A Synthesis of Knowledge Management Failure Factors

The paper was written by Alan Frost M.Sc. on 25 January 2014. The paper is realesed under the Creative Commons License and is available via: www.knowledge-management-tools.net.

What is interesting is that this paper constitutes some of the lessons learnt on KM by looking at past mistakes. Often we want to concentrate on the strengths to replicate - but one should not forget to admit that mistakes can be a great learning curve for improvement. The abstract below illustrates the points covered.

Abstract

Knowledge management (KM) was once a very popular buzzword. However, failure of KM projects contributed to its drop in popularity. This paper aims to synthesise and organise the failure factors that have been discussed in KM literature since the discipline began to gain popularity in the late 90s."
"The failure factors are organised into two broad categories: causal and resultant. Causal factors refer to the broad organisational and managerial issues that are required to implement KM successfully. Resultant factors on the other hand deal with specific problems and can be regarded more like the symptoms rather than the disease.

The following failure factors are identified and discussed in the paper:

Causal Failure Factors:

1. Lack of performance indicators and measurable benefits
2. Inadequate management support
3. Improper planning, design, coordination, and evaluation
4. Inadequate skill of knowledge managers and workers
5. Problems with organisational culture
6. Improper organisational structure

Resultant Failure Factors:

1. Lack of widespread contribution
2. Lack of relevance, quality, and usability
3. Overemphasis on formal learning, systematisation, and determinant needs
4. Improper implementation of technology
5. Improper budgeting and excessive costs
6. Lack of responsibility and ownership
7. Loss of knowledge from staff defection and retirement

In the conclusion, it is suggested that further research is needed to improve our understanding of the cause and effect between different failure factors, as well as to identify relationships between these factors and specific operating environments.