Knowledge Management and Employee Perception

In an era where competitive advantage is perceived to be linked to knowledge, considerable interest in knowledge management continues to be the trend. Given the broad scope and interdisciplinary nature of KM, this interest spans traditional functional and professional boundaries ranging from IT professionals, to accountants, marketers, organizational development and change management professionals. A notable common feature of this widely divergent activity is an emphasis upon knowledge work, knowledge Workers and the nature of knowledge within organizations. Effective implementation of knowledge management depends on several factors which include leadership, organizational culture, IT infrastructure, positive attitudes of the employees to share expertise and so on. As successful KM initiatives implies a good combination of both human participation and IT collaboration tools, understanding and measuring people’s perception on various KM issues is a prerequisite. Knowledge management in UAE is still in its infancy. Very few UAE companies have initiated any KM programs. This study explores what people in UAE Companies perceive about knowledge management, especially in the area of organizational structure, culture, leadership, IT infrastructure and organizational learning. The study also focuses on employees’ personal attitudes towards sharing expertise with peers. A survey was conducted among the employees and statistical analysis was done to determine overall perception on KM.