scholarly journals Conducting a knowledge audit at a South African retail bank

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeline S.A. Du Toit

Purpose: The purpose of the article was to present the methodology followed and findings of a knowledge audit at a South African retail bank.Design/methodology/approach: The article addresses the following research question: ‘What methodology should be followed when conducting a knowledge audit for a retail bank?’ The audit followed a mixed method research methodology. A questionnaire was emailed to a sample of employees to determine their knowledge requirements and 30 senior managers were interviewed in order to obtain a strategic perspective on the knowledge management requirements of the bank.Findings: The commitment to knowledge management was generally positive, but it varies across business units. The bank has not defined which knowledge areas are critical in order to improve its current or future performance. Specific knowledge gaps were identified and a knowledge map was compiled to indicate knowledge flow in the bank.Implications: The article gives a detailed description of the methodology when conducting the knowledge audit. The knowledge audit attempted to address the most critical knowledge requirements of a South African retail bank. The audit helped to make the knowledge in the bank visible and helped the bank to understand the value and contribution of knowledge to the organisational performance.

2021 ◽  
pp. 026638212098603
Author(s):  
Lateef Ayinde ◽  
Ibrahim Oluwapelumi Orekoya ◽  
Qaozara Adebanke Adepeju ◽  
Adeyinka M Shomoye

The purpose of this paper is to review current literature on knowledge management and highlight the importance of knowledge audit in bringing about a holistic knowledge solution to knowledge management. Based on the review of literature on knowledge management, this study points out the role of knowledge audit in solving the challenges in organizations’ tacit and explicit knowledge. Specifically, the paper concentrates on knowledge audit, knowledge risk and international and national standards on knowledge audit processes. The contribution of this study to literature are the suggestions that knowledge risk and international standards procedures could be applied to knowledge audit. The important conclusion of this paper is that knowledge risk management has not been fully explored in the study of knowledge audit. The paper addresses the research question of what organizations must embark on in the process of knowledge audit. The paper attempts to provide answer to the question by highlighting the importance of knowledge audit and the reasons why organizations carry out knowledge audit, and also the existing knowledge audit frameworks and methodologies.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wala Abdalla ◽  
Suresh Renukappa ◽  
Subashini Suresh

Purpose The ability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic is contingent upon the ability to effectively manage its heterogeneous knowledge resources. Knowledge mapping represents a great opportunity to create value by bringing stakeholders together, facilitating comprehensive collaboration and facilitating broader in-depth knowledge sharing and transfer. However, identifying and analysing critical knowledge areas is one of the most important steps when creating a knowledge map. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to appraise the critical knowledge areas for managing COVID-19, and thereby enhance decision-making in tackling the consequences of the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The methodological approach for this study is a critical literature review, covering publications on knowledge management, knowledge mapping and COVID-19. EBSCOhost, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, TRID, Web of Science and Wiley Online Library were searched for full text, peer-reviewed articles written in English that investigated on critical knowledge areas for managing the spread of COVID-19. After full screening, 21 articles met the criteria for inclusion and were analysed and reported. Findings The study revealed seven critical knowledge areas for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. These are cleaning and disinfection; training, education and communication; reporting guidance and updates; testing; infection control measures, personal protective equipment; and potential COVID-19 transmission in health and other care settings. The study developed a concept knowledge map illustrating areas of critical knowledge which decision-makers need to be aware of. Practical implications Providing decision-makers with access to key knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be crucial for effective decision-making. This study has provided insights for the professionals and decision-makers identifying the critical knowledge areas for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Social implications The study advances the literature on knowledge management and builds a theoretical link with the management of public health emergencies. Additionally, the findings support the theoretical position that knowledge maps facilitate decision-making and help users to identify critical knowledge areas easily and effectively. Originality/value This study fills gaps in the existing literature by providing an explicit representation of know-how for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper uses an objective and qualitative approach by reviewing related publications, reports and guidelines in the analysis. The concept map illustrates the critical knowledge areas for managing the COVID-19 pandemic.


2012 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 1169-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Watthananon ◽  
A. Mingkhwan

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelius Kruger ◽  
Roy D. Johnson

Background:To date, few studies have focused on how embedded Knowledge Management (KM) is found in the roots of an organisation. Specifically, not much is known whether employees and managers hold similar perceptions regarding KM or if organisational size plays a role in the establishment of KM maturity.Objective: The objective of this article was to determine what role organisational size plays in the establishment of KM maturity and how different managerial levels viewed their organisations KM maturity.Method: The authors gained insight into KM maturity in different industry groupings over a five-year period from a large urban South African University engaged in numerous collaboration programmes with industry. In total, 434 employees were interviewed over three grouping levels (operational, middle and senior management).Results: The findings support arguments that irrespective of organisational size, knowledge orientated issues are applicable to all organisations. However, with significant differences in scores recorded over all maturity sections in South Africa, the findings indicated that different sized organisations address knowledge-orientated issues differently.Conclusion: Findings challenge the argument that the manner in which knowledge-orientated issues are addressed differ only slightly depending on organisational size. Smaller-sized organisations prefer a more personal approach, whilst larger-sized organisations prefer knowledge transfer via technology. Irrespective of organisational size, commitment holds the key to KM success. Commitment shown by middle management regarding KM is a differentiator.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Abozar Solat Rafiee ◽  
Akbar Alem Tabriz ◽  
Mohammadreza Babaei

Nowadays competitive advantage maintenance and organizational survival are not possible with no knowledge management. Due to the fact that the main components of the organizational knowledge transfer are human resources and this force only can produce and share knowledge content in the context of a safe system.  Therefore, the implementation of the information security and safety principles observance by the personnel are essential in knowledge management. Among these factors, organizational characteristics can be an affecting factor in the implementation of information security in knowledge management. In this study, the role of organizational characteristics on the implementation of the information security in organization's knowledge management with a focus on safety behavior of the staff in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and its subsidiaries, is investigated. The study type is applied research and the method is descriptive method which its population consists of senior managers and experts in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and its subsidiary companies. The sample size of 253 people has been set. A questionnaire was used to measure the research variables. Regression analysis was used to investigate the relationships between variables and AMOS software was used in this study. The results showed a significant relationship between organizational characteristics with safety behavior and also safety behavior with information security implementation in knowledge management. The organizational characteristics significantly are associated with the implementation of information security in knowledge management.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Yuan Yue

<p>This study is a knowledge audit that focuses on one of New Zealand’s leading small software development companies, and examines one of the company’s most important processes in great detail to uncover and categorise the knowledge requirements in the selected process. Because the majority of knowledge items examined are implicit and must be studied in light of the surrounding context, the knowledge audit used qualitative research methods that analyse tasks and knowledge items in conjunction with the process these items are part of.</p>


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