledge management as an operational issue addressed by
information technology with online repositories of data representing the primary
approach to managing and sharing explicit or codified knowledge (Borghoff, 1997). The
current situation on this assumption is yet to be revealed through research.
At present, the Nigerian banking sector seems to be a poorly understood sector regarding
the use of knowledge management (Boyd et. al, 2001). The poor level of knowledge
management is postulated to have been responsible for the collapse of many Nigerian
banks. According to Triba (2004), the collapse of many Nigerian banks three years ago,
due to their inability to meet the required capitalisation mandated by the central bank of
Nigeria, caused a lot of Nigerian banks no option than to merge or be acquired and this
might have resulted from poor knowledge management. The central argument is that the
key strategic resource is knowledge which goes beyond systems thinking and that
financial organisations are not acquiring knowledge beyond the customers banking
datasets, and therefore are not strategically positioned to competitively lead other banks.
To remain competitive, organizations need to benchmark their learning capability as
well as their knowledge (Rulke et. al., 2000). This can be done by either aligning its
strategy with its existing knowledge resources and learning capabilities or initiate
knowledge management and learning programs to enhance those resources and
capabilities sufficiently to support its strategy (Anumba and Carrillo, 2002). This study
explores the issues related to inputs and processes of knowledge acquisition and sharing
including the factors that hinder these processes in a financial institution.
1.2 Justification for the study
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While knowledge management has been recognised as a single most significant source
of competence (Parallax and Hormel, 1990), it is important to recognise the process
between knowledge creation and application on the one hand, and knowledge sharing
and reuse on the other. This distinction which has led organizations to supplement their
information technology with new organizational forms and cultures that promote
interaction and collaboration is yet to be adequately explored through research in the
banking sector. In the context of this study, the way in which the Nigerian banks in the
United Kingdom perceive, acquire and use knowledge management for productive
opportunity and competitive advantage is unclear. This is important because by aligning
and integrating technological and organizational capabilities, financial organisations like
banks can become well positioned to create, share and apply knowledge. Obtaining such
information through research study of this nature will add value by showing where there
are knowledge gaps in the organisation and how the gaps could be effectively addressed
or filled thereby improving corporate efficiency and assets. Thus, it is important to know
how the banking organisations view their experiences in the marketplace and their move
from focusing on data to information and to knowledge.
Furthermore, while a number of KM initiatives have been identified in some studies,
identifying processes and specific activities involved in these initiatives especially in the
banking sector are needed to give a better understanding of KM in this financial sector
(Storey and Barnett, 2000).
This would enable identification of organisations, areas of intellectual strength and
weakness relative to their current strategy and competitive position so that the results
can be used to focus their efforts on improving their strategically important knowledge.
The second is to create a process for continual learning which may require research
(Zack, 1999). My present study is in this direction geared towards understanding the
process of knowledge generation and sharing, as well as barriers to knowledge sharing.
Thus, the data collected through my study could be used by the organisation in
generating policy discussions and modifications that might have long term impact on
their overall business decisions and programmes.
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Finally, there are few organizational initiatives that have been well documented as KM
projects and organizations practicing KM are not prone to document and share their
experiences (Storey and Barnett, 2000). This study will ensure that this is done and the
product outcome shared with the organisation thus ensuring the beginning of such
documentation in the organisation which it could adopt and repeat annually to produce
trends in KM practice.
1.3 Purpose of Study
Motivated by the lack of research into knowledge management in Nigerian banks, the
purpose of this study is to investigate knowledge management practices on corporate
financial organisations performance of a Nigerian bank operating in the United Kingdom
with a focus on its relative importance and use in its operations. This will enable me gain
insight into how the banking sector is practicing the management of knowledge and the
internal environment that drives the process. In order to protect the bank researched on,
the name of the bank would not be mentioned and therefore the bank would be referred
to as bank “X”.
In particular, the study goal is to determine Knowledge management practice and its
possible impact on the growth of Nigerian financial organisations in the United
Kingdom with a targeted focus on Bank “X”.
1.4 Research questions
Following the above lack of understanding of the role of knowledge management within
the UK Nigerian Bank sector, this research is designed to address the following
fundamental issues:
What is the current organisational culture and leadership style in bank X?
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How does the bank increase the knowledge assets of its workers and systems?
What indicates to the bank that existing knowledge is outdated and needs to be
discarded or upgraded?
What factors hinder the banks acquisition of knowledge management for productive
opportunity and competitive advantage?
1.5 Research Objectives
The specific objectives of this study are:
- To apply relevant theory to the understanding of knowledge management in the
banking sector with particular reference to Nigerian Banks and comparable
nations.
- To document the current organisational culture and leadership in the selected
bank
- To document the organisational internal environment, it effects communication
for knowledge management.
- To assess how the bank acquires new knowledge for it staffs and the organisation
to gain competitive advantage.
- To assess the process by which new information and knowledge are shared and
managed within the organisation.
- To identify the barriers that hinder knowledge management practice in the
selected financial organisation.
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1.6 Scope of Research
This research focuses on the significance of knowledge management in a Nigerian bank,
looking at how it is acquired and used to increase competitive advantage over their
competitors. It would also look at the challenges currently experienced and barriers that
might hinder knowledge management within the bank employing quantitative and
qualitative methods of data gathering
1.7 Limitation
In light of financial constraint, the data was collected from one Nigerian Bank. This case
study approach used is a universally acceptable research design (Bregen and While 2000)
and did not affect the quality of the information generated as the results was not totally
generalised to all Nigerian banks. Efforts were made to ensure adequate data collection.
1.8 Dissertation Structure
This section provides a sketch of what is to be expected in the dissertation and it is also
presented to give the reader an idea of how the research is fashioned.
Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter provides an in-depth view of the topic to be researched on throughout the
dissertation. It includes the purpose of the study, the background, the scope, aims,
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objectives, research questions, limitation and finally; the way the research is being
structured.
Chapter 2: Literature review
In the literature review, the reader would be introduced to the main themes, ideas and
other views treated. Emphasis is laid on this chapter because it introduces ideas from
various authors, making the reader understand the difference between ideas and views
which is the main background to this research.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
In this chapter, a methodological basis of the research would be presented which would
include the qualitative and quantitative research.
Chapter 4: Analysis, Results and Discussion
In this chapter the analysis, presentation and discussion of the results would be done
Chapter 5: Conclusion
The last chapter goes over the results and answers that were presented in the previous
chapter and looks into other areas for further research.
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CHAPTER 2
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, related literature is reviewed to show some critical points on knowledge
management. In this regard, it would be viewed from the organisational perspective.
The structure of this chapter would be presented below:
It starts with what knowledge is, looking at it from an organisational perspective. It
follows with the features of knowledge together with the types, and then knowledge
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asset is also looked into. The difference between Knowledge and Information would be
taken into consideration and then, Knowledge management would be introduced
following the organisation culture and leadership as knowledge management practice.
The importance knowledge management and its growth would also be highlighted.
Furthermore, emphasis would be made of knowledge sharing, the importance of
knowledge sharing, knowledge sharing in financial organisations, the barriers to
knowledge sharing in financial organisations. It finally looks at the Nigerian banking
sector.
The first scholar to be acknowledged in relation to the recognition of the role of
knowledge in business organisations, approached knowledge in a social learning manner
which states:
“The increase in knowledge not only causes the productive opportunity of a firm to
change in ways unrelated to changes in the environment, but also contributes to the
uniqueness of the opportunity of each individual firm” (Penrose, 1959).
2.2 What is Knowledge?
Before discussing Knowledge management (KM) within the context of financial
organisations, a necessary preliminary is to discuss first the concept of knowledge within
the organisational context, differentiate information from knowledge, and describe the
importance of knowledge in financial organisations. This will then be followed by
describing and differentiating information management from knowledge management,
the importance of knowledge management and sharing information as a major attribute
of knowledge management.
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Although most executives and managers today embrace the notion of knowledge as a
strategic asset, defining knowledge has presented a challenge to many business
organisations because unlike information that can be made tangible and represented as
objects outside of the human mind. Knowledge is hard to pin down because it is an
intangible resource that exists within the mind of the individual (Sveiby, 1997). The
most widely used definition of Knowledge is that knowledge is a well reasonable, true
belief while Ingwerson (1992); Nonaka, (1994) further enlarged this definition stating
that knowledge is a person’s understanding of a particular thing following all that
evolves around it which includes recognition, thinking, emotional and spontaneous
activities. Wig (1999) also defined knowledge as a set of truths and beliefs, perspectives
and concepts, judgments and expectations, methodologies and know-how. Knowledge
has also been known to be the power of individuals since the early 1600’s (Esanu, M.J
and Uhlir F.P, 2003).According to Ahmed et. al. (2002) knowledge is the merging of an
individual’s experience, skills, instinct, ideas, perception, context, drive and
interpretation. The author posits that the initiative behind knowledge creation is similar
to learning because a learner who can be an individual or an organisation will undertake
learning if there is an ability to retain stable learning behaviour (Yolles, 2000).
According to Alavi (1999) Knowledge is the justification of personal belief that
increases an individual’s capacity to take an effective action and could also be seen as a
shared collection of principles, facts, skills and rules.
2.3 The features of Knowledge
The following classifications have been articulated in Knowledge management
Literature.
Knowledge cannot be straightforwardly stored (Gopal and Gagnon, 1995) but it is
something that resides in people’s minds to some extent than computers (Quintas et. al.,
1997). Knowledge is usually not coded, audited for employees, inventoried and staked in
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a storehouse for employees to use whenever it is needed. It is usually scattered in messy
and east to lose (Galagan, 1997). Knowledge is multi-dimensional (Chapman and
Dunstan, 1990). According to Allee (1997), knowledge can be seen to have twelve
qualities: knowledge is disordered, it is self organising; it seeks community; it travels on
language; it is slippery; it likes looseness; it experiments; it does not grow forever; it is a
social phenomenon; it involves organically; it is multi-modal and multi-dimensional.
In order to build up ways in which the flow of data can be used, one must engage in the
development of effective ways to make input and access to information easy and class
the useful from the useless (Mayo, 1998; Schaefer, 1998). The human mind is
responsible for the transformation of information to knowledge this is because
information has a tiny value and would not become knowledge until it is processed by
the human mind (Ash, 1998). Knowledge involves the creation, processing and the use
of the information by the mind of a person (Kirchner, 1997).
Although information and knowledge are not the same, information is a vital part in
knowledge (Martensson, 2000). An illustration showing what knowledge consists of is
shown below:
Knowledge = information + [experience, context and interpretation, reflection and
perspective] (Deavenport et. al, 1998; Kirchner, 1997; Frappaolo, 1997).
From this it could be said that knowledge is as a result of instinctive processing followed
by the inflow of new stimuli. In line with this observation, information switches to
knowledge once it is processed in the mind of individuals.
Knowing what knowledge constitutes, it would be worthy to distinguish between tactic
and explicit knowledge the types of knowledge.
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2.4 Tacit Knowledge and explicit knowledge
There are various terms that are used in describing types of knowledge but the two most
familiar are the tacit knowledge and the explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is defined
as action-based and considered to be the fundamental type of knowledge on which
organisational knowledge is built (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002; Choo 1998).
According to Oakes (2003) the tacit knowledge is said to be hidden and cannot be easily
expressed in papers and hard to share with people. It dwells in the human mind,
behaviour and perception (Duffy, 2000). It is a kind of knowledge the person in
possession of it gains overtime from experiences and exposures which include insights
and the sensation of the way things are done. Individuals gain tactic knowledge from the
time they have spent on a particular responsibility in an organisation. In the case of new
intakes into an organisation, tacit knowledge would take time to acquire. It was argued
by Maceviciute and Wilson (2005) that the major goal of knowledge management is
tactic knowledge which could be linked to the organisation’s culture that merges the
individual views, values and shared mindsets. Also Michael Zack (1999) pointed out
that knowledge management goes a long way in impacting on elements which are:
systems, structure, strategy and culture of the capital of the organisation.
On the other hand, explicit knowledge is defined as knowledge that can be codified and
therefore more easily communicated and shared (Boutherillier and Shearer (2002). It is
explicit knowledge that can be referred to things an individual knows and be easily
written down; a documented and public; structured and fixed content , eternalised and
conscious (Dufy,2000). Here learning is done by observing, reading or discussing. It is
usually described in a formal language, print or electronic media which is often based on
established work process (Smith, 2001). This knowledge is driven by information
technology. The distinction between tactic and explicit knowledge has been articulated
by Zack, 1999). The author stated that the vast majority of knowledge in organizations
is tacit, hard-to-articulate, and held in peoples' heads, created and shared via direct
person-to-person interaction, story-telling, and shared experience. While explicit
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knowledge is more easily managed and shared, tacit knowledge potentially has more
strategic value, being derived from particular circumstances and events and thus unique
and hard to imitate. In the framework developed by Professor Ikujiro Nonaka quoted by
Zack (1999), tacit knowledge is made explicit so that it may be shared with others in the
organization who then internalizes it as tacit knowledge by reusing it in a new context.
This interplay between tacit and explicit knowledge has provided a balance between
knowledge creation and application on the one hand, and knowledge sharing and reuse
on the other and this distinction has led organizations to supplement their information
technology with new organizational forms and cultures that promote interaction and
collaboration. By aligning and integrating technological and organizational capabilities,
these firms become well positioned to create, share and apply both explicit and tacit
knowledge.
Thus from the reviewed literature, the distinction between explicit and tacit knowledge
could be referred to as a theoretical dimension to the organisational knowledge creation
(Nonaka, 1994). It clinches to a continual discussion between explicit and tactic
knowledge which leads to the creation of new ideas (Nonaka, 1994).Although it is
known that the formation of ideas are done in people’s mind the communication
between individuals plays a vital role in the development of the ideas which simply
means that interaction within a group contributes to the strengthening and development
of new knowledge (Kusunoki, 1998). This group might be departments within the
organisation but the most important point is that it characterizes a further breadth to
knowledge creation which is linked to the level of social interaction between individuals
that share and develop knowledge. This could be referred to as the ontological
dimension of knowledge creation (Nonaka, 1994). While tactic and explicit knowledge
are differentiated with conceptual clarity, it is important that they relate to intellectual
asset in an organisation.
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2.5 Knowledge Asset
According to Green (2006), Knowledge asset involves obtaining knowledge from
different sources and experiences. It involves the recognition of products, markets and
technologies an organisation needs in order to make it have competitive advantage in
terms of profits (Camarinhah- matos et. al. 2000). In the valuation of knowledge, gaining
an elementary understanding of the operational knowledge assets drives organisational
performance (Green, 2006).Furthermore, Prusak (1996) highlighted the importance of
Knowledge as an asset in organisations having stated that the only thing that gives an
organisation a competitive edge was that it is what it knows, how it uses what it knows
and how fast it can learn something new.
It is perceived that most knowledge management practitioners usually assume that
knowledge is a modern organisation’s most important resource, the resource not easily
replicated by competitors; therefore it has a way it stands out having an edge over others
(Davenport and Pursak, 1998). Davepenport and Pruask (1998) also stated that all
healthy organisations generate and use knowledge; and as organizations interact with
their environments, they absorb information, turn it into knowledge and take action
based on it in combination with their experiences, values and internal rules. Without
knowledge, an organization could not organize itself and would be unable to maintain
itself as a functioning enterprise. Biosot (1999) reported that Knowledge offers
potentially one of the most sustainable advantages stressing that Knowledge - especially
the tacit, context-specific knowledge embedded in complex business activities and
processes and developed from experience - is unique and very difficult to imitate. Since
such knowledge cannot be purchased in the market in a ready-made form, competitors
must develop it through similar experiences over time as investing funds cannot
accelerate learning. In this context, the company that knows more than its competitors
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has an opportunity to stay in the lead as long as it continues to learn more about those
things that support its competitive position.
It could be deduced from the cited literature that knowledge provides a unique
opportunity to create a sustainable or renewable advantage through the identification of
strategically valuable areas where the organization's knowledge leads the competition,
and by investing time, effort and resources to continually build that knowledge and to
seek complementary knowledge.
Following the relevant literature on knowledge asset, it would be of great benefit to
highlight the features of knowledge .or difference between knowledge and information.
2.6 Differences between knowledge and Information
In recent years, knowledge has become a vital quality in modern enterprise due to
increasing global competition in which product and service qualities are of major
importance (Alvi and Leider, 2001). On the other hand, information has been defined as
facts and data organised to characterise a particular situation (Wig 1999). This
definition is further confirmed by Mitchell (2000) who stated that information is data
made meaningful by being put into a context. Organizations seek for and assess
information in order to make vital decisions. In theory, this choice is to be made
logically, based upon complete information about the organization's goals, practicable
options, and probable outcomes of these options and the values of these outcomes in the
development of the organization (Choo, 1996).
Although information and knowledge are often interchangeably used, it should be noted
that there is an obvious distinction between information and knowledge. This is seen in
the works of Machlup (1983) where he stated that information was a flow of messages
21
or meanings which might be added to, reorganize or change knowledge. Also, in the
words of Dretske (1993) some definitions could be found. These definitions stated that:
“Information is that commodity capable of yielding knowledge and what information a
signal carries is what we can learn from it” (Dretske, 1981, pp 44).
Knowledge is identified with information produced (or sustained) belief, but the
information received by a person has a relation to what the person already knows about
the possibilities of the source” (Nonaka, 1994). Knowledge is data made meaningful
through a set of beliefs about the causal relationships between actions and their probable
consequences, gained through either inference or experience (Mitchell, 2000).
Knowledge therefore differs from information in that it is predictive and can be used to
guide action while information merely is data in context. From the above it could be
deduced that information is a flow of messages while knowledge is created then
organised by the very flow of information hooked by the compulsion of its holder.
Business literature has further tried to clarify the confusion between knowledge,
information and data. Davenport and Pursak, (1998) suggested that Knowledge should
not be seen as data or information because they are closely related to an extent. This is
simply because they are usually discussed in the same situation. The clarification
become necessary in light of the confusion over the use of these terms which has
resulted in massive expenditures on technology initiatives that rarely distribute what the
firms spending the money needed or thought they were getting. Frequently firms do not
understand what they really need until they devote greatly in a system that fall short of
their expectation (Schank, 2001; Davenport and Pursak, 1998).
The table below also provides a snapshot of other definitions that differentiate data from
information and knowledge.
TABLE 1 Source: Stenmark (2000)
22
Author(s) Data Information Knowledge
Wigg, (1993) - Facts organised to
describe a situation
or condition.
Truths and beliefs,
perspectives and
concepts,
judgements and
expectations,
methodologies and
know how.
Nonaka and
Takeuchi (1995)
- A flow of
meaningful
messages
Commitments and
beliefs created
from these
messages
Spek and Spijkervet
(1997)
Not yet
interpreted
symbols
Data with meaning The ability to acing
meaning
Davenport (1997) Simple
observations
Data with
relevance and
purpose
Valuable
information from
the
human mind
Davenport and
Prusak (1998)
A set of discrete
facts
A message meant
to change the
receivers
perception
Experiences,
values, insights,
and contextual
information
Quigley and Debons
(1999)
Text that does not
answer questions
to a particular
problem
The texts that
answers who,
when, what, or
where
The text that
answers why and
how
Choo et al.(2000) Facts and
messages
Data vested with
meaning
Justified, true
beliefs
Formatted: Left
Formatted Table
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Font: Not Italic
23
Despite the differences in definitions, the concepts have a correlation in the sense that
information could be referred to as data that is meaningful to the originator (Davenport
and Pursak, 1998).
To further the understanding of the relationship between the three entities, a
diagrammatic presentation below illustrates the correlation between them.
Source: Stenmark (2000)
Fig 1
Thus from the table of definitions and relationships above, it could be seen that
knowledge is made up of Information given textually and the understanding of that
information.
An argument was brought up by Tuomi (1999) stating that the believed hierarchy from
data to knowledge was actually the opposite, stating that knowledge must exist before
information could be put together and before data could be considered from information
meaning that there is no such thing as raw data and the little piece of data has already
been influenced by knowledge process that has led to its identification.
DATA
INFORMATION
KNOWLEDGE
24
In contrast to this, knowledge does not exist without a knower; it is fashioned by ones
needs together with the preliminary stock of knowledge (Fahey and Prusak, 1998;
Tutomi, 1999).
After going through the series of definitions stated above, the working definition of this
study would be that knowledge is a justified belief that increases an entities capacity and
effective action (Huber, 1991: Nonaka, 1994).
2.7 Knowledge Management
Before describing knowledge management, it is important here to describe
organisational culture and leadership since both are related to the type of KM practices
in an organisation.
2.7.1. Organisational Culture
Organisational culture has an important role in organisational behaviour which in other
words means that the culture of an organisation has a direct impact on the behaviour of
people in the organisation (Barely, Meyer and Gash 1988; O’Reilly, 1989; Smircich,
1983).
There has been a lot of definitions of organisational culture but there is a common
meaning they suggest which states that they join together the members of the
organisation based on the shared pattern that encompasses basic values, beliefs and
assumptions in an organisation (Rose,2008).
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25
Various forms of organisational cultures have been proposed by some researchers as
Goffee and Jones (1998) who recognized four types of organisational cultures which
includes networked, mercenary, fragmented and communal while Martin (1992)
identified organisational culture from three different views which is integration,
differentiation and fragmentation. For the purpose of this study, Goffe and Jones view
would be adapted. A high degree of organisation performance is interconnected with an
organisation which possesses a strong culture with a well incorporated set of values,
beliefs and behaviours (Cameron and Quinn, 1999). As mentioned by Schulz (2001), an
organisation could be said to be high performing if it the culture present in the
organisation gives the employees the responsibility needed to meet customer needs on
time thereby ensuring success in business.
According to Stevens (2000), an organisation could be referred to as high performing if
it possesses the following which includes: high productivity or outputs; sustained and
increasing market share, greater profitability or shareholder value, innovation and
having a different service from that off its competitors in the same sector. High
performance could be continuous if only the culture could adapt to new changes that
might be as a result of the environment. Also it should be noted that cultural strength is
linked to short term financial performance, this is because Schneider (1990) stated that
focused cultures provides a better financial returns (high return on Investments, high
return on assets and high return of equity). All this is made possible if the organisation
operates under the perfect leadership style.
2.7.2 Organisational2.7.2 Organisational Leadership
From the definition of leadership, it is obvious that it is able to influence a group of
people towards the achievement of a particular goal (Lussier, 1990). It could also be
deduced that a leader has a lot of responsibilities in achieving this. In doing this, a
leader must be able to trust his employees by giving them lack of restrictions to be able
make their own decision. Employees can be guided by their leaders when they tend to
26
go astray which could be achieved by proper communication (Robbins and Coulter,
2001; Lussier, 1990).
Leadership plays an important role on organisational performance (Avolio and Bass,
1993) as they are required to create visions for the future and also to carry the
organisational members along by influencing and inspiring them in order to make them
achieve the dream (Rahman, 2000).
Overall, literature on the relationship between culture and performance and between
leadership and performance has shown that organisational culture and leadership are
intertwined together suggesting that the relationship between the two concepts
represents an ongoing interplay in which the leader shapes the culture and is in turn
shaped by the existing culture. Thus according to Schulz (2001), a high performance
firm is one in which the culture provides employees with the accountability and
responsibility necessary to meet customer needs in a timely manner to ensure business
success. A high performance company is characterized largely by the following: high
outputs or productivity, sustained and increasing market share, greater profitability or
shareholder value, innovation, and differentiation of service from that of its competitors
in its sector in one way or another (Stevens, 2000). The same is expected of the practice
of KM. Having explained the relationship between organisation and management, it
would be worthy to describe Knowledge management in depth since most frequently
asked questions arise around this area.
In this section, the definition of information management (IM) as different from
knowledge management (KM) will be given including the similarities and differences
followed by a description of its importance, growth and role in organisations.
Although there has been a strong interest in KM in the business community, its
distinction from IM is far from being well articulated in literature. While some see KM
as an emerging discipline, Goulay, 2000 and Beckman, 1999), others such as Wilson and
Streatfield (1999) as quoted by (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002) claim that firms and
27
information professionals have been practicing for years KM-related activities. This
controversy notwithstanding the distinction between the two has emerged in business
literature.
Davis (1997) defined Information management (IM) as “the process in which relevant
information are provided to decision makers in a timely manner”. The material form in
which this information occurs includes book, journals, and databases. Practitioners
select, describe, classify, index, and abstract this information to make it more accessible
to a target audience, either within or outside their organization. In a development
context, IM is concerned to provide transparent and standardized access to information
both within and outside the organization.
On the other hand, Zack, (1999) defined Knowledge management (KM) as a
purposefully, systematically enhancing and exploiting the intellectual resources
available to an organization, to increase the firm's value.
Knowledge management is a part of management that focuses on the performance of
business from an organizational perspective looking closely at the enhancement of the
organizations capacity in learning, innovation and solving problems (McElroy, 2003). It
should be noted that it is an emerging, interdisciplinary business model, dealing with all
parts of knowledge within the circumstance of the organization including knowledge
creation, codification and sharing and also focuses on how these activities promote
learning and improvement (Herder et. al, 2003).
Gold (2001) emphasized that KM practitioners summarize, contextualize, value-judge,
rank, synthesize, edit and facilitate to make information and knowledge accessible
between people, either within or outside their organization. In this context, KM
concerns itself with the social interactions around the sharing and use of knowledge and
it is largely based on tacit interpretation and less on rules. Thus KM has often been
framed in terms of knowledge in action for an end purpose.
28
According to Marchand and Davenport (2000), knowledge management includes
intentional efforts in order to make optimum use of the organization’s performance
through creating, sharing and leveraging knowledge and experience from internal and
external sources. There are some processes in knowledge management which was stated
by Galagan (1997) which are generating new knowledge, accessing data from external
sources, generating documents in data bases (software), embedding knowledge in
processes, products or services, transferring existing knowledge around the organisation,
using accessible knowledge in decision making, facilitating knowledge growth through
culture incentives, measuring the value of knowledge assets and the impact of
knowledge management. On the contrary, Wilson (1999) saw knowledge as a thing that
cannot be managed. He went further by saying knowledge consisted of people and
communities endlessly generated and renew the exchange of information in order to
meet the new challenge and openings that might come up.
In the practice of modern knowledge management, emphasis is made on the creation of
new knowledge and the suitable application of organisation knowledge to maintain
strategic advantage assuming that systems exists within the organisation that support
knowledge creation. In this context, relevant knowledge from internal and external
sources has been recorded and filed in a way it could be easily retrieved and used (Lim
and Klobas, 2000). Organisations should discard knowledge that has become outdated
(Drucker, 1993).
The relationship between IM and KM concepts has been recognized. Davenport and
Prusak (2002) reported that Knowledge management makes sense of information in the
context of its users. (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002 quoting Kakabadse et al. (2001)
reported that "information and data management are important pillars of knowledge
management" and that both IM and KM require a high degree of human involvement.
However, differences between the concepts have also been highlighted. Kakabadse et. al.
(2001) emphasised that KM “encompasses broader issues than IM and, in particular,
creation of processes and behaviours that allow people to transform information into the
organization and create and share knowledge” and in addition, their objectives are often
29
very different. This is further buttressed by Bouthillier and Shearer (2002), who stated
that the ultimate goal of IM is to ensure that information is stored and retrievable, while
the ultimate purpose of KM is tied more closely to organization outcomes. This outcome
is largely knowledge sharing involving the transfer of knowledge from one (or more)
person to another one (or more) implying that in KM, the most important drivers relate
to human behaviour and interchange (Davenport and Prusak (2000). Thus the success of
a KM program ultimately depends on the sharing of knowledge as illustrated within the
conceptual framework of Martensson (2000).
Source: Martensson (2000)
Fig 2: Theoretical structure of the knowledge management processes
Creation of new knowledge
Storage and organization of Knowledge
Sharing of Knowledge
Use and application of knowledge
Classification of Knowledge Needs
Acquisition of knowledge
Discovery of existing knowledge
Creation of new knowledge
Storage and organization of Knowledge
Sharing of Knowledge
Use and application of knowledge
Classification of Knowledge Needs
Acquisition of knowledge
Discovery of existing knowledge
30
The above diagram has presented an identification of a knowledge management method
within an organisation which highlights the reason why organisations practice
knowledge management.
To shed more light on this it would be of great value to look into the importance of
knowledge management.
2.8 The importance of Knowledge management
In the mid 80’s, individuals and organisations began to appreciate an increasingly
important role of knowledge in the emerging competitive environment where
organisations success or failure depended on their ability to effectively use and manage
their knowledge resource of data and information (Lim and Klobas, 2000). Many
reasons have been attributed in business literature on the large scale interest in the use of
KM in business communities around the world thus signifying its importance.
One major reason for the significance of knowledge management is the growing speed
of competition. Arguably, a serious waste of time could occur when the necessary
knowledge is already filled in other parts of the organisation (Holden, 2002). In the
process of competition, the organisation needs to collaborate to be able to improve
productivity, encourage innovation to be able to cope with information overload and
delivering only the essentials (Halberd, 1997).
Another reason relates to claims of the potential benefits of KM abound and range from
improving productivity, decision making, customer service and innovation (MacMorrow,
2001). Kludge (2001) emphasised that business with the intention of using knowledge
management outshined the business that did not.
31
Thirdly, the material resources of organisations are no longer considered as a sustainable
basis for competitive advantage because these resources speedily become available to
competitors. However knowledge is harder to imitate as it is exceptional among all other
organisation resources in that no other resource increases in value in the course of its use
(Probst et al. 2000).
The central role of ideas was made clear by Davenport and Pursak (2000) that
“contrasting material asset … knowledge asset increase with use: ideas breed new ideas
and shared knowledge stays with the giver while it enriches the receiver ...only new
knowledge resources – ideas have unlimited potential for growth” (pp.16-17).
Fourthly, the systematic sharing of knowledge is assuming a larger role in all kinds of
organizations around the world (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002 quoting the World Bank,
1999; Luen and Al-Hawamdeh, 2001). Private sector organizations are embracing KM
more for internal knowledge sharing, targeted in specific areas of the organization and
the KM initiatives are most often concerned with managing business and administrative
knowledge (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002). Similarly, some of the recent KM initiatives
in the public sector in the United Kingdom include the creation of the post of knowledge
officer at the British Council and the appointment of a Chief Knowledge Officer at
NatWest Markets (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002 quoting Skok, 2000).
Finally, Knowledge Management is perceived as the key economic source, dominant
and possibly the only source of economic advantage. The reason for this statement is
the way businesses run nowadays is different in terms of the range it operates, having a
wide range effect on a company’s tactics to its products and also the way the firm is
organised to the processes in the company (Bouthillier and Shearer , 2002 quoting
Ruggles, 2000). Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002 stated that knowledge is considered as
"the only meaningful economic resource" in most technological organisations.
However, it is not clear whether in Nigeria; financial organisations such as banks
perceive knowledge management as an asset for their development and harness it for
economic leverage because research has not been carried out to prove this fact.
32
2.9 The growth of knowledge management
The growth of knowledge management has been argued by DiMattia and Oder (1997)
stating that Knowledge management has surfaced from two shifts which are
technological development and downsizing. (Martensson, 2000).
A. Technological development
The evolution of technological development has drawn attention to the interest in
Knowledge management through two major sources; these include: the explosive growth
of information resources which could also be the internet and the accelerating space of
technological change (Martensson, 2000; Hibbard, 1997; Mayo, 1998).
The up-and-coming technological development permits global sharing of information
across platforms and continents which serves as a tool in the organisation to use more
knowledge efficiently (DiMattia, 1997 and Oder, 1997). Knowledge management is
about the acquisition and storage of workers knowledge and making information
accessible for other employees within the organisation (Papows, 1998). Similarly,
knowledge management seeks to influence the organisation’s expertise and know-how
in order to add value to business using a kind of technological support system (Ellis,
2003). This is often achieved by using various technologies such as internet and
databases, and this conversion of tactic knowledge to explicit knowledge. Knowledge is
repeatedly considered as a problem of information handling which deals with the
creation, management and utilization of knowledge (Martensson, 2000) and it is not
33
unexpected that knowledge management stirs up ideas of data mining, text clustering,
databases and documents.
Also, the new development in Information Technology has had an effect on people and
organisations (Mayo, 1998). The continual access to information has also made people
overwhelmed and thereby silently putting them in a state where they slowly miss out the
important information associated with it (Hibbard, 1997). However, the ability to cope
with the outburst of information and to be able to take advantage on the increased
knowledge at a place of work is challenging to knowledge management (DiMattia and
Oder (1997).
In this context, knowledge management is not just a technological information problem
but also a social problem. (Stuckey and Arkell, 2006)
B. Downsizing
As far back as in the 1980’s, the method adopted in order to reduce transparency and
increase profits which later became obvious is downsizing (Forbes, 1997). This method
lead to a lot of setback as it resulted in a lot of loss in important knowledge as the
employees had the knowledge they had gained over the years to themselves and was not
shared with others; they later left with the knowledge left with it (Piggott, 1997). After a
period of time, organisations then began to realise that they had lost very important
information and the skilled ones were ready to protect themselves against it happening
again (Martensson, 2000; DiMattia, and Oder, 1997). This was the action that led
management to carry out knowledge management method which involved the motive to
store and retain employee knowledge for the advantage of the organisation (Fobes,
1997). In recent times, organisations are working hard in trying to use systems and
technology to capture the knowledge inhabiting in the minds of their employees so that
it would not be hard to share knowledge within the organisation (Martensson, 2000).
When knowledge is stored, it becomes a resource that could be referred to later to bring
34
about competitive advantages that includes enhanced organisational capacities,
smoothing the progress of output and lowering costs (Fobes, 1997).
From these, it could be perceived that knowledge management focuses on people.
Knowledge management is all about people; not notes or books (Brooking, 1999). The
use of computers and networks can help in bringing about better communication but for
knowledge, it is still an assignment for humans to deliver.
2.10 Knowledge sharing as a component of Knowledge Management
In this section, the narrative would be based on what sharing is, the types of knowledge
sharing within groups and the importance of knowledge sharing. It would then be
followed by a review on the different methods of knowledge sharing and transfer. Lastly,
the barriers hindering effective knowledge sharing and transfer would be talked about.
Sharing is a process whereby a reserve is given by a party and received by another
(Sharratt and Usoro, 2003). In order to make sharing take place, an exchange must have
been witnessed between the giver and the receiver. Knowledge sharing could be defined
as the giving and receiving of information put in a context by the knowledge of the
source (Shararratt and Usoro, 2003). What is received from this is information backed
up by knowledge of the receiver. However, in support of the knowledge of the giver, the
knowledge received cannot be the same because the process of interpretation is
subjective and is surrounded by our existing knowledge and our personality (Miller,
2002). Pierce (2002) recommended that in face to face communication is an effective
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35
method for gaining knowledge. Also Dixon (2000) called attention to the selection of
suitable knowledge sharing practice relying on the type of knowledge (tactic or explicit),
the schedule and rate of the sharing procedure and the receiver of the knowledge within
an organisation. Splender (1996) identified different ways of sharing knowledge which
Dixon (2000) went further highlighting the five ways of sharing knowledge in-depth.
This includes:
1.Serial transfer which is where team knowledge is shared within the team to
different
1. sceneryscenery.
2.Near transfer this is the duplication of the team knowledge (explicit) in other
groups
2. undergoing related responsibilities.
3. Far transfer this includes the duplication team knowledge (tactic) in other groups
undergoing related responsibilities.
4. Organisations know how which involves either tactic or explicit type. Here a
tactical task is needed to be completed which occurs uncommonly in the
organisation.
5. Expert transfer; where a team needs and seeks explicit knowledge from others in
the organisation to complete the task (Riege, 2005).
2.11 Knowledge sharing component of Knowledge Management
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36
As earlier stated, one of the main attributes of Knowledge management is information
sharing. Drucker (1993) states that “knowledge is the only meaningful resource today”
and that “the traditional factors of production have become secondary, as they can be
provided easily if there is knowledge”. From this perspective, the use of new knowledge
is fast becoming the only remaining sustainable resource of competitive advantage for
organisations. The success of a company depends on the way it could use its collective
knowledge which involves giving support to the people and the process required to
accumulate structure and transfer knowledge effectively (Cunningham and Cunningham,
2006). According to Roy (2001), the importance of knowledge sharing and knowledge
management reuse to avoid repetition of efforts has led much interest in supporting
communities of practice. A community of practice is seen as an informal group where
there is a lot of knowledge sharing and learning is done in the context of knowledge
management (Wenger, 1998). It is referred to as an informal team and not a formal one
because each is sharing in a part of common programme and shared interests. Such
communities of practice are not inhibited by time and space and therefore can cover
organisational limits (Wenger, 1998). The communities of practice have been identified
as effective position for the sharing and creation of knowledge (Lave and Wenger, 1991)
where they are able to retain dynamic and growing knowledge within a real time
development that adds context to existing static data storage. The members of the
community usually engage themselves with a common type of code and language. This
process involves the development of a strong set-up of people of like minds who share a
common goal and understands themselves which aids the development of an
environment that incorporates high level of trust, shared behavioural norms and mutual
respect (Lesser & Stock, 2001). Having these present in an environment indicates
having a high social capital and is also related to the process of the creation and sharing
of knowledge (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Communities of practice encompasses
important roles which have been argued comprehensively by (Wenger, 1998; Mitchell,
2002; Devenport and Hall, 2002; Williams and Cothrel, 2002) from which could be
concluded that a lot of the know-how comes into being through KM professionals
participating in their communities of practice (Cunningham and Cunningham, 2006).
Most organisational competences have a need of amalgamating the bases of knowledge
37
on the individuals they have (MichaelZack, 1999 pp. 137). The establishment of rewards
for individual knowledge sharing performance signifies the importance of knowledge
sharing. However; of note is that it could also run a risk of producing expectations of
rewards for behaviours that should be part of the normal way of conducting the business
of the organisation (Dalkir, 2005).
2.12 Knowledge sharing in Financial Organisations
It is necessary to know how information is used to construct meaning, create knowledge
and make decisions within the organisation. Information is a fundamental component of
most action of organisations (Choo, 1996). Without an organisation’s grasp of how it
creates, transforms and use information would lead the organisation in lacking a defined
goal in managing its information processes, information resourced and information
technology (Choo, 1996). From these, it could be presumed that knowledge sharing is a
single most significant source of competence (Parallax and Harmel, 1990) in any
organisation.
At present, it is not clear how Nigerian banking institutions share information to create
knowledge and make strategic decisions to gain competitive advantage.
Furthermore, organisational knowledge has a positive impact on deeds and activities
obtained from the employee in the organisation (Stonehouse and Pumberton, 1999).
Organisations therefore need to struggle to ensure they get superior knowledge that
could result in high performance when knowledge is properly managed and also they
should learn more about the relationship between their internal and external
environments so as to gain competitive advantage (Stonehouse and Pumberton, 1999).
In respect to the internal environment, literature has shown the relationship between
physical work environments and knowledge worker performance (Davenport, Thomas,
and Cantrell, 2002). It has been reported that:
38
a. Knowledge workers prefer closed offices, but seem to communicate better in open
ones because they are better able to concentrate, they communicate informally and build
trust and social capital more easily in more open office environments (Frank Becker and
William Sims, 2001).
b. Knowledge workers congregate in particular geographical areas .Knowledge workers
are drawn to, and are made more productive by living in, cities and regions with
concentrations of other people like themselves (Florida, 2002).
c. Knowledge workers move around in the course of their work. Several firms that have
observed their knowledge workers have found that they spend up to half of their time out
of their offices-either in meetings, talking informally in other peoples' offices, or
travelling. As a result, organizations need to provide them with the ability to work and
be productive outside of their offices.
d. Knowledge workers collaborate as they meet, chat and congregate. Therefore office
environments need to facilitate the collaboration and exchange of tacit knowledge.
Technologies for collaboration—from videoconferences to web casting to share
networks—are increasingly making a big difference in collaboration, but users are
frustrated by technical difficulties in many cases (Davenport, 2005).
e. Knowledge workers concentrate at work. This requires a quiet setting with relatively
few distractions. Such an environment is particularly important for knowledge creation
activities—thinking, writing, programming and designing among others this takes up a
widely varying proportion of knowledge workers' time .some studies have found, for
example, that programmers spend only 20 to 30 percent of their time doing solo
programming, but others have found workers devoting up to 64 percent in "quiet work
(Becker and Sims, 2002).
39
f. Knowledge workers work in the office with some studies suggesting that (Becker and
Sims, 2002) 5 percent of workers do "serious" (full-time or near-full-time)
telecommuting, and a good proportion of those are administrative workers rather than
knowledge workers (Cohen and Prusak, 2001). This means that organizations should not
bother with office arrangements that assume full-time telecommuting.
g. Knowledge workers converse with their fellow workers who are close by. It has been
reported that knowledge workers whose desks are more than thirty meters apart have a
frequency of communications that is roughly zero (Allen, 1997).
From all these, it could be concluded that a lot attention needs paid to into internal
environment in Knowledge management as it could affect knowledge acquisition,
sharing and employees’ performance.
Furthermore, the external environment is of import and paying attention to the
community of practice of any organisation is as important as that of internal
environment. The need for financial institutions to provide customized services to meet
their evolving banking needs seems to be more crucial. My personal observation in
some banks in Nigeria reveals unfavourable comments made by banking customers on
the poor treatment meted to them by some banks in respect to courteous and prompt
services in bank transactions with a vow to transfer their money into other banks.
The major parts of any knowledge management system would be drawn out and gives
the opportunity to understand better the concept. The parts could be divided into six
which includes the personnel, methodology, technology, knowledge domain, strategy
and barriers.
The personnel are key components of any system and the function is to provide and use
knowledge. The methodology involves the means of recognizing, obtaining, organizing,
generating, accumulating, distributing and accessing knowledge which are all necessary
elements of a knowledge management system. The technology gives support to the
40
personnel in the use and provision of knowledge to the organization. In order to make
any knowledge organisation useful, it must deal with a restricted knowledge domain.
What gives support to a knowledge management system is an organisational strategy
(Phall. et. al, 2004). As the need for superior administrative support is usually pointed
out it could be recognized through the development of a strategized knowledge
management. An organisation ready to practice knowledge management needs resources
in order to be able to function and this resource comprises of money, technology, data
transfer, ability and time (Davenport et. al 1998). These resources could be slowed down
by certain factors within the organisation which include barriers. The barriers to
knowledge sharing would now be looked into.
2.13 Barriers to sharing knowledge in financial organisations
In this section, the main barriers to knowledge sharing in financial organisations would
be discussed. The causes of the barriers would also be grouped with some suggested
solutions.
Although, the problem of knowledge sharing had been highlighted in current researches
(Davenport, 1998), financial organisations still find it difficult to incorporate their day to
day activities with customers in the course of knowledge sharing activities (Barson,
2000; Scarborough, 1999). This is because the bulk of the work that concerns
knowledge management and sharing are limited to internal matters (Barson, 2000). It
was also stated by Barson, (2000) that such organisations do not use their knowledge
41
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optimally due to their failure to classify and triumph over barriers to knowledge sharing.
Barriers are part of the system as they are worked on in order to be avoided.
The interaction between employees in an organisation is a key issue of knowledge
management as it could be pointed out that knowledge management takes place when
employees work together but anchored with barriers such as differences in culture and
tradition (Themistocleous, 2001).
The barriers faced could be categorised under technology, organisation and people
classification but not in all instances does it fit into the three categories. However an
investigation carried out by (Pawar, 2000) shows that the common human barriers
identified were within Knowledge management in an organisation.
The table below gives an outline of human barriers and solutions associated with it
BARRIER SUMMARY SUGGESTED SOLUTION
LANGUAGE The language barrier is
perceived to be
problematic between
countries and companies.
Mix-up may occur if
people don’t interact at the
same level.
Meetings held might not
be productive if the topics
discussed are hardly
understood.
It is essential that people
should speech a language
up to a certain level.
The terms used in work
places should be clearly
defined so that everyone
would be able to gain and
work from the meanings.
42
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PERCIEVED
INTERNATIONAL
DIFFERENCES
People tend to have a
standardised away of
working practices of
different companies.
To avoid working in a
standardised manner, it
would be a great benefit to
learn the work pattern of
each person or company
one deals with.
ACCURACY/RELIABILI
TY OF KNOWLEDGE
This happen is a situation
whereby the knowledge
shared and the receivers
are not sure on how
reliable they are.
It is also worrisome to
people as they are
concerned about the
fullness and sincerity of
knowledge that is being
passed to them
This part is entirely relied
on trust and hence a very
delicate matter.
Reason for trust is based
on long term relationships
or on references that are
very good to rely on.
Trust is seen as a key
crucial matter.
FEAR OF
PENALTY/FEAR OF
LOSING PROFILE
This serves as a drawback
for creative thinking and
the build up of ideas.
This is seen as
unprofessional to present
not fully clear ideas.
The non-professional idea
comes up as a result of not
being able to express
oneself and thereby
referred to as
communication problem.
A precise linguistic and
conversational training
should overcome this
barrier which would be
aided by tolerance and
43
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willingness to listen and
understand others.
FEAR OF LOSING
COMPANY STABILITY
/MARKET POSITION
There is a notion that
knowledge sharing is a
way of giving away
information and the effect
might be the loss of the
company’s stability or
market position. This is
because sharing
knowledge might result in
companies having the
same abilities and
knowledge which might
result in companies losing
their competitive
advantage.
There must be a change of
frame of mind towards this
in other to overcome the
barriers.
Companies should be sure
of who they want to share
information with and what
they want to share.
Education should be given
on the idea that sharing
information between
companies can highlight
core competencies which
can lead to more business
and not less.
PROTECTION OF
PROPRIETY
KNOWLEDGE
In this situation there is a
panic that one’s idea could
be stolen by another
person and delivered as
their own.
Information intends to be
hoarded because it is
perceived to lead to
promotions and increase in
There should be an
assurance that the
information would be
traced back to its
originator.
A change of mind set
would be needed.
44
pay.
MAINTAINACE OF
COMMUNICATION
CHANNELS
The opening up of internal
structures for public
scrutiny, the customers or
suppliers might come
within reach of the wrong
people within the
companies for queries.
There should be a balance
in openness to customers
in the direction of the
customer and keeping the
discipline in performing
certain processes.
TIME This is considered to be
one of the most important
factors why KM is not
practiced in the
appropriate way.
The better use of time and
development of methods
and tools to support the
process of Knowledge
management.
Source: Pawar
(2000)
Source: Pawar (2000)
After highlighting the barriers hindering knowledge management in an organisation, it
would be of great benefit to look into the Nigerian banking sector and identify the
various setback it might be experiencing.
2.14 The Banking Sector in Nigeria
The banking sector is the most significant of the financial institutions in Nigeria. The
sector consists of the following constituents: the central bank of Nigeria (this serves as
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45
the financial power but under the direct management of the ministry of Finance);
Merchant banks; Commercial banks; Development banks and the federal savings banks.
The Central bank serves as the mother bank performing the overall coordinating
functions. The development banks engage in medium and long term lending loans
provided on local and foreign currency. These banks include the Nigerian Industrial
Development Bank (NIDB), the Nigerian Agriculture and Cooperative Bank (NACB)
Federal mortgage Bank (FMBN), Community Development Banks (CDBL) and the
Nigerian Bank of Commerce and Industry (NBCI).
The difference between the Development banks from Commercial banks is that
Development banks are responsible for furthering the nation’s development and its
development policies. However, the Commercial banks lend large sums of money to the
industrial enterprises not knowing how the money will be used; all needed to be
concerned about is if the borrowers have sufficient security and collateral from their
borrowers which is usually for a short period of time and it is usually for commercial
activities.
The Government intervention in the banking sector started as far back as in 1985 when
banking business was not stable and came up with the institution of the Central bank of
Nigeria with the aim of stabilising the banking sector which observed enormous crash in
the 1950s. This failure resulted in the institution of 17 Commercial banks by 1972
which continued before the merger and acquisition in 2005. By 1985, the number of
commercial and merchant bank had increased to 40. The increase in the number of
banks was visualized to increase competition and to create a more conducive
environment for the implementation of its modification course of action which included
privatisation, foreign exchange markets etc.
Unlike other banks, Commercial banks have branches all over the country even in rural
areas where the roads and the communication systems are inadequate though the
communication systems in Nigeria referring to the most parts of the less developed
46
countries are plagued by numerous problems ranging from human to infrastructural
(Soriyan et al, 1997).
The situation in Nigeria regarding the knowledge assets of the bank staffs, how such
knowledge is acquired and used to gain competitive advantage over other rival banks is
unknown and so are the challenges currently experienced and barriers that hinder
knowledge management. Obtaining these myriads of information adds value to scientific
knowledge.Intellectual capital is an intellectual material where knowledge, information
and experience could be transformed into wealth (Goth, 2000).Although, it has been
emphasised that organisations need know what their intellectual capital is and make use
of it in order to become a knowledge-based organisation. The current situation in the
Nigerian banking sector is unknown. Furthermore, knowledge management is
increasingly recognised by senior executives as an important dimension of business
strategy and a contributor to organisational performance (Martie and Retha, 2004),
However, the extent to which these statements hold true in the Nigerian financial
organisations is unclear. In the above paragraphs, I have presented a literature review to
show that Knowledge management is an asset that financial institutions should strive to
have to ensure competitive advantage over other banks. The main issue was that
Information is scanty on how thehow the Nigerian banks in the UK, acquire and use
knowledge management for productive opportunity and competitive advantage.
Obtaining this information will add value by filling existing knowledge gap on this issue.
47
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48
CHAPTER 3
3.1 METHODOLOGY
The motive for this chapter is to explain the methodology that is adopted in order to be
able to give responses to the questions that were asked. In this research methodology a
summary of what will be done is as follows: Section 3.2; conveys the main point for the
research work which would be a restatement of the research questions. Section 3.3 will
highlight the sort of research design to be used in accordance with the research questions.
Section 3.4 draws attention to the methodology implemented. Data collection and an
outline of the questions are obviously shown in section 3.5. Section 3.6 looks at the
administration of the questionnaires and it also takes note of the responses that were
received. Section 3.7 focuses on the method of the analysis of the data. This chapter
would be wound up with a summary.
3.2 Restatement of the research question
What is the organisation’s culture and leadership style of the organisation?
How does the bank increase the knowledge assets of its r workers and systems?
What indicates to the bank that existing knowledge is outdated and needs to be discarded
or upgraded?
What factors hinder the banks acquisition of knowledge management for productive
opportunity and competitive advantage?
49
3.3 Research Design
Research design describes the constituent of the investigation that is used in the
identification of variables and the relationship between them (Asia, 2006). The research
design is used in acquiring the data that would be used in response of the question
Robson, (2002) defines it as a process of turning the research questions to research
objects. It could also be referred to as the general steps to be taken in order to be able to
respond to the research questions (Saunders et. al, 2007). In this study, a case study
research design is used focusing on a Nigerian Bank operating in the United Kingdom.
3.4 Methodology implemented
The methodology implemented would be the use of quantitative and qualitative
approach.
It was pointed out by Creswell (2003) that quantitative research is different from the
qualitative research in many parts and it is also noted that they harmonize each other in
different ways also. The two methods are used in my research.
The quantitative approach would involve the use of questionnaire and the qualitative
approach would involve the use of interviews. In support of the qualitative approach, it
was stated by Brown (1998) that it is only words that can investigate concepts like ones
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50
feelings, values, thoughts and perceptions. So in order to get an in depth coverage on
the questions,
3.5 Sample Size and Procedure
A sample was defined by Asika, (2006) as a small part of a thing that in intended to
represent the whole which is precisely part of the population while Cooper and Schinder
(2006) said that “it is a part of a population that is carefully selected to represent that
population” The research focuses on a Nigerian commercial bank in the United
Kingdom where some selected respondents were given questionnaires to complete.
The procedure that was adopted for selecting the bank staffs for the survey was grouped
in different stages. In the first stage, all commercial Nigerian banks in the UK was listed
and decomposed into big, medium and small. One of the large banks was purposively
selected including its network of branches.
According to Bryman and Bell (2003) Quantitative research involves the compilation of
statistical data and showing an evidence of a relationship between theory and research as
deductive, a preference of a natural preference approach, having an objectivist
conception of social reality. The quantitative component involved the use of a survey
questionnaire that was used to collect data from different types of staff (cashiers,
administrators, IT officers, secretaries auditors) working in Bank “X” on major key
areas of knowledge management that generates competitive advantage and types of
challenges currently experienced in respect of business environment. In order to cover a
wider scope, qualitative method was also be adopted so as to give the respondents the
opportunity to express themselves on some certain questions and also results the
richness of data. This involved the use of personal interview.
51
From Carman (2004) it was perceived that qualitative research involves the
identification and exploration of a number of often related variables that give insight into
the nature and causes of certain problems and into the consequences of the problems.
The qualitative method employs the use of Key informant interview with bank managers
which identify the barriers to knowledge management. An in-depth interview was
conducted with an assistant manager, the head of administration and some staffs of the
IT department. These persons were purposively selected because they place key roles in
the planning and implementation of knowledge management in the banks. In total, 5
respondents were carefully selected to participate in the interview since not all the staffs
were available to take the interview. Before the interview started, the purpose of the
research was presented to the respondents telling them that before they started filling the
questionnaire they had to understand what knowledge meant, its importance and its
types.
After the brief introduction on what knowledge meant, the respondents showed more
interest in the activity by paying more attention to what was being said. From this, more
emphasis was made on the importance of knowledge in the bank and how it could bring
about competitive advantage over their competitors. The questions asked in the
interview were structured in order to cover the objectives of the dissertation.
Showing that the qualitative and quantitative approaches are being represented by
questionnaires and interviews, it would highlight the importance of interviews over
questionnaires. It was mentioned by Brown (1998) that words is the only way where
feelings, thoughts, values and other concepts can be expressed. .
3.6 Data Management and analysis
52
The completed questionnaire was checked in the field for completeness. The various
sections of questionnaires was coded and fed into the computer. In the analysis of this
work, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the survey data
analysis. The use of descriptive and other appropriate statistics was used to analyze the
data where appropriate and interpreted responses gave support to responsive research
questions stated earlier and also build on past propositions.
3.7 Methodology summary
The aim of this chapter is to explain how the data needed for research would be
collected and analysed in order to arrive at a credible conclusion.
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53
CHAPTER 4
4.1 RESULTS AND DISCSUSSION
This chapter presents the study findings on how knowledge management practices are
circulated in an organisation. It would be divided to various sections where section one
depicts the demographic characteristics of the respondents (bank staffs), section two
represents the respondents’ knowledge on what constitutes knowledge management and
its practices applicable to their organisation, section three describes the benefits
associated by respondents with knowledge management practices in the organisation
while section four describes identified barriers that hinder knowledge management
practice in the organisation.
Furthermore, these results are interpreted and discussed, and recommendations for
improving knowledge management and practices in the institution were highlighted in
light of the findings of the study.
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54
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SECTION A: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents
Respondents Sex and Age Distribution
The distribution of respondents by sex indicates that there were more males 18(64.3%)
than females 10(35.7%) in Table 4.1. The ages of the respondents show that majority
were under 30years 22(78.6%) followed by the age group 31-40 3(10.7%) and those
aged 41-50, 2(7.1%). Age 51-60 came least with only 1 respondent (3.6%) (Table 4.2)
This shows that the most active members of staff of the bank are the workers with ages
below 30.
Table 4.1: Respondents Sex Distribution
Sex
Number Percent
Male 18 64.3
Female 10 35.7
Total 28 100.0
Table 4.2: Respondents Age Distribution
Age Group in Number Percent
55
years
Under 30 22 78.6
31-40 3 10.7
41-50 2 7.1
51-60 1 3.6
Total
28 100.0
Respondents’ length of employment and current job title
The distribution of respondents by their length of employment within the bank shows
that most of the respondents, (60.7%) have been working in the current bank for
between 2-5years, followed by 10 respondents (35.7%) that have put in a year or less.
Respondents with over 10years working experience were the least, 1(3.6%).
In respect of current job title, half of respondents classified themselves as banking
officers 14(50%), followed by managers 3 (10.7%). Other classified job titles are shown
in Table 4.3
Table 4.3: Distribution of Respondents Current Job Titles
Job Titles Number Percent
Banking officer 14 50.0
Marketing Manager 2 7.1
Clearing officer 2 7.1
Senior analyst 2 7.1
Executive 1 3.6
Manager 3 10.7
Analyst 2 7.1
56
Sales advisor 2 7.1
Total 28 100.0
Respondents’ Position in the Organisation and their Areas of Responsibility
In terms of respondents’ position in the organisation, most (24) were frontline
employees (85%) while the rest comprise of 3 middle managers (10.7%) and senior
managers (3.6%).
Figure 4.1 shows the areas of respondents responsibility with a predominant of staff in
the IT section 12(42.9%), followed by marketing and finance with 6(21.4%) each, and
with human resource and those grouped as “others” accounting for 2 (7.1%) each.
Fig. 4.1
57
Respondents Educational Level and Working Experiences
Respondents with the master’s degree were the most predominant group with a total of
18(64.3%), which nearly doubles the rest of respondents with first degrees, 109
35.7%).Amongst the 28 respondents, 8(28. %) had 3 years of total working experience
and 6 (21.4) each with 2 and 5 years respectively. Other years of working experiences
are shown in table 4.4.
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58
Table 4.4: Respondents Total working experience in the Banking Industry Years of working
experience Number Percent
1 year 1 3.6
2 years 6 21.4
3 years 8 28.6
4 years 6 21.4
5 years 4 14.3
6 years 2 7.1
11 years 1 3.6
Total 28 100
59
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SECTION B: Organisational Culture and Leadership Style
Organisational Culture, Leadership, Communication Environment, Culture types and Leadership style in the Bank
Table 4.5 below shows the corporate culture reportedly operating in the bank. From the
table, it could be seen that commercial culture is the most dominating culture practiced
in the bank, 17(60.7%). Mercenary culture is the second reportedly practiced, 5(17.9%)
followed by fragmented culture 4(14.3%. Other culture is shown in the table 4.5.
Although three leadership styles, auditor, ambassador, and driver style ,have been found
to be the most popular in companies, results in this study indicate that the driver style of
leadership is the most popular profile in the bank, 27(96.4%) while the auditor style is
only marginally popular ,1(3.6%), while the ambassador type is not popular at all (0.0%).
Table 4.5: Profile of organizational culture operating in the organisation
Culture characteristics Number Percent
Valid Networked Culture 2 7.1
Commercial Culture 17 60.7
Fragmented Culture 4 14.3
Mercenary Culture 5 17.9
Total 28 100.0
60
SECTION C: The Organisational internal Working Environment and
Communication
Respondents’ assessment of the organisational working environment
Various ratings were given to the level of existence the five attributes of an enabling
organisational working environment-Honest, open communication, Trust in each other,
Collective responsibility for what the team does, Caring attitude towards each other, and
Pride in the organization. Having pride in the organisation was the most highly rated.
Half (14) of the respondents ranked it as excellent (50.0%), followed by 10 who ranked
it as very good (35.7%) and 3 as average (10.7%). This was followed by honest, open
communication within the bank with 13 (46.4%) respondents rating it as “excellent’
(46.4%), 8 as “very good” (28.6%), and 4 as “fair’ (14.3%) (Table 4.6) and collective
responsibility for what the team does which was rated as excellent by 9 (32.1%) and
very good by 19(67.9%). Caring attitude towards each other received less favourable
rating as 8 (28.6%) respondents rated it as excellent and 17(60.7%). Trust among the
employees in the bank was rated least of all the attributes with only 3 (10.7%)
respondents as excellent and 11(39.3%) as very good. (Table 4.6)
Table 4.6 -: Respondents Evaluation of Working Environment in the Organisation
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61
Statements
about
attributes
working
environment
Poor
Fair
Average Very
good Excellent
Total
A. Honest,
open
communication
0 4 (14.3%) 3 (10.7%) 8 (28.6%) 13 (46.4%)
28 (100.0%)
b. Trust in each
other 0 0 14 (50.0%)
11
(39.3%) 3 (10.7%)
28 (100.0%)
c. Collective
responsibility
for what the
team does
0 0 0 19
(67.9%)
9
(32.1%)
28
(100.0%)
d. Caring
attitude
towards each
other
0 0 3 (10.7%) 17
(60.7%) 8 (28.6%)
28 (100.0%)
d. Pride in the
organization
0 1 (3.6%) 3 (10.7%) 10
(35.7%) 14 (50.0%)
28
(100.0%)
Overall
Composite
weight
0 4 23 65 47
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62
Respondents’ assessment of internal working environment on communication
Office space allocation to the staff showed, 20 respondents reported working in a shared
working space (71.4%) and 5 (17.9%) in individual working space (17.9%) and others.
(Table 4.7)
When asked about the effect of these office space arrangements on their communication,
all respondents unanimously stated that it helps them engage easily in conversation with
their colleagues; 25(89.3% each) said it helps in assessing their colleague’s availability
for work helps to signal intention to communicate with their colleagues helps in sighting
colleagues to engage them in communication an for all the three 3 (10.7%) respondents
reported the opposite. Finally 23(82.7%) respondents affirmed that it ensures timely
opportunity for sharing information with their colleagues, while 5 (17.9%) of the
remaining respondents oppose this (Table 4.7)
Table 4.7: Organisation’s Office Space Allocation to Staff
Culture characteristics Number Percent
Valid Shared working
space 20 71.4
Individual working
space 5 17.9
Open plan office hot
desking"
3
10.7
Total 28 100.0
Furthermore, when asked about the effect of the location of each department on
communication in the organisation, majority of respondents stated it helps staffs engage
easily in conversation with their colleagues, 23(82.1%) said it helps staffs in assessing
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63
other staffs availability for work. Furthermore, 24 (85.7%) revealed it helps staffs
signal intention to communicate with their colleagues.
Effect of social activities within the organisation on communication
Involvement in social activities is considered very helpful by most respondents
19(67.9%) while about one-fourth, 6(21.4%) consider it helpful. Others are shown in
Table 4.8.
Table 4.8: Perceived Effect of Social Activities on communication
How helpful is social
activities Number Percent
Not helpful 2 7.1
Slightly helpful 1 3.6
Helpful 6 21.4
Very helpful 19 67.9
Total 28 100.0
Respondents’ Rating of Communication media for information sharing between colleagues
The ranking of the media in terms of how most often used to contact colleagues
showed the telephone receiving excellent rating by 24 (85.7%) respondents followed by
memos 16 (57.15), computers, 11 (39.3%) and meetings ,10 (35.7%). The use of Fax
machines received the worst rating (Table 4.9).
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64
Table 4.9 -: Respondents rating of Media used for internal communication in the Organisation
Media Poor
Fair
Average Very good Excellent
Total
Computer 0 0 6 (21.4%) 811(39.3%) 11 (39.3%) 28 (100.0%)
Fax 21 (75.0%) 5 (17.9%) 0 2 (7.1%) 0 28 (100.0%)
Telephone 0 0 1 (3.6%) 3(10.7%) 24(85.7%) 28 (100.0%)
Memos 0 2 (7.1%) 1 (3.6%) 9 (32.1%) 16 (57.1%) 28 (100.0%)
Meetings 0 0 3 (10.7%) 15 (53.6%) 10 (35.7%)
28
(100.0%)
Letters, e-
mails, pro-
forma
0 0 8 (35.7%) 10 (35.7%) 10 (35.7%)
28 (100.0%)
SECTION D: Acquisition and management of New Knowledge in the
organisation
Perception of the importance of knowledge management on organisational growth,
Assessment of benefits associated with Knowledge management practices.
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65
Sources of acquisition of new information and new development
Most interview participants reported that the organisation acquires new information and
new developments mainly through quarterly regional meetings where new ideas,
technological innovations are discussed and exploited and new ideas are learnt. It was
revealed that apart from regional meetings, weekly branch knowledge sharing sessions
are also held and that both have helped the bank to be competitive. The second way is
through performance measurement in which some outstanding staffs (lower and middle
level) are included in the team that are sent to such management meetings, continuous
training through seminars and workshops. Product upgrade and international business
meditation were finally identified by a few. All this reportedly increase the asset of its
workers.
.
Survey findings also revealed that nearly all the respondents, 26 (92.9%) knew the
company's emblem but 2(7.1%) did not.
Process of sharing new ideas and knowledge within the organisation
Although knowledge can be acquired at the individual level, to be useful it must be
shared by a community, often described as a community of practice. A key feature in
knowledge management is how the new ideas and knowledge acquired is shared within
the organisation. The findings showed four process levels of sharing newly acquired
ideas and knowledge within the organisation as presented below
a. Sharing new ideas and knowledge through Formal Departmental meetings
Formal meetings in the departments are used for sharing new ideas which respondents
reportedly attend. When asked how frequent these meetings are, 21 (75.0%)
66
respondents said on a weekly basis, followed by monthly 7(25.0%). The frequency of
sharing comments, concerns and commendations from bank customers with staff
(Customer service provision which constitutes the organisation’s external environment)
were weekly as reported by 21 (75.0%) respondents, followed by monthly, 5 (17.9%),
and daily 2(71.1%).
b. Sharing new ideas and knowledge from senior managers to lower level staffs
The senior managers discuss the organisation’s policies with the staffs working under
them. When asked how frequent this is done, sometimes 18 (64.3%0 than always, 10
(35.7%) to the staffs working under them.
c. Sharing new data/information between Staff members
New data/information are shared between members of staff mostly once week, 18
(64.3%) and everyday 10 (35.7%) and this is usually through regional meetings. This
quantitative result was also supported from the qualitative interviews in which it was
revealed that holding regional meetings was a major way cited by interviewed staff that
the bank they work with has been increasing the knowledge assets of its workers and
systems. During these meetings, which are held weekly, or more and either for branch
heads and officers, new ideas especially on technological innovations are shared and
discussed to keep the bank in a competitive advantage. Besides the regional meetings,
67
information generated from research funded by the organization is also shared while
training courses are used for new knowledge dissemination.
In respect to the means through which the new data /information are shared among
staff, staff announcements received the most favourable rating of 5 scores in terms of its
use by 22 (78.6%) respondents, followed by personal emails, 13 (46.4%) and staff
anaoucements8(28.6%) in the same category. Others mean such as Newsletters, Internal
Public address system, meetings and organisational seminars received very ratings.
When asked for the places preferred for sharing new work ideas among staffs, most
respondents would like discussing such with their subordinates in the offices, 15(53.6%)
but the place of doing this does not matter to 11(30.3%) respondents while a few, 2
(7.1%) prefer informal places outside the office.
d. Sharing new ideas between Colleagues
When asked about how often new ideas relating to work are shared with working
colleagues, more than half of the respondents 15(53.6%) said everyday and 11(39.3%)
stated once a week. Others are shown in table 4.10.
Table 4.10: Frequency of sharing work related new ideas with Colleagues
Number Percent
Valid Everyday 15 53.6
Once a week 11 39.3
Once a month 2 7.1
Total 28 100.0
Formatted: Normal
68
Furthermore, when asked to rate the means through which new ideas are shared
regardless of whether it is shared every day, once a week/a month or over a month,
meetings topped the rating in the excellent scale with 16(57.1%) respondents, . This was
followed by General e-mail with 15 (53.6%) and the intranet (internally designed e-mail
system for the organisation staffs) took the third place with 11 (39.3%). while telephone
took a distant fourth, 9 (32.1%) Fax machine received the worst rating in the poor
category with 22 978.6%) (Table 4.11)
However, most respondents 18 (67.9%) would run on to their own colleagues to give
assistance or advice if they encountered a problem at work.
Table 4.11-: Respondents rating of ways by which the organization shares new
ideas.
Media Poor
Fair
Average Very good Excellent
Total
Intranet 0 0 1 (3.6%) 16(57.1%) 11 (39.3%) 28(100.0%)
General
e-mail 0 0 1 93.6%) 12 (42.9%) 15 (53.6%)
28 (100.0%)
Fax
machine 22 (78.6%) 4 (14.3%) 1 (3.6%) 0 1(3.6%)
28
(100.0%)
69
Telephones 1 (3.6%) 0 0 18 (64.3%) 9 (32.1%) 28 (100.0%)
Memos 3 (10.7%) 0 0 18 64.3%) 7 (25.0%) 28 (100.0%)
Meetings 0 0 0 8 (28.6%) 16 (57.1%) 28 (100.0%)
Newsletter 0 0 8 (28.6%) 20 (71.4%) 0 28 (100.0%)
Databases 0 16 (57.1%) 10 (35.7%) 2 (7.1%) 0 28 (100.0%)
Barriers to organisational acquisition and use of knowledge for productive
opportunity
According to most of interviewed participants, two of the greatest barriers or challenges
to acquisition and use of knowledge for productive opportunity by the organisation were
inability of the bank to take some high level risk and top-down managerial rule which
tends to favour top management level staff better than those in the lower cadre.
Sometimes lack of consistent IT/ IS technical support also creates barrier.
Environmental conditions were also cited. An example of this is when the legislation
from authorities directly affects front desk staffs decision making process.
SECTION E: Organisational factors promoting and hindering Knowledge
Sharing.
70
Barriers to organisational acquisition and use of knowledge for productive
opportunity
A A number of indicators werenumber of indicators wereas examined to identify
organisational factors promoting and hindering Knowledge Sharing in the organisation
studied. Indicators related to Group work engagement for sharing knowledge,
organisational adaptation to new technologies for knowledge management, the extent at
which slow provision of service are quickly addressed and used to make strategic
decisions.
Group work engagement for sharing knowledge
Almost all the respondents reported engaging in group work except one (3.6%) for
knowledge sharing. With 11 (39.3%) of respondents each dedicating 1-2 hours and less
than 1 hour respectively and 5(17.9%0 dedicating more than 4 hours to team work in
the organisation every week. This is good factor for promoting knowledge management.
Bank's Adaptation to new technologies for knowledge management
Most respondents 24 (85.7%) reported that “ to a large extent, the organisation has been
able to adapt to new technologies such as the Global management Service Centre that
facilitates integrated exchange of information within and between branches of the
organisation and streamline management while only 1 said “to a small extent” while 3
could not assess. This is also an indicative factor of knowledge promotion.
The extent at which slow provision of service are quickly addressed
When asked to what extent are concerns like slow provision of services by banking
customers are quickly addressed by the bank , half of the respondents , 14 (50%) said To
a large extent and 9(32.1%)said to an average extent. Others are shown in table 4.12.
71
Table 4.12-: Extent at which slow provision of service are quickly addressed
Numbers Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Never 1 3.6 3.6 3.6
To small extent 9 32.1 32.1 35.7
To an average extent 4 14.3 14.3 50.0
To a large extent 14 50.0 50.0 100.0
Total 28 100.0 100.0
The extent at which slow provision of service are used for strategic decisions
However that a majority of the respondents 27 (96.4%) reported concerns like slow
provision of service from banking customers are used to a large extent in making
strategic decisions such as staff re-training on critical skills for faster service provision
and 1(3.6%0 said to an average extent reflects a positive factor for knowledge
management.
Other factors are that promote and hinder knowledge management are also derived from
the following survey findings below.
Since bank workers have important knowledge about working in the organisation such
as its core values, mission, vision, work ethics, compunction, innovations, and
improving management framework which need to shared between colleagues,
respondents were asked to indicate which of the given attributes are visibly important in
achieving the organisation’s KM.
The major ones that are mostly rated in the category of “to a large extent” by the
respondents were “Information technology is used as a tool to improve the use of new
knowledge more efficiently”, 18 (64.3%); “Communication among team members is
effective and efficient “, 16 (57.1%); “Individuals feel they can personally gain from
72
information and knowledge sharing”, 16 (57.1%);“ technological and organizational
capabilities are well integrated to create, share and apply knowledge”, 15 (53.6%);
‘Individuals collaborate with others to solve problems”, 15 (53.6%) and “intellectual
resources available have been well enhanced and exploited to increase the company’s
value” 15 (53.6%) (Table 4.13) Those in the lower cadre of the category of “to a large
extent” were “the organisation knows more than its competitors putting it at competitive
advantage”, 10 (35.7%)
On the lowest cadre of the category of “to a large extent” are “Knowledge created and
applied to managing business activities is unique and very difficult to imitate by others”,
“Communication among team members is effective and efficient”, “Employees feel that
knowledge shared within them is sufficient for the organisation” Colleagues trust each
other within the Bank” and “Performance methods (such as Appraisals) are used to
promote knowledge sharing “(table 4.13)
Table 4.13: Respondents assessment of other factors that facilitate or hinder information sharing in the organisation Yes, to a
large
extent
Yes , on
the
average
Yes, to a
small
extent
Not at
all
Don’t
know
Individuals collaborate with others to solve
problems
15(53.6%) 13
(46.4%) - - -
Communication among team members is
effective and efficient
16
(57.1%)
12
(42.9%) - - -
Employees feel that knowledge shared
within them is sufficient for the organisation -
17
(60.7%)
11
(39.3%) - -
Colleagues trust each other within the Bank 5 (17.9%)
9
(32.1%) 14(50.0%) - -
Performance methods (such as Appraisals)
are used to promote knowledge sharing 9 (32.1%)
12
(42.9%) - - -
73
Individuals feel they can personally gain
from information and knowledge sharing
16
(57.1%)
12
(42.9%) - - -
Organisation knows more than its
competitors putting it at competitive
advantage
10
(35.7%)
15
(53.6%) 3 (10.7%) - -
Knowledge created and applied to managing
business activities is unique and very
difficult to imitate by others 6 (21.4%)
21
(75.0%) 1 (3.6%) - -
35. Information technology is used as a
tool to improve the use of new knowledge
more efficiently
18
(64.3%)
10
(35.7%) - - -
36. The technological and organizational
capabilities are well integrated to create,
share and apply knowledge.
15
(53.6%)
13
(46.4%) - - -
The integration of technology with organsorganisational atonal capacity, good
communication staff collaboration for problem solving, Individuals conviction of
gaining from information and knowledge sharing are factors that facilitate knowledge
management in the organisation. However, low trusting relationship among staffs and
perceived feeling of insufficiency of shared knowledge the organisation are factors that
hinder effective knowledge management.
Information derived from the interview also gives insight into other factors that are
perceived to hinder KM practices in the organisation. According to most of interviewed
participants, two of the greatest barriers or challenges to acquisition and use of
knowledge for productive opportunity by the organisation were inability of the bank to
take some high level risk and top-down managerial rule which tends to favour top
management level staff better than those in the lower cadre. Sometimes lack of
consistent IT/ IS technical support also creates barrier. Environmental conditions were
Formatted Table
74
also cited. An example of this is when the legislation from authorities directly affects
front desk staffs decision making process.
SECTION F: Discussion of Findings
Demographic Characteristics
The gender staff composition with nearly ratio of 2 to 1 in favour of males still suggests
that the banking sector is still a male-dominated institution. Though the proportion of
women is lower, this is a marked improvement from the past in which bank workers
hardly hire female staff.
The finding that most of the respondents who are below the age of 30 year and mostly
in managerial positions suggest that the bank is excellently resourced with staff who are
most likely to be active drivers of knowledge. This is further supported by findings that
most are highly educated (master’s degree) and working in the IT section within the last
2-5years, suggest an active recruitment policy of the organisation. All these seem to
suggest an active recruitment policy of the organisation and the existence of a favourable
climate for corporate knowledge asset.
Internal environment and communicating
From the findings, the internal environment in respect of allocated staff office spaces
and the allocation of departments is highly favourable to effective communication in
light of more than 80% of the respondents identifying positive communication effect of
Formatted: Normal
75
both their allocated office spaces and department. This enabling condition is likely to
have high impact on knowledge acquisition and sharing in the organisation. Gold (2001)
emphasized that KM Practitioners summarize, contextualize, value-judge, rank,
synthesize, edit and facilitate to make information and knowledge accessible between
people, either within or outside their organization. The central role of ideas was made
clear by Davenport and Pursak (2000) that in contrasting material asset, knowledge asset
increase with its use; ideas breed new ideas and shared knowledge stays with the giver
while it enriches the receiver “...only new knowledge resources – ideas have unlimited
potential for growth” (pp.16-17).
The positive finding that the social interactions in the organization positively affect
communication among staff members is of importance. Gold (2001) has emphasized the
importance stating that KM concerns itself with the social interactions around the
sharing and use of knowledge and it is largely based on tacit interpretation and less on
rules.
The findings further show that telephone followed by memos are is the most used
medium of for internal communication and that the intranet and general e-mails are
being used speedily or knowledge sharing suggest that the bank is utilising technology to
enhance knowledge sharing.. The importance of these media in fast tracking information
sharing has been acknowledged in literature. This finding supports DiMattia, 1997 and
Odder, 1997 who affirm that the up-and-coming technological development permits
global sharing of information across platforms and continents which serves as a tool in
the organisation to use more knowledge efficiently. Ellis, 2003 also reiterates that
Knowledge management is about the acquisition and storage of workers knowledge and
making information accessible for other employees within the organisation (Papows,
1998). Similarly, Knowledge management seeks to influence the organisation’s
expertise and know-how in order to add value to business using a kind of technological
support system (Ellis, 2003). This is often achieved by using various technologies such
as internet and databases, and this conversion of tactic knowledge to explicit knowledge.
76
The findings that commercial culture and driver’ type of leadership predominate in the
organisation might have been responsible for the organisation’s high level of knowledge
sharing and the fast use of communication technology within an open internal
communication coupled with inherent attitude of young peoples’ eagerness to
communicate between themselves.
Knowledge acquisition and management
Part of the findings of the study also showed that the organisation uses multiple levels of
acquiring and managing new idea and knowledge. A spotlight on organisations
practicing knowledge management has been prospective for higher stages in maintaining
profitability, a greater market share and increased innovation (Jennex, 2005). An
environment that practices good communication would benefit quick progress on
decision making which would be a result of public participation (Wiig, 2002). The
Perceived benefits associated with Knowledge management practices in the organisation
includes a having a better workplace morale (Drucker, 2008) it also improves decision
making and gives support in the development of a knowledge intensive workforce
(Jennex, 2005).
The finding that active communication and knowledgeinformation sharing between
layers of staff, facilitated by the use of IT, seems to suggest the existence of a high
level of social capital in the bank that allows for social interaction, and staff well being
which are likely to contribute to the organizations economic and social development..
It can be further inferred from the finding that most staff work in the IT section of the
bank that computer literacy rates are high with possible high data storage capacity. It is
not surprising therefore that the study shows that the organization rely heavily on
technology to facilitate knowledge sharing especially the use of intranet among others,
however person to person exchanges were particularly central for this to be effective.
Also, the particular KM method used in this organization appears designed to fit the
organizational needs and to support its specific missions.
77
This finding that information sharing of new ideas is ongoing and timely things that
operate through several sources. This shows that the bank is active in the way it
perceives, acquires and uses knowledge management for productive opportunity and
competitive advantage. Thus the bank seems to have a good knowledge asset. This
finding is supported by Green (2006), who stated that Knowledge asset involves
obtaining knowledge from different sources and experiences. Furthermore, Dufy (2000)
reinforces this by stating that it is explicit knowledge that can be referred to things an
individual knows and be easily written down; a documented and public; structured and
fixed content, eternalized and conscious (Dufy, 2000). While the sharing of
organisational policies to other staffs means that knowledge managers are concerned
with the dynamic dimension of knowledge, not only with data, information and
technology (Alavi and Leidner, 2001). However, the finding that staffs turn largely to
their peer to solve problems encountered in the performance of their work is disturbing.
While running to obtain assistance or advice from colleagues when staffs encountered a
problem at work is not unexpected, it could be speculated that managers are not turned
to probably because of the likely rebuke and the negative effect it could have on annual
staff performance appraisal. The implication is that it could have serious effects on
acquisition of rapid problem solving skills. It is not surprising therefore that hen asked to
what extent are concerns like slow provision of services by banking customers are
quickly addressed by the bank only half the respondents said to great extent. Such poor
managerial skill in timely problem solving can jeopardise the banks competitive
advantage if other banks ensure staffs are free to contact managers above them
immediately for problems that the staff capacity is unable to handle.
The existence of good knowledge management practices especially in the area of
effective technology, acquisition and sharing of new ideas, group work, the integration
of technology with organisational capacity, good communication, staff collaboration for
problem solving, instilling staff pride in the organisation, convincing staffs of self profits
to be gained from information and knowledge sharing and responding to external
environment through quick strategic decision on customers complaints are specially
78
noted. These are essential knowledge management inputs which need to be further
promoted to enhance the banks competitive advantage. However, the bank needs to
strongly .However, low trusting relationship among staffs and perceived feeling of
insufficiency of shared knowledge the organisation which hinder knowledge sharing are
of concern. These require more intensive efforts by the bank to find out the reasons why
they occur and do something about them.
Overall the findings of this study further add value to existing literatures that suggest
that systematic sharing of knowledge is assuming a larger role in all kinds of
organizations around the world (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002 quoting the World Bank,
1999; Luen & Al-Hawamdeh, 2001) and that Private sector organizations are embracing
KM more for internal knowledge sharing, targeted in specific areas of the organization
and the KM initiatives are most often concerned with managing business and
administrative knowledge (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002).
79
CHAPTER 5
5.1 Conclusions and Recommendations
Knowledge assets represent the dominant economic source essential for any innovative
bank that requires having a vibrant economic growth and human development, which
ensure competitive advantage over its rivals. Review of research literature on
Formatted: Normal
80
knowledge management indicates growing interest in this area and especially on the
generation and sharing of knowledge to promote human capital and development in
organizations such as such as the banks.
This current study, informed by recent theory of KM, investigated knowledge
management practices on corporate financial organizations performance of a Nigerian
bank operating in the United Kingdom with a focus on its relative importance and use n
its operations. It assessed how this organization perceive, acquire and use knowledge
management for productive opportunity and competitive advantage, also in addition
identified factors that hinder the bank acquisition of knowledge management .
The findings also show the existence of assets and intellectual capital human capital in
the bank, given the large crop of young mangers working in the IT region with minimum
qualification of masters degree who fortnightly attend regional meetings to share new
knowledge and also attend training. The existence of good knowledge management
practices especially in the area of effective technology, acquisition and sharing of new
ideas, group work and responding external environment through quick strategic decision
on customers’ complaints was found.
Thus bank X creates and enables a learning and sharing environment, connects the staff
with other knowledgeable people through training, uses knowledge from external
environment for evidence-based decision making, uses technology to connect staffs
with information and facilitate knowledge sharing, ensures internal knowledge sharing
between all levels of the organisation The two main factors that appear to hinder
knowledge management practice were relative low trust among staffs and perceived
feeling of insufficiency of shared knowledge the organisation.
In light of the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made;
1. Training on the central importance of trust in an organisation should be
conducted for all staff members and mangers.
81
2. Seminars on innovative strategies to move the bank to higher knowledge and
social capital to further drive its position to the top in the competitive ranking
should be conducted.
3. There is need for the bank to come out with more robust policy that will timely
address concerns from banking customers such as slow provision of services
The organisation needs to continue to ensure that telephones, computers, the intranet and
general e-mails are highly functional and use of, memos frequent for information sharing
as they were highly rated in terms of use and staff preference. General e-mails remain
highly functional is extremely important to effective sharing new knowledge.
Overall, this study has thus achieved its objectives. The information derived from the
study can be used in improving knowledge management in the bank and lessons can be
learnt by similar banks.
5.2 Recommendations for further research
Although this study assessed knowledge assets in an organisation in the banking sector,
which has provided data on KM practices and some factors that appear to promote and
hinder effective practices, however, the quality the KM practices and their actual impact
are still not known. Therefore, future studies should address this important area.
Formatted: Normal
82
83
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95
APPENDIX
96
Questionnaire
Dear Respondent,
I am a postgraduate student of the University of Sheffield conducting a study on
Knowledge management practices in financial organisations in Nigeria using your bank
as case study (this study aims to know how workers in your bank go about the sharing of
information). The data generated from this study could assist your organisation in
making critical decisions which would add immense value to its asset generation. I will
appreciate your completion of this short questionnaire after which I will spend a few
minutes clarifying a few issues. This questionnaire will not take much of your time and
your responses will be kept confidential.
Your co-operation is greatly appreciated.
SECTION A
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97
1. Sex: (1) Male [ ] (2) Female [ ]
2. Age: (1) Under 30 [ ] (2) 31-40 [ ] (3) 41- 50 ( ) (4) 51-60 ( ) (5) 61and above ( )
3. Length of employment with the bank: (1)1 year or less [ ] (2) 2-5 years [ ] (3) 6- 9
years [ ] (4)10 years and above [ ] (
4a. Your current job title? ________________
4b.Job Position within the organisation: (1) Senior manager [ ] (2) Middle manager [ ] (3)
Frontline employees [ ] (4) others …specify
4c Area of Responsibility
(1). Human Resource [ ] (2) Finance [ ] 3 Marketing [ ] 4. IT [ ] (5) others (specify).......
[ ]
5. Level of highest educational attainment (1) High school certificate [ ] (2) Diploma [ ]
(3) Undergraduate [ ] (4) Degree [ ] (5) Master Degree [ ] (6) PhD [ ] (7) Others [ ]
6. Total working experience in the banking industry (in years) _______________
SECTION B
7. Select among the four culture types below the closest to the culture of the bank you
work with?
1. Networked culture (is friendly but work tasks are not particularly independent,
i.e. Individual but friendly) [ ]
2. Communal culture (both friendly and independent) [ ]
3. Fragmented culture (it is neither friendly nor independent, here people keep to
themselves) [ ]
4. Mercenary culture (it is not particularly friendly but people do need each
other to get the work done) [ ]
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98
8. Which of the following three leadership types predominates in the bank you work
with?
1. Auditor style that emphasizes rules and procedures in ensuring smooth
operation. [ ]
2. Ambassador style that is characterized by deep knowledge about the
organization’s history, products, and responsibility. [ ]
3. The driver style that focus mainly on achieving organizations’ high
performance and a full of energy level to achieve its target. [ ]
9. Rate each of the following on a scale of 1-5 (with 1 = poor, 2= fair, 3= average, 4=
very good, 5=.Excellent) according to how each best describes the working
environment of the Bank you work with?
1. Honest, open communication[ ]
2. Trust in each other [ ]
3. Collective responsibility for what the team does [ ]
4. Caring attitude towards each other [ ]
5. Pride in the organization [ ]
10. In your working environment, are you in an individual office or in one shared with
one or two other colleagues, or in an open plan office?
(1) Shared working space [ ] (2) Individual working space [ ] (3) open plan office “hot
desking” [ ] (4) Others [ ]
11. In what ways do the offices spaces in which you work have an effect on the
communication between you and your colleagues?
1. Helps me engage easily in conversation with them (1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
2. Helps me assess their availability for communication(1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
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99
3. Makes it easy for me to signal intention to communicate with them(1)Yes [ ] (2) No
[ ]
4. Makes easy transition from sighting colleagues to engaging them in communication
(1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
5. Ensures timely opportunity for sharing information with them (1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
•
12. How does the location of each department and offices affect communication in the
bank you work with?
1. Helps staff engage easily in conversation with each other (1) Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
2. Helps staff to assess the availability of each other for communication (1) Yes
[ ] (2) No [ ]
3. Ensures availability of a channel to signal intention to communicate (1) Yes [ ]
(2) No [ ]
4. Makes the transition from sighting others to engaging them in communication
easier (1) Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
5. Ensures timely opportunity for sharing of information with other staff (1) Yes
[ ] (2) No [ ]
6. It has no effect at all (1) Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
13. Rank the following equipment on a scale of 1-5 (with 1 = poor, 2= fair, 3= average,
4= very good, 5=excellent), in terms of how most often used contact your colleagues?
(1) Computers [ ] (2) Fax machines [ ] (3) Telephones [ ] others, specify ……
14. Rank the following communication media on a scale of 1-5 on how they are used
(with 1 = poor, 2= fair, 3= average, 4= very good, 5=excellent) in communicating
with your colleagues?
(1) Memos [ ] (2) Meetings [ ] letters, emails, pro forma [ ] (3) others, specify …… [ ]
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100
15. How often does the senior manager talk to you about the policies of the organisation?
(1) Never [ ] (2) Sometimes [ ] (3) Once in a while [ ] (4) Always [ ]
16. Do you know the meaning of your company’s emblem (logo)?
(1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ] (3) not sure
17. How often do you share your new ideas relating to work with your colleagues?
(1) Never [ ] (2) Everyday [ ] (3) Once a week [ ] (4) Once a month [ ] (5) Over a month
[ ]
17b. If every day, once a week/a month or over a month, through what means is it
mostly done (tick all that is applicable) Rank on a scale of 1-5 the degree to which it is
used (with 1 = poor, 2= fair, 3= average, 4= very good, 5=excellent)
(1) The intranet (internally designed e-mail system for the organisation staffs) [ ]
(2.) General e-mail system [ ] (3) Fax machines [ ] (4) Telephones (5) Memos [ ] (6)
Meetings [ ] (7) newsletters [ ] (8) databases [ ] (] (9) others, specify ……………[… [ ]
18a. How often does your organisation share new information/ideas with members of
staff?
(1) Never [ ] (2) Everyday [ ] (3) Once a week [ ] (4) Once a month [ ] (5) Over a month
[ ]
18b. Through what means is this done? Rank on a scale of 1-5 (with 1 indicating the
least used and 5 indicating the most used)
Through (1) Newsletters [ ] (2) staff announcements [ ] (3) personal emails [ ] (4)
Internal Public address system [ ] (4) meetings [ ] (5) organisational seminars [ ] (6)
others, specify …………… [ ]
19. How often does your department have formal meetings that you attend?
101
(1) Everyday [ ] (2) Every week [ ] (3) Every month [ ] (4) Once a quarter [ ] (5) more
than a quarter [ ]
20. How often are comments, concerns, and commendations from customer service
provision (external environment) shared with members of staff?
(1) Everyday [ ] (2) Every week [ ] (3) Every month [ ] (4) Once a quarter [ ] (5) more
than a quarter [ ]
21. Where do you prefer to talk to your subordinates about your work idea?
(1) Formal places (offices) [ ] (2) Informal places (outside the office) [ ] (3) Does not
matter [ ]
22. To what level do you think the involvement of social activities has helped
communication within the organisation?
(1) Not helpful at all [ ] (2) slightly helpful [ ] (3) No difference [ ] (4) Helpful [ ] (5)
Very helpful [ ]
23a. Are there any work or exercise you do in groups?
(1) Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
23b. If yes, how many hours does it lasts for?
(1)Less than 1 hours [ ] (2) 1-2hours [ ] (3) 3-4 [ ] (4) more than 4 hours [ ]
24. If you encounter any challenge at work who would you run to for assistance?
________________________________________________________
25. To what extent has your organisation been able to adapt to new technologies (such as
like the Global management Service Centre that facilitates integrated exchange of
information within and between branches of the organisation and streamline
management.
102
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(1) Never [ ] (2) To a small extent [ ] (3) To an average extent (4) To a large extent (5)
Don’t know
26a. To what extent are concerns like slow provision of services by banking customers
are quickly addressed by the bank you work with?
(1) Never [ ] (2) To a small extent [ ] (3) To an average extent [ ] (4) To a large extent [ ]
(5) Don’t know [ ]
26b. to what extent are concerns like slow provisionslow provision of service from
banking customers used in making strategic decisions such as staff re-training on critical
skills for speed up service provision?
(1) Never [ ] (2) To a small extent [ ] (3) To an average extent [ ] (4) To a large extent [ ]
(5) Don’t know [ ]
You and your colleague have important knowledge about working in the Bank (such as
its core values, mission, vision, work ethics, line of communication, innovations, and
improving management framework). Often it is important to share this knowledge
between colleagues. Which of the following are important in achieving this?
Please circle as appropriate, your answers to the following questions as they relate to the
bank you work with.
Yes, to
a large
extent
Yes ,
on the
average
Yes,
to a
small
extent
Not
at all
Don’t
know
27.Individuals collaborate with others to solve
problems
1 2 3 4 5
103
28. Communication among team members is
effective and efficient
1 2 3 4 5
29. Employees feel that knowledge shared
within them is sufficient for the organisation
1 2 3 4 5
30. Colleagues trust each other within the
Bank
1 2 3 4 5
31. Performance methods (such as Appraisals)
are used to promote knowledge sharing
1 2 3 4 5
32. Individuals feel they can personally gain
from information and knowledge sharing
1 2 3 4 5
33. Organisation knows more than its
competitors putting it at competitive advantage
1 2 3 4 5
34. Knowledge created and applied to
managing business activities is unique and very
difficult to imitate by others
1 2 3 4 5
35. Information technology is used as a tool to
improve the use of new knowledge more
efficiently
1 2 3 4 5
36. The technological and organizational
capabilities are well integrated to create, share
and apply knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
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Interview Questions
1. Can you tell me if your organisation has been increasing the knowledge assets of its workers and systems? Can you cite some instances?
2 How does your organisation get to know about new information, and new developments?
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3. What do you think are the greatest barriers or challenges to acquisition and use of knowledge for productive opportunity in your organisation?
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APPENDIX
137
138
139
Questionnaire
140
Dear Respondent,
I am a postgraduate student of the University of Sheffield conducting a study on
Knowledge management practices in financial organisations in Nigeria using your
bank as case study (this study aims to know how workers in your bank go about the
sharing of information). The data generated from this study could assist your
organisation in making critical decisions which would add immense value to its
asset generation. I will appreciate your completion of this short questionnaire after
which I will spend a few minutes clarifying a few issues. This questionnaire will not
take much of your time and your responses will be kept confidential.
Your co-operation is greatly appreciated.
SECTION A
1. Sex: (1) Male [ ] (2) Female [ ]
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2. Age: (1) Under 30 [ ] (2) 31-40 [ ] (3) 41- 50 ( ) (4) 51-60 ( ) (5) 61and above ( )
3. Length of employment with the bank: (1)1 year or less [ ] (2) 2-5 years [ ] (3) 6- 9
years [ ] (4)10 years and above [ ] (
4a. Your current job title? ________________
4b.Job Position within the organisation: (1) Senior manager [ ] (2) Middle manager
[ ] (3) Frontline employees [ ] (4) others …specify
4c Area of Responsibility
(1). Human Resource [ ] (2). Finance [ ] 3 Marketing [ ] 4. IT [ ] (5) others
(specify)....... [ ]
5. Level of highest educational attainment (1) High school certificate [ ] (2) Diploma
[ ]
(3) Undergraduate [ ] (4) Degree [ ] (5). Master Degree [ ] (6) PhD [ ] 7. Others [ ]
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6. Total working experience in the banking industry (in years) _______________
SECTION B
7.Select among the four culture types below the closest to the culture of the bank
you work with?
1. Networked culture (is friendly but work tasks are not particularly independent,
i.e. Individual but friendly) [ ]
2. Communal culture (both friendly and independent) [ ]
3. Fragmented culture (it is neither friendly nor independent, here people keep to
themselves) [ ]
4. Mercenary culture (it is not particularly friendly but people do need each other
to get the work done) [ ]
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8. Which of the following three leadership types predominates in the bank you
work with?
1. Auditor style that emphasizes rules and procedures in ensuring smooth
operation. [ ]
2. Ambassador style that is characterized by deep knowledge about the
organization’s history, products, and responsibility. [ ]
3. The driver style that focus mainly on achieving organizations’ high performance
and a full of energy level to achieve its target. [ ]
9. Rate each of the following on a scale of 1-5 (with 1 = poor, 2= fair, 3= average, 4=
very good, 5=.Excellent) according to how each best describes the working
environment of the Bank you work with?
1.Honest, open communication[ ]
2.Trust in each other [ ]
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3.Collective responsibility for what the team does [ ]
4.Caring attitude towards each other [ ]
5.Pride in the organization [ ]
10. In your working environment, are you in an individual office or in one shared
with one or two other colleagues, or in an open plan office?
(1) Shared working space [ ] (2) Individual working space [ ] (3) open plan office
“hot desking” [ ] (4) Others [ ]
11. In what ways do the offices spaces in which you work have an effect on the
communication between you and your colleagues?
1.Helps me engage easily in conversation with them (1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
2.Helps me assess their availability for communication(1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
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145
3.Makes it easy for me to signal intention to communicate with them(1)Yes [ ] (2)
No [ ]
4.Makes easy transition from sighting colleagues to engaging them in
communication (1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
5.Ensures timely opportunity for sharing information with them (1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
•
12. How does the location of each department and offices affect communication in
the bank you work with?
1. Helps staff engage easily in conversation with each other (1) Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
1.2. Helps staff to assess the availability of each other for communication (1) Yes [ ]
(2) No [ ]
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146
2.3. Ensures availability of a channel to signal intention to communicate (1) Yes [ ]
(2) No [ ]
3.4. Makes the transition from sighting others to engaging them in communication
easier (1) Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
4.5. Ensures timely opportunity for sharing of information with other staff (1) Yes
[ ] (2) No [ ]
5.6. It has no effect at all (1) Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
13. Rank the following equipment on a scale of 1-5 (with 1 = poor, 2= fair, 3=
average, 4= very good, 5=excellent), in terms of how most often used contact your
colleagues?
(1) Computers [ ] (2) Fax machines [ ] (3) Telephones [ ] others, specify ……
14. Rank the following communication media on a scale of 1-5 on how they are used
(with 1 = poor, 2= fair, 3= average, 4= very good, 5=excellent) in communicating
with your colleagues?
147
(1) Memos [ ] (2) Meetings [ ] letters, emails, pro forma [ ] (3) others, specify …… [ ]
15. How often does the senior manager talk to you about the policies of the
organisation?
(1) Never [ ] (2) Sometimes [ ] (3) Once in a while [ ] (4) Always [ ]
16. Do you know the meaning of your company’s emblem (logo)?
(1)Yes [ ] (2) No [ ] (3) not sure
17. How often do you share your new ideas relating to work with your colleagues?
(1) Never [ ] (2) Everyday [ ] (3) Once a week [ ] (4) Once a month [ ] (5) Over a
month [ ]
17b. If every day, once a week/a month or over a month, through what means is it
mostly done (tick all that is applicable) Rank on a scale of 1-5 the degree to which it
is used (with 1 = poor, 2= fair, 3= average, 4= very good, 5=excellent)
148
(1). The intranet (internally designed e-mail system for the organisation staffs) [ ]
(2.) General e-mail system [ ] (3) Fax machines [ ] (4) Telephones (5) Memos [ ] (6)
Meetings [ ] (7) newsletters [ ] (8) databases [ ] (9) others, specify ……………[ ]
18a. How often does your organisation share new information/ideas with members
of staff?
(1) Never [ ] (2) Everyday [ ] (3) Once a week [ ] (4) Once a month [ ] (5) Over a
month [ ]
18b. Through what means is this done? Rank on a scale of 1-5 (with 1 indicating
the least used and 5 indicating the most used)
Through (1) Newsletters [ ] (2) staff announcements [ ] (3) personal emails [ ] (4)
Internal Public address system [ ] (4) meetings [ ] (5) organisational seminars [ ] (6)
others, specify …………… [ ]
19. How often does your department have formal meetings that you attend?
149
(1) Everyday [ ] (2) Every week [ ] (3) Every month [ ] (4) Once a quarter [ ] (5)
more than a quarter [ ]
20. How often are comments, concerns, and commendations from customer service
provision (external environment) shared with members of staff?
(1) Everyday [ ] (2) Every week [ ] (3) Every month [ ] (4) Once a quarter [ ] (5)
more than a quarter [ ]
21. Where do you prefer to talk to your subordinates about your work idea?
(1) Formal places (offices) [ ] (2) Informal places (outside the office) [ ] (3) Does not
matter [ ]
22. To what level do you think the involvement of social activities has helped
communication within the organisation?
(1) Not helpful at all [ ] (2) slightly helpful [ ] (3) No difference [ ] (4) Helpful [ ] (5)
Very helpful [ ]
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23a. Are there any work or exercise you do in groups?
(1) Yes [ ] (2) No [ ]
23b. If yes, how many hours does it lasts for?
(1)Less than 1 hours [ ] (2) 1-2hours [ ] (3) 3-4 [ ] (4) more than 4 hours [ ]
24. If you encounter any challenge at work who would you run to for assistance?
________________________________________________________
25. To what extent has your organisation been able to adapt to new technologies
(such as like the Global management Service Centre that facilitates integrated
exchange of information within and between branches of the organisation and
streamline management.
(1) Never [ ] (2) To a small extent [ ] (3) To an average extent (4) To a large extent
(5) Don’t know
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26a. To what extent are concerns like slow provision of services by banking
customers are quickly addressed by the bank you work with?
(1) Never [ ] (2) To a small extent [ ] (3) To an average extent [ ] (4) To a large
extent [ ] (5) Don’t know [ ]
26b. to what extent are concerns like slow provision of service from banking
customers used in making strategic decisions such as staff re-training on critical
skills for speed up service provision?
(1) Never [ ] (2) To a small extent [ ] (3) To an average extent [ ] (4)To a large
extent [ ] (5) Don’t know [ ]
You and your colleague have important knowledge about working in the Bank
(such as its core values, mission, vision, work ethics, line of communication,
innovations, and improving management framework). Often it is important to
share this knowledge between colleagues. Which of the following are important in
achieving this?
152
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Please circle as appropriate, your answers to the following questions as they relate
to the bank you work with.
Yes, to
a large
extent
Yes ,
on the
avera
ge
Yes,
to a
small
extent
Not
at all
Don’t
know
27.Individuals collaborate with others to
solve problems
1 2 3 4 5
28. Communication among team members is
effective and efficient
1 2 3 4 5
153
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29. Employees feel that knowledge shared
within them is sufficient for the organisation
1 2 3 4 5
30. Colleagues trust each other within the
Bank
1 2 3 4 5
31. Performance methods (such as
Appraisals) are used to promote knowledge
sharing
1 2 3 4 5
32. Individuals feel they can personally gain
from information and knowledge sharing
1 2 3 4 5
33. Organisation knows more than its
competitors putting it at competitive
advantage
1 2 3 4 5
154
34. Knowledge created and applied to
managing business activities is unique and
very difficult to imitate by others
1 2 3 4 5
35. Information technology is used as a tool
to improve the use of new knowledge more
efficiently
1 2 3 4 5
36. The technological and organizational
capabilities are well integrated to create,
share and apply knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
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155
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
156
1. Can you tell me if your organisation has been increasing the knowledge assets of
its workers and systems? Can you cite some instances?
2 How does your organisation get to know about new information, and new
developments?
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157
3. What do you think are the greatest barriers or challenges to acquisition and use
of knowledge for productive opportunity in your organisation?
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158