Identifying the knowledge management structures in enterprise systems projects

摘要

Enterprise System (ES) implementation and management are knowledge intensive tasks thatudinevitably draw upon the experience of a wide range of people with diverse knowledgeudcapabilities. Knowledge Management (KM) has been identified as a critical success factor inudES projects. Despite the recognized importance of managing knowledge for ES benefitsudrealization, systematic attempts to conceptualize KM-structures have been few. Where theudadequacy of KM-structures is assessed, the process and measures are typically idiosyncraticudand lack credibility. Using the ‘KM-process’, itself based in sociology of knowledge, thisudpaper conceptualizes four main constructs to measure the adequacy of KM-structures. TheudSEM model is tested using 310 responses gathered from 27 ES installations that hadudimplemented SAP R/3. The findings reveal six constructs for KM-structure. Furthermore, theudpaper demonstrates the application of KM-structures in the context of ES using the AdaptiveudStructuration Theory. The results demonstrate that having adequate KM-structures in place,udwhile necessary, is not sufficient. These rules and resources must be appropriated to haveudgreater positive influence on the Enterprise System. Furthermore, the study providesudempirical support for knowledge-based theory by illustrating the importance of knowledgeuduse/re-use (vs. knowledge creation) as the most important driver in the process of KM.