Abstract:

This research adopted a critical analysis of the application of knowledge Management (KM)in the context of South Africa. The study focused on six success areas that affect successful KM initiatives: culture, learning, support, business strategy, top management support, and technology as enabler. The research was conducted over a seven-month period between February 2006 and September 2006 with the participation of six large organizations engaging with some form of KM initiatives in South Africa. Apart from the general focus on the six success areas, there were certain critical insights. For instance the issue of culture was prominent with the respondents indicating a need to cultivate the culture of knowledge sharing in organizations. This is not well established and employees view it as something ‘extra’ they are giving the organization. This makes KM initiatives unsuccessful, since culture is a problematic success factor due to the complexities in ‘incentivizing’ knowledge sharing.