on maintaining knowledge management systems

Abstract

The study investigates the challenge of knowledge maintenance in knowledge management systems. Knowledge pieces are the embodiment of structures in an organization and need to be modified due to environmental change over time. However change of knowledge in a knowledge management system is not made automatically; it requires users` active participation called maintenance action. This study shows that users are not forthcoming in taking maintenance action on knowledge pieces that are already established in the knowledge management system using empirical data. This phenomenon can be explained using structuration theory of which implications include the existence of chances that people recognize a novel phenomenon that might bring about permanent changes. Knowledge in a knowledge management system is regarded as a structure that enforces the status quo of the organizational practices according to structuration theory as knowledge management systems are structures which act as non-human artifacts with inscribed rules in relations to human actors who are users in the actor-network framework. The users (human actors), are intimidated by the power of structures such as knowledge management systems and reluctant to challenge validity of knowledge pieces that are already in the knowledge management system. This study provides a viable theoretical model to understand the difficulty of maintaining knowledge in the knowledge management system. The phenomenon that is described in this paper is concerned with knowledge maintenance in a KMS. Once a knowledge piece is planted in a KMS, the knowledge piece gains the aura of authority as if it were a code of conduct that the company leadership forces every employee to follow. According to structuration theory, the knowledge piece will become a structure that reinforces the status quo of business practices of the company. This is why it is hard to take maintenance action on the KMS. Updating a KMS is required as time passes due to changes in outer environment. However this maintenance work has to confront the reality that people are afraid of criticizing the existing knowledge piece because they believe it can be regarded as disrespectful against the company. It is possible to interpret this phenomenon as a cultural episode where Confucian cultural influence plays a role in creating concerns for being disrespectful. However we would like to posit that the power of the existing structure represented as a knowledge piece in a KMS should be recognized regardless of culture and taking maintenance action is fundamentally challenging the status quo since it requires the destruction or modification of the current structure, which can be threatening against the keepers of the company regime. This research succeeds in demonstrating the role of KMS in facilitating organizational change utilizing empirical data from a South Korean firm. The significance of the study lies in creation of models that are applicable to any given company regardless of its business area. These new theoretical models include structuration-emancipation model which links two otherwise distant theories and is a generalized model that can be applicable for any company in explaining phenomenon of maintenance action on the KMS.