Knowledge Information Management Culture: The New Zealand Defence Force

Abstract

Resources in the Public sector are at a premium. ‘Do better with less’ has become a familiar cry in the corridors of public sector organisations and Defence is a public sector area. Increasingly, the defence organisations of developed states, following the example of industry and business, are looking to the discipline of knowledge and information management (KIM) to provide the edge that will ensure better and more efficient acquisition, operation and husbandry of scarce resources from equipment and logistics, to personnel. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has set forth an Information Strategy designed to establish, promote and further a culture of Information, and by implication knowledge, as a strategic resource for the organisation. This case study examines the NZDF’s status as a knowledge organisation, its approach to pursuing the establishment of a KIM culture, the success to date of its implementation, and the barriers faced in its achievement. In doing so the author confirms the applicability of a General Knowledge Management Maturity Model as well as a Composite Model of Negative Influence Theory. The author concludes that there is little evidence in the case to suggest that any particular aspect(s) of military culture provide any impediment to progress though general organisational culture probably does. The author closes the case by recommending the application of a set of remedial measures to combat what is termed the ‘vicious circle of negative influence’.