The Library Leading: Knowledge Management Supporting Community College Institutional Strategy

Knowledge management (KM) is a very nebulous term. Research on the use of KM across different types of organizations and disciplines confirms this. This article examines the path that Tulsa Community College (TCC) took to not only build the use of KM across the college, but also to create the support structure to foster the creation of a knowledge sharing community.In order for an institution to be able to use KM effectively, several questions should be asked. Is there a culture of knowledge sharing at the institution? Is the concept of KM supported by those in the administration?In the case of TCC, the answers to these questions showed that there were a number of factors that precipitated the use of KM. First, the college began a complete reorganization of its academic units because, as a multicampus community college system, the academic units had become self-contained. A reorganization was carried out that greatly benefited the institution and brought it more in line with a “One College” model.

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The role of knowledge management in institutional strategy development and competitiveness at leading African universities

Knowledge and Performance Management ◽

10.21511/kpm.03(1).2019.03 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 19-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sachin Suknunan ◽

Manoj Maharaj

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Knowledge Management ◽

Information Systems ◽

Developing Economies ◽

Management Practice ◽

Strategy Development ◽

Strategy Formulation ◽

Qualitative Approaches ◽

Institutional Strategy

The role of knowledge management as a strategic intervention in higher education in developing economies has not been studied extensively. Higher education plays a central role in a country’s economy through knowledge creation and dissemination to its stakeholders. The main purpose of this article was to examine the role and influence of knowledge management in decision-making and strategy formulation at leading universities in Africa and to establish if knowledge management was adding value and competitiveness to the institutions. A survey across 20 leading African universities was conducted in 2014. A mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches was adopted. The results show that knowledge management does have the potential to positively influence institutional strategy formulation, but should ideally be represented at executive level for its potential to be fully realized. More knowledge management practice is needed in the areas of academic teaching and learning, and research. There was a lack of sophisticated and powerful knowledge management Information Systems in most of Africa’s leading institutions. Those institutions that utilized KM more strategically, inclusive of specialized KM Information Systems were the higher ranked institutions. This suggests that knowledge management could play a crucial role in a University’s success and competitiveness.

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