Knowledge Management and Performance of Kenya Ports Authority

Abstract

Present day business environment is characterized by unpredictability. Importance of knowledge management is being appreciated by businesses which are now starting to formulate strategies and to invest in systems that will enable them to manage their corporate knowledge. An organization should aim to optimize the utilization of all its assets and to do so, it needs to identify and configure all the assets available. The overall aim of the project was to establish the knowledge management and performance of Kenya Ports Authority. Structured interviews were used to elicit information from managerial employees whereby purposive sampling was used to select a total of eight (8) respondents' i.e. five (5) senior management staff and three (3) middle management staff. Data was analyzed using content analysis. It involved observation and detailed description of items that comprise the study. The approach was appropriate for the study because it allowed for detailed accounts in changing conditions of the study. The study found that effective application of knowledge would result in reduced costs, better services and products to the customer and distinct competitive advantage. Nonetheless, high proportion of knowledge management fails to deliver benefits expected, highly attributed to the lack of alignment between organization strategy and their knowledge management initiatives. Several challenges were identified that were going to impact the implementation of knowledge management in an organization. These included; situations where managers in some cases implemented some KM strategies that were not suitable in the prevailing circumstance. In addition, it was found out that top managers need to understand internal and external environments analysis, from the strategic aspect of knowledge management. This ensured appropriate and successful implementation of the knowledge management programs to achieve competitive advantage. The implementation of knowledge management structures may have not necessarily be driven by the level of awareness of the concept but arise from the organization efforts to create knowledge sharing environment. It is recommended that organizations consider integrating management strategies with their overall business strategies.