The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of knowledge management (KM) maturity of credit unions. The application of a maturity model to fifteen credit unions in North America revealed that an overall level of KM maturity of credit unions is at an early stage of development, but there are signs of future improvement. Credit unions attempt to increase their efficiency through KM solutions. Despite the absence of official KM strategies, KM projects were introduced locally to fill particular knowledge gaps. The availability of IT infrastructure and the implementation of KM-related technologies alone are insufficient to ensure universal success of KM activities. Credit union managers periodically access and use academic research in decision-making. At the same time, they prefer accessing scholarly knowledge in translated form from books, practitioner magazines, and consultants. It was concluded that organizations competing in the knowledge-intensive sector have an inner need for KM solutions.

To enhance our understanding of the relevance of knowledge management/intellectual capital (KM/IC) academic research, this study explores what sources authors utilize to develop their book content. Ten prominent KM/IC book authors were interviewed to identify if and how KM/IC academic literature is being disseminated through books. It was found that the body of knowledge existing in peer-reviewed journals is utilized in the development of book/textbook content. Books serve as knowledge translation agents through which academic literature is summarized, aggregated and transformed into the format that may be easily comprehended by non-academics. In addition to peer-reviewed journals, KM/IC book authors utilize other sources, including personal research, experts' opinions, experience, practitioner magazines, conferences, books, and informal discussions with academics. The model, which was developed within this study, demonstrates that the book's target audience and author's motivation serve as a pure moderator of the relationship between the available content sources and actual book content.