The Role of ICTs in Knowledge Management (KM)

for Organizational Effectiveness

R. Subashini, S. Rita, and M. Vivek

VIT Business School,

VIT University, India
rsubashini@vit.ac.in,
{ritasamikannu,vivekm974}@gmail.com

Abstract. Knowledge Management (KM) has become the key factor for the
success of all organizations. ICTs are technologies which facilitate the
management to share knowledge and information. Thus, ICTs have a prominent
role on Knowledge Management initiatives. In the current business environment,
the implementation of Knowledge Management projects has become easier with
the help of technological tools. The value of Knowledge Management is more
when made available to the right people at the right time. Thus, knowledge
sharing is facilitated through information and communication technologies
including computers, telephones, e-mail, databases, data-mining systems, search
engines, video-conferencing equipment and many more. The purpose of this
study is to identify the significant role of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) in Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives that lead to
organizational effectiveness. This paper moves towards an understanding of the
overall importance of ICTs to knowledge management that paves way to achieve
organizational effectiveness. Finally, an integrated model linking ICTs,
Knowledge Management processes and organizational effectiveness is done and
thereby the relationship between ICTs and KM processes is conceptualized.

Keywords: Information and Communication Technologies, Knowledge

Management, Processes, Organizational Effectiveness.

1 Introduction

Stair and Reynolds (1998) states that ‘”Knowledge is the awareness and
understanding of a set of information and ways that information can be made useful to
support a specific task or reach a decision”. Davenport and Prusak (1998) states that
“Knowledge involves the link people make between information and its potential
applications and, as such, knowledge is closer to action than either information or
data”. Knowledge Management is basically the process involved in blending the
organizations internal and external information appropriately to the right person at the
right time. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) covers an enormous

P.V. Krishna, M.R. Babu, and E. Ariwa (Eds.): ObCom 2011, Part II, CCIS 270, pp. 542–549, 2012.
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012
The Role of ICTs in Knowledge Management (KM) for Organizational Effectiveness 543

diversity of heterogeneous technologies that facilitate the organizations for sharing of

knowledge and information. Information Technology strengthens the self action of
employees and also makes the effective use of organizational resources.

1.1 Knowledge Hierarchy

Tiwana (2000) states that knowledge is a “fluid mix of framed experience, values,
contextual information, expert insight, and grounded intuition that provides
an environment and framework for evaluating new experiences and information”.
According to Bellinger et al., (2004), the knowledge hierarchy levels are given
as follows:

connected
wisdom

understanding
principles
knowledge

understanding
patterns

information

understanding
relations understanding
data

Fig. 1. Knowledge Hierarchy (Source: Bellinger et al., 2004)

1.2 Knowledge Management (KM)

Knowledge management increases the ability to learn from its environment by
adapting to new tools and technologies (Liautaud and Hammond, 2001). Knowledge
Management has been recognized as an essential component of a proactively
managed organization wherein a robust technological infrastructure plays a crucial
role. We are living in a knowledge economy (Bartlett and Ghosal, 1993; Davenport
and Prusak 1995; Drucker, 1997; Nonaka, Toyama and Konno, 2001; Stewart 2001).
Rosenberg (2001) states Knowledge Management as the “creation, archiving and
sharing of valued information, expertise and insight within and across communities of
people and organizations with similar interests and needs”. The overall objective of
knowledge management is to create knowledge assets and thereby achieve
organizational effectiveness.