Team knowledge management within an outsourced businessudsystems software maintenance environment: a case study usingudgrounded theory methods

摘要

The effective management of knowledge is increasingly seen as an essential contributor to the success of a knowledge-based organisation. There is a wealth of methodologies and approaches providing guidelines or frameworks for managing knowledge in a wide range of domains such as software development, IS service delivery and project management but few are dedicated to software maintenance. This paper presents the case study research of an outsourced software maintenance operation in the e-commerce business unit of a large UK retailer, using grounded theory to investigate a framework for assessing and improving the knowledge management capability of the software maintenance teams. The framework assesses the operation in five areas: leadership, communication, tools, processes and cultures. The results offer an insight into the strengths and areas for improvement in the knowledge management arrangements.