Knowledge Management concepts,

theoretical bases and World Bank

Practices

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Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................3
Literature Review..........................................................................................................4
Knowledge Management concepts and theories......................................................4
World Bank (WB) Strategy........................................................................................6
Discussion....................................................................................................................7
Conclusion....................................................................................................................8
References.................................................................................................................10

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Introduction

In contemporary world, globalization has created multiple challenges for

organizations. Now organizations are facing fierce competition and ultimate goal is to
win customers. Market trends are changing at a fast pace due to which organizations
need to develop their strategies in order to respond to market. In this perspective,
knowledge and its management has persuaded organizations to strategize in context
of knowledge (Kakabadse et al., 2003; Tubigi & Alshawi, 2015). It is an important
source and significant factor for an organization to be more competitive (Krogh et al.,
2001). In knowledge management, acquisition of knowledge involves both aspects;
acquisition within the organization and outside the organization. Gulbranson &
Audretsch (2008) have asserted that world is moving towards knowledge
management practices in which research and development is the integral part. Due

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to this, knowledge is considered as an important and valued asset (Hegazy &
Ghorab, 2014). Different researchers have defined it in different ways. It pertains to
the capability of an organization to manage knowledge, converting it into new idea
and strategy and ultimately protecting it. It is also defined as ability and process to
capture, store, share and use it (Chang & Lin, 2015). In the last couple of years,
knowledge management has been one of the significant factors to promote
knowledge economy. Multiple studies have shown that knowledge management not
only ensures organizational success but it also serves as a beneficial for society at
large. So researchers have identified four phases of knowledge management
knowledge creation, storage, transfer and application.

In context of World Bank, like many other organizations, creation of knowledge

through its operations is considered significant. World Bank is not only giving
services in development finance but also showing great effort in development of
knowledge for the society benefit. The knowledge management program initiated by
World Bank focuses on how to better manage the rich know how. The Bank enables
its employees to share maximum knowledge so that better value can be delivered to
clients. In the year 1996, when World Bank took initiative of knowledge management
because at that time, the concept of knowledge management was very much
popular. Even researchers as explained above are still exploring and understanding
this concept. By seeing the potential of knowledge management movement, many
stakeholders were interested. So as the times passes, world bank has taken initiates
in knowledge management practices but still it is facing certain challenges and
issues. The DECKM (Development Economics Knowledge Management unit) is the
integral part of the world bank that generates knowledge through its operations.
Because researchers have emphasized that in order to gain sustainable competitive
advantage, knowledge management is the trigger in this regard (Fierro et al., 2011;
Suresh, 2012).

The objective of this report is to understand and analyze the knowledge

management practices and programs of World Bank and issues associated with it.
For instance, one of the issues that is prevalent at global level is poverty. This issue
is much significant to address and even in UN sustainable development goals, first
goals is related to poverty in which plan to alleviate poverty by 2030. World Bank
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also offers loans and other financial assistance to combat poverty yet this issue is
becoming the burning all around the globe. Since the last couple of years, World
Bank has formulated diverse programs and policies regarding knowledge
management practices. Its due to escalating importance of KM practices and World
Bank has brought structural changes to address issues in client’s counties e.g.
poverty, via managing knowledge effectively. Further, it is also required to know what
is the effectivity of these knowledge management practices for solving issues in real
sense.

Literature Review
Knowledge Management concepts and theories

Historically, knowledge management has the association of Greek Society. But the
concepts of Knowledge Management were pioneered in 1970s (Alavi and Leidner,
2001). During the last couple of years, a lot of contribution has been made in the
field of Knowledge Management. Wiig (1997) describes the evolution of this concept
as “logical next step in a sequence of societal developments”. Knowledge
Management is an environmental concept and there are four perspectives to explain
it. In these perspectives, management practice, IT (information technology),
organizational efforts, and development adoption are involved (Wiig, 1997). Notable
management theorists such as Peter Drucker, Christopher Bartlett, Dorothy Leonard-
Barton etc. have contributed in the development of Knowledge Management. Some
of them have written regarding importance of Knowledge Management whereas
some have contributed by discussing the it in context of organizational resource. In
the year 1990, Knowledge Management started evolving as a scientific discipline
(Davenport, 2008). In this era, information technology also impacted this field where
organizational issues were addressed with the association of information technology.
Further in the context of total quality management and e-business practices,
managerial practices were implemented using Knowledge Management concepts
and theories. So evolution of different theories and concepts in this field have served
as a wider applicability of Knowledge Management. Researchers have also tried to
define KM since its evolution. Gold et al, defined it as capacity for managing and
organizing internal as well as external knowledge within an organization. Lytras et

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al., (2002) explains it as a systematic approach for implementing knowledge in order
to maximize the value of knowledge as an asset.

Knowledge Management theories can be categorized as Organizational Theory of

KM, Ecological Theory of KM and Techno-centric KM Theory. In organizational
theory, we analyze structures of an organization, its culture and hierarchy and how
all these help to manage knowledge management and sharing practices within
organizational premises. Ecological perspective focuses on relationships,
associations, and interactions between different people and learning communities. In
this way, people share knowledge with each other for solving organizational issue.
Techno-centric perspective involves technological aspects that enables knowledge
sharing and transfer. No matter which theoretical base is followed by the
organization, knowledge management circles around people, process and
technology and facilitate knowledge sharing. Further, Rai (2011) has given
integrated framework of knowledge management that has an impact on
organizational culture. So all theoretical bases of knowledge management have an
associated with organizational performance as argued by researchers.

Knowledge is a valuable resource and is critical in organizational decision making.

The availability of high quality knowledge augments the capacity for effective
decision making in organizations. Research reveals that in organizations, application
of KM practices can enhance the efficiency of the processes (Chou, Wang and Tang,
2015). Given the importance of KM practices, issues are also involved in it. On major
issue or challenge in KM practices is its application without knowing its theoretical
base, and concepts. Therefore, it is required for an organization to have complete
comprehension before its application.
World Bank (WB) Strategy

KM practices of WB have focus on dissemination of knowledge from knowns to

unknowns. It is not considered mere an operational effort rather it is strategic shift
within the WB so that it can be a different kind of organizational in term of application
of KM concepts and theories. As in several parts of the world, for instance, poverty is
the major issue and it requires dedicated and organized effort for reducing it. WB
thinks that by application of KM strategy, their point of differentiation will be to reduce

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poverty, more open to face challenges and more responsive. As the main emphasis
of the WB is to help poorest countries and for this they also sanction loans to help
them coming out of poverty and world economy remain sustainable. In order to fight
poverty effectively, sharing knowledge and implementing knowledge management
practices on a systematic basis is an essential factor. Due to this, WB has become
the strategic partner for sharing knowledge at global as well as local level with their
client countries. In terms of Ecological KM theory, World Bank is involved in sharing
knowledge within learning communities more specifically client countries for
combating poverty related issues. Researchers have explained, as discussed earlier,
that an effective KM practices requires complete comprehension of KM theories and
concepts. For this WB has DECKM (development economics knowledge
management) Unit, that involves in managing knowledge which bank generates
through its operations. It serves as a research and data arm of the WB. Under the
strong leadership, this unit sets research agenda and advices on formulation and
revision of policies. The knowledge which comes out as a result of research activity
of the WB play a significant role in solving issues of different communities especially
poverty. WB realize the importance of knowledge communities it is to increase the
knowledge base. In increasing knowledge base, knowledge sharing practices are
required to develop; knowledge sharing within the organization and across different
countries and communities. Therefore, WB has the knowledge sharing practices
within the organization which manifest the application of organizational KM theory
and further across different countries. The current operating model of WB stimulates
the knowledge flow all around the globe and provides integrated solutions to its
clients. Since 1997, WBs model has been considered as a matrix system. The
demands of client countries are evolving but previous model was not efficient
enough to meet the client’s demands. So in 2012, reforms were introduced to meet
the demands. Initially issues were identified related to previous model and proposal
for internal reforms were given and then implementation was made. This new model
of WB has emphasized the knowledge flow for solving emerging issues of the world
(worldbank.org, 2019)

Discussion

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Significance of knowledge management is evident as discussed in literature. KM
practices enable organization to achieve its goals in systematic way. It is also
considered as the source of intellectual capital (Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal,
2014). In any organization, intellectual capital serves as the value of knowledge
resources. Many research studies have revealed that knowledge is source of
attaining sustainable competitive advantage (Cambra-Fierro, Florin, Perez and
Whitelock, 2011). Even KM offers the organization to formulate new management
system which can increase organizational performance (Wu and Chen, 2014). So
introducing KM is beneficial by all means. In context of World Bank, KM is in practice
since 90’s. with the passage of time, client countries problems have been increased
due to this certain reforms and changings have been introduced. As a result of these
reforms, new internal processes are introduced with more responsibilities delegated
to WB employees and teams. In these structural changes, one of the most important
thing is to pool and accumulate knowledge in order to fulfill the client’s needs. This
thing reflects the priority that WB gives to knowledge management practices. In all
their new activities, now knowledge has become the central point to share for
achieving goals. All staff at WB has the positive attitude towards knowledge sharing
and flow which can augment the performance within and outside the organization.
For instance, a survey in 2016 showed that as a result of structural changes, more
than 70 percent of employees at World Bank share knowledge with colleagues.
Knowledge management activities are organized in different way at different levels at
WB. At strategic level, knowledge gaps are addressed and organized for
disseminating for supporting different operations. All of the WB efforts in knowledge
management are to address and solve issues such as poverty, health concerns,
disseminating loans to different under-developed and developing countries etc.
Analysis says that still there is a gap between addressing issues through knowledge
management practices. But to a larger extent, WB has attained its goals via
knowledge management and several countries have got its impact.

Knowledge management at the World Bank has the developmental effect by

managing high quality projects. In this case, WB efforts to discuss global issues such
as poverty and others, are organized into three units a) Knowledge Management, b)
Data and c) Learning. The KM unit at work bank works as coherent system that
promotes the sharing of knowledge and its significance with client countries. In this
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unit, text and data analytics assist practitioners to navigate huge amount of data for
provision of support to address issues such as poverty data etc. Further in this unit,
South-South experience exchange facility helps to execute knowledge sharing
activities with client countries. In second unit of Data, global delivery initiative helps
to share operational knowledge for improving operational performance of the
projects. Along with this, operational support team helps to execute projects
effectively. In Learning unit, open learning campus assist staff to have operational
knowledge and skills for dealing hard development trials. So DECKM programs
assist in solving client’s issues related to poverty, financial issues and other
associated issues.

Conclusion
The main objective of this paper is to see knowledge management concepts and
theoretical bases in context of World Bank. Further It was also discussed that how
knowledge management programs and initiatives worked in World Bank and with the
help of these, how global level issues, for instance poverty, are solved by utilizing
knowledge management practices. As we know that knowledge management is the
significant area which acts as an organizational competitive advantage. Multiple
global corporations are now utilizing their resources for effective management of
knowledge and is essential for ensuring sustainability in competency. Knowledge is
also considered as strategic valuable resource that develops sustainable competitive
advantage for an organization. In this report, it has been discussed how knowledge
management programs initiated at World Bank has helps to address issues which
are persistent at global level, especially in underdeveloped countries. Our findings
indicated that programs and structural changes at World Bank are playing significant
role in combating global issues. Effort has been witnessed in their policy formulation,
therefore, World Bank want to resolve issues of their client countries. Findings
further revealed that within the management of World bank, staff is inclined towards
knowledge sharing with each other that exhibits the impact of knowledge
management on staff behavior. In modern organizational context, knowledge
management concepts, theories and practices have really inspired organizations for
incorporating knowledge management. World Bank is of them that has brought
structural changes to combat issues. Yet a lot of work need to be done because

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despite of having KM policies and practices, issues are still present in different
countries. For instance, poverty, health, education etc. are major issues of the world.
So large corporations of the world such as World bank need to work with more rigor
so that impact of knowledge management strategies may lessen more issues in
years to come.

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