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Article Review : Knowledge Management Implementation in a Govenrment Research

Institute in Selangor, Malaysia.

Knowledge Management Implementation in a Government Research Institute in

Selangor, Malaysia was written by Nazatul Aisha Md Ramin, Khairul Mizan Taib, Dang
Merduwati Hashim, Siti Arpah Noordin and Siti Munira Yasin. They are from Universiti
Teknologi Mara, Selangor. This article was published by IBIMA Publishing Vol. 2013. This
article was discussing on the implementation of knowledge management in a government
research institute in Selangor, Malaysia (known as Organisation X). Knowledge
management as defined by the authors hold a very significance part in any organisations.
Knowledge serves as the based of the management and need to be preserving to contribute
to success. The authors has been discussing on the implementation of knowledge
management, the development of knowledge management in Malaysia, the development of
knowledge management in Organisation X and recommendations on how to improve the
practice of knowledge management in any organisations. This article was supported by
another five (5) articles which conveying the same messages as in this article itself.

Knowledge management had been insipired by the fourth Malaysian Prime Minister,
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad in 1991 to transform the nations economy towards a
knowledge-based economy. Knowledge management has been implement in most of the
organisation because they believe that it helps to improve their (organisation) performance.
Karadsheh et al. (2009) in this article said that knowledge is the key of success for
organisation because it helps to improve business performance. Bhatt, G.D (2000) in
Kalaimagal Ramakrishnan and Norizan Mohd Yasin (2012) said that knowledge processes
are becoming pre-requisite for success in organisations. Bassi, L.J (1997) in the same article
with Bhatt said that the benefit of having knowledge management in ones organisation is to
improve performance. Other than that, the finding of The Impact of Knowledge
Management on Organisational Performance by Jelena Rasula, Vesna Bosilj Vuksic and
Mojca Indihar Stemberger (2012) prove that knowledge management components positively
affect organisational performance.
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Knowledge management defined as an approach that many commercial companies

adopt to enhance their business function and operation (Nazatul Aisha Md Ramin et al.,
2013). Petrides, L.A & Nguyen, L (2006) in Kalaimagal Ramakrishnan & Norizan Mohd
Yasin (2012) said that KM system and practice helps to classify the knowledge gaps. By
having KM system, organisations are able to gain info that they needs and thereafter
implement the knowledge sharing activity. As a result, KM is a system (tool) of
management which lead to progressive development in the organisation when people in the
organisation are competent to acquire new knowledge and uses it in their daily task. In brief,
KM supports the decision making strategy by offering new knowledge (reuses or adopts old
knowledge) and information (diversity of choice) that facilitate the organisation before any
judgement.

KM was first introduced at various government organisations (INTAN, MAMPU,

MINT, SIRIM, Telekom Malaysia, and TNB), educational institutions (Multimedia
University, Open University Malaysia etc.) and financial institutions (e.g. CIMB, OCBC,
Bank Mualamat). These institutions were focusing on the development of knowledge
enablers such as the development of human capital, research and development, information
and communication technology, infrastructure and info-structure. These entire element
shows that organisation attention towards the development of KM is increasing and they
have initiative to apply it into their organisation. Conversely, Malaysias achievement in
applying KM into their organsations is still slow. The transformation is yet to be achieved.
Malaysian needs to focus more on knowledge creation to improve their KM. Investment and
Finance Definition (2010) in John Girard & JoAnn Girard (2015) said that KM is the
process of creating, institutionalizing, and distributing knowledge among people for the
purpose of improving and organizing business processes and practices.

Authors managed to present the ideas of implementing knowledge management

bring more advantage in a very contented explanations. It is said that knowledge
management (KM) enhance the ability, speed and effectiveness of the organisations because
KM is a planned, structured approach to manage the creation, sharing, harvesting and
leveraging of knowledge as an organisational asset. Hence, most organisations started to
implement KM in their organisation so they can increase the productivity of staff and
product. In other to ensure that the implementation of KM brings positive effect towards the
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organisation, Malaysia had introduced the Knowledge Economy Master Plan to inspire
the government agencies and companies to adopt KM. As stated in Knowledge
Management Practices at an Institution of Higher Learning by Judith Mavodza and
Patrick Ngulube (2012), Jain (2007) and Senge (1994) said that learning disabilities are the
main barrier of successful KM. Without a good understanding about the real concept of
KM, it is difficult to improve the organisations. We need to learn the knowledge, share the
knowledge, transfer the knowledge and apply it into the organisation culture.

This article aims to investigate the extent of the implementation and practice of KM
in Organsiation X. Therefore, it is stated that KM was introduced in Organsation X in 2008
under the management of Intellectual Property & Knowledge Management (IPKM) and in
2010 it was managed by KM and Asset management itself. KM was preserved as an asset to
Organisation X as it helps to improve their business performance, productivity, staff hiring,
research and development. Jillinda (2000) in Muhamadul Bakir Hj. Yaakub, Khatijah
Othman and Ahmad F. Yousif (2014) state that KM is a process of converting information
and intellectual assets into persistent value. That is why in KM it is very important that the
knowledge are being identify, manage, store, and shared among the members of certain
organisation. Poor management could lead to loss of valuable knowledge and it will bring
disadvantages to the organisation. Authors said that knowledge gap within organsiations
will occur if they did not practice knowledge sharing among them.

Another issue that had been discussing in this article is regarding the understanding
of concept about knowledge management. Some of the staff is not familiar with KM and
they tend to misinterpret the concept. They failed to understand the strategy, process and
elements of KM. This problem occur because there is no proper knowledge sharing practice
among the staff and some expertise keep their knowledge between themselves and did not
share it with others. Kulkarni, U. & St. Loius. R (2003) in J. Rasula, V. Bosilj Vuksic & M.
Indihar Stemberger (2012), said that if the knowledge sharing practice becomes more
active, it will contribute to the effectiveness of KM. The effectiveness of KM can only be
achieved if the staff and members of organisation allocate the knowledge in a proper
system. Hence, Rouse (2013) in John Girard & JoAnn Girard (2015) define KM as a
concept in which an enterprise consciously and comprehensively gathers, organises, shares,
and analyses its knowledge in terms of resources, documents, and people skill.
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Authors conclude that there are three (3) factors influence the implementation of
KM. The factors are Organisation, People and Techonology. This was sustained by the
finding of research done by J. Rasula, V. Bosilj Vuksic & M. Indihar Stemberger (2012)
saying that KM is seriously depend on technology. Techonology serves as a tool of
knowledge distributor and developer. The finding of research done by Scarborough, H.,
Swan, J.A. & Preston, J. (1998) in J. Rasula, V. Bosilj Vuksic & M. Indihar Stemberger
(2012) shows that information techonology systems is very important to subsidise the KM.
Meanwhile, Judith Mavodza and Patrick Ngulube (2012) in their research mentioned that
there is the need for the organisation to create knowledge repositories for the enhancement
of capturing knowledge assets which include student projects, institutional records and
conference and symposium papers. Apart from that, Muhamadul Bakir Hj. Yaakub, Khatijah
Othman & Ahmad F. Yousif (2014) reveals that a proper organisation support should be
constructed and maintained impulsively within the organisation such as information
technology infrastructure, documentation accessibility and so on.

Another factor that influences the implementation of KM is organisation.

Organisation is the key of success in knowledge management. When an organisation has
proper management skills, they can share and transfer the knowledge among them more
efficiently. Mutual understanding between each and everyone in the organisation are very
important too because it contributes to an effective KM strategies. As in Organisation X,
KM is being practiced in few departments. Lee, K.C., Lee, S. & Kang, I.W. (2003) in The
Impact of Knowledge Management on Organisational Performance (2012) believed that
collaboration and trust among employees contribute to the processs of creating knowledge.
In short, it is concluded that organisational climate and processes helps to adopt an accurate
KM within the organisation. Effective and efficient KM cannot be implemented without a
substantial behavioural and cultural adjustment. Organisations need to undergo few changes
in their daily job; belief and attitude to ensure KM can be implement effectively. Effective
KM is known to be the contributor to the organisational performance.

Third factor which influences the success of KM is people. People must aware and
understand the real concept of KM. Besides, they must know the function of knowledge
sharing in KM. Those who have the expertise must spread the news, information and
knowledge they acquire so each in everyone in the department or organisation will have
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equal chances to explore, learn and improve themselves. However, J. Rasula, V. Bosilj
Vuksic & M. Indihar Stemberger (2012) add on another element of KM which is
knowledge. Knowledge consists of knowledge accumulation, utilisation and knowledge
sharing practices, and knowledge ownership identification. These four components are
prove to be the aspect of overall knowledge management practices in any organisation. In
other word, we must gather the knowledge, use it in our organisation, and share it among
collegues. Once everything is practice properly, KM will be a success and it will affect the
organisation positively.

At the end of this article, the authors mentioned several recommendations which can
be consider before and after the implementation of KM. Members of the organisation must
understand the whole concept of KM and its objectives. The benefits of having KM in the
organisation must be inform to all of the staff and training (or briefing) should be provided
so that the staffs are able to integrate the KM in their daily task. Top management support
are needed also to motivate the staff and reward should be consider to those who practice
KM. Leadership factor is part of the element because it is their responsibility to encourage
and nurture their staff to share the knowledge. Technology and investment are two main
items that need to take care of in other to support the implementation of KM. Lastly,
communities of practice must be created in the organisation to boost the effectiveness of
KM. KM can only sustain in the organisation if cooperation occur among the staff (from top
management until subordinate staff).

As for the challenges in implementing KM, the authors had highlighted some issues.
This was not found in the other articles that I have read. First, the process of changing
leader will affect the implementation of KM. Different leader will have different opinion,
principle and target. Later, it will bring changes in carrying out the KM into the
organisation. Apart from that, commitment is needed to implement KM. Members of the
organisation should play their role to maintain the sustainability of KM in the organisation.
Serious attention should be given to form a solid and real KM. As mentioned before, lack of
understanding about KM is one of the challenges too. Thus, training and promotion should
be provided to the organisations to enhance their understanding and quality in KM. Without
proper training and information, organisation will having problem to integrate KM in their
daily task and operation. Besides, staff should involve actively in KM. Involvements here
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including their contribution in creating knowledge and sharing culture. Passive contributor
makes it hard to achieve competent KM system.

In addition, outdated technology is part of the barrier in KM system. It is important

that the organisation have (and use) the latest technology. In KM, technology serves as the
medium (or tool) of compiling and distributing the knowledge. Technology makes KM easy
to access and friendly user interface will benefits in retrieving the knowledge. Mavodza
(2010) in Che Rusuli et al. (2012) revealed that knowledge networking and system is the
main sustenance to transfer both formal and informal knowledge. The use of technology
will enhance the knowledge sharing practice. Moreover, KM is difficult to implement due to
lack of information about the needs of the other staff. Once might have multiple knowledge
and skill, but the allocation of knowledge will fail if they misallocate it without knowing the
real situation (needs). Knowledge sharing will be useful if it is given to the right person at
the right time. Success will be a reality if we are able to overcome all of these challenges.
Therefore, the development and modification of KM is an ongoing activity (Jain, 2007 in
Che Rusuli, M S et al., 2012).

The methodology and research question used in this article were discussed
properly by the authors. Research question were stated clearly and it makes this article is
easy to read. Concept and criteria of KM was explained well by the authors. However, the
data will be more accurate if the respondents come from all level of management. As for
this article, only top management and middle management are being discussed. The practice
of KM among subordinate staff should be conducted as well. We must know their
understanding about KM and try to decrease the numbers of people who is naive about the
process and principles of KM. KM is a very wide-ranging system consists of knowledge
creation, evaluation, capturing, sharing, acquisition and record (Che Rusuli, M S et al.,
2012). To conclude, below are the models of KM by Nazatul Aisha Md Ramin et al. (2013)
and J. Rasula, V. Bosilj Vuksic & M. Indihar Stemberger (2012).
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Technology

KM
Organisatio
People
n

Figure 1: Model by Nazatul Aisha Md Ramin et al. (2013)

Information
Technology

KM
Organisatio
Knowledge
n

Figure 2: Model by J. Rasula, V. Bosilj Vuksic & M. Indihar Stemberger (2012)

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REFERENCES

Girard, J., & Girard, J. (2015). Defining knowledge management: Toward an applied compendium.
International Institute for Applied Knowledge Management. Retrieved from http://www. iiakm.
org/ojakm/articles/2015/volume3_1/OJAKM_Volume3_1pp1-20. pdf.

Mavodza, J., & Ngulube, P. (2012). Knowledge management practices at an institution of higher
learning. SA Journal of Information Management, 14(1), 8-pages.

Ramakrishnan, K., & Yasin, N. M. (2012). Knowledge management system and higher education
institutions. International Proceedings of Computer Science and Information Technology, 37(1), 67-
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Ramin, N. A. M., Taib, K. M., Hashim, D. M., Noordin, S. A., & Yasin, S. M. (2013). Knowledge
Management Implementation in a Government Research Institute in Selangor, Malaysia.
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Rasula, J., Vuksic, V. B., & Stemberger, M. I. (2012). The impact of knowledge management on
organisational performance. Economic and Business Review for Central and South-Eastern Europe,
14(2), 147.

Rusuli, C., Tasmin, R., Takala, J., Norazlin, H., Nah, M. N. M., Abdullah, S., & Yusnita, Y.
Knowledge Management Process At Malaysian University Libraries: A Review.

Yaakub, H., Bakir, M., Othman, K., & Yousif, A. F. (2013). Knowledge Management Practices in
Malaysian Higher Learning Institutions: A Review on Selected Cases.