KM Governance: an Exploratory Study of the Structures, Processes and Relational Mechanisms which Guide and Direct Organisational KM Programs

Abstract

Although a large number of organisations have implemented knowledge management (KM) programs, there has been little research focusing on the structures and processes which have been established to direct and guide these programs. This thesis contributes to filling this gap by investigating the governance arrangements of organisational KM programmes. Multiple case-research is employed to identify the structures, processes and relational mechanisms which contribute to the governance of the KM programmes of l2 organisations in Germany, Australia and New Zealand. The aim of this research is to identify the arrangements and mechanisms underlying the organisational KM approach, and to describe the various typologies of KM governance configurations. Furthermore, the research investigates the relationship between the characteristics of the organisations and their adopted KM governance configuration, as well as the relationship between the organisations’ KM governance configuration and their KM approach. The research follows a contingency theoretical research perspective and is grounded in established Information Systems research methodologies. The main findings indicate that organisations make use of a diverse array of arrangements to govern their KM programs. Based on the case studies a framework is developed which illustrates the wide range of structures, processes and relational mechanisms employed by the various organisations in order to govern their KM programmes. This framework allows for the systematic identification and assessment of governance configurations in a KM context. Other findings include the identification of important relationships between the type of organisation (structure, size and industry) and its particular KM governance configuration. Moreover, different relationships between the organisational KM approach and its respective governance arrangements are identified. This study contributes to KM research by exploring the role of governance in the KM domain in two ways: by identifying how KM programs are governed in organizations, and by exploring some of the ways in which the governance of KM relates to the characteristics of the organization and to the adopted KM approach. Overall, the KM governance framework which this study develops provides a useful tool for the investigation of KM governance configurations in future research.