Knowledge Management Governance: The Road to Continuous Benefits Realization

• Published in: Journal of information technology Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 140 - 155
• Main Authors: Zyngier, Suzanne, Burstein, Frada
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.06.2012; Palgrave Macmillan UK; Palgrave Macmillan; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Business and Management; Business Information Systems; Case studies; Decision making; Employees; Exact sciences and technology; Information and communication sciences; Information science. Documentation; Information Systems and Communication Service; Information technology; Innovation/Technology Management; Knowledge management; Library and information science. General aspects; Management; Research Article; Risk management; Sciences and techniques of general use; Strategic planning; Studies; Sustainability; Tacit knowledge; knowledge management governance; strategic knowledge management; benefits realization; knowledge management; governance; Knowledge management; Advantage
• ISSN: 0268-3962; 1466-4437
• DOI: 10.1057/jit.2011.31

Investment in knowledge management (KM) programmes is often contentious due to the challenge of meeting the need for continuous and sustainable benefits realization. In KM, the word ‘sustainable’ describes how programmes of strategies to leverage organizational knowledge remain productive over time: that they deliver strategic value to the organization. The focus of this paper falls on the constructs of the governance of KM and on its leadership, in KM strategy devopment and implementation, including risk management, financial controls and transparent evaluation mechanisms for continuous benefits realization. This paper presents a KM governance model and explores its recent validation through six case studies of large, distributed, multinational organizations, and through these introduces the granular constructs of KM governance. Exploration of the impact of KM governance on developing and implementing KM programmes in each case study organization demonstrates that there is a clear nexus between strategic KM governance and benefits realized from those programmes.