Dynamics of Organizational KMS Implementation and Adoption

Abstract

The main aim of this research article is to study the factors that influence the implementation and adoption of a Knowledge Management System (KMS) using System Dynamics (SD). Organizational knowledge in today’s ‘knowledge economy’ has a positive effect on the sustainability, competitive advantage, innovation and effectiveness especially in the case of knowledge intensive organizations like those in the software sector. In this study, the influence of the quality constructs on organizational KMS implementation is researched. The five-step SD research methodology was followed to design and develop a ‘Knowledge Management Cause and Effect Model’ (KCEM) simulation model. This model simulates and studies the causal dependencies between the various quality factors and the usage of KMS by the organizational employees or knowledge workers. Simulation experiments were conducted to study the behavioural patterns among knowledge workers as they integrate the new technology into their work pattern. The system performance was observed by varying values of the variables under study. Different scenarios were designed and the variables were adjusted to compare the actual practices and model assumptions. The results were significant. The study found that there is a major influence of the organizational KM initiatives affecting knowledge workers’ intent to use and share knowledge. An ideal environment where a knowledge worker is provided all the possible KM enablers was found to significantly improve knowledge sharing practices and the organizational repository content. The findings also show that management support has a positive influence on the service quality parameter of the model and service quality has the same influence on KMS design quality and actual system use parameter.