Knowledge Management within Publicly Quoted Firms in Kenya

Abstract

Business environments put premium on continuous business innovation to deliver sustainable and competitively viable customer value propositions. Hence the design (and use) of the knowledge management program of the firm should ensure that adaptation and innovation of business performance outcomes occurs in alignment with changing dynamics of business environment to prevent the value these enterprises create and the value demanded by the changing market conditions, customer preferences, competitive offerings, changing business models, industry and structures and shareholders The findings on how publicly listed firms in Kenya are creating, using and protecting knowledge to create competitive advantage would be beneficial to not only the relevant industry sectors but also to potential investors and stakeholders. Linking organizational success with a successful knowledge management program resident in the firm would give impetus to the need for developing sound knowledge management strategies. Thus for organizations yearning for success the focus would then change to identifying core competencies, sourcing strategy and knowledge domains, formalizing existing knowledge, representing corporate memory in knowledge repositories, sharing knowledge in the organization and working with virtual teams, creative thinking, intellectual property management and developing and marketing new knowledge - based services. The value of knowledge results from the way in which it is used in the firm's processes in the production of products and services, and firms can build their competitive advantage by using the capabilities that arise from knowledge assets in ways which are difficult for others to imitate or replicate, as well as the intellectual property associated with the assets. The management of intangible assets, particularly individual and organizational knowledge can be extremely challenging due to the inherent difficulties in articulating, understanding, developing and transferring them. This study will attempt to establish the level of awareness of knowledge management in publicly quoted firms in Kenya. It will also endeavor to establish the existence of knowledge management systems in these firms.