Enablers and barriers to knowledge management in universities: perspectives from South Africa and Mauritius

Abstract

PurposeUniversities need to manage their knowledge assets, and, to work creatively to maximize the enablers and minimize the barriers associated with knowledge management processes. This research offers a comparative perspective on knowledge management in universities in two countries whose university sectors are at different stages of their development, South Africa and Mauritius.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with expert informants from 10 high-ranking universities in Mauritius and South Africa, who held senior roles in research and its management within their respective universitiesFindingsBoth enablers and barriers (eandb) were evident in relation to: strategies and policies, organizational structures, rewards and incentives, culture, technology, leadership, human resources, resources and funding, and university-industry linkages, although the significance of these eandbs varied between the three knowledge processes, knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer. Overall, Mauritius, with a less developed university sector, faced more challenges in respect of knowledge management than did South Africa.Originality/valueThis study's theoretical contribution is a holistic framework for enabling KM in universities on the basis of a mapping between KM eandb's and KM processes. This comparative country level study, embracing a number of universities, offers insights into national policy, and cultural expectations that influence the extent and nature of barriers and enablers to effective KM. The insights offered by this study will be valuable for Mauritius and South Africa, and also for universities in other countries.

Identification of Knowledge Management Barriers in Scientific R&D Projects in Czech Academic Environment

“…However, further research should probably use other models for identifying barriers to knowledge sharing, which may be more intuitive for medium-sized universities, or for the specifics of R&D projects, or for the culture of the Czech Republic [83]. Cultural barriers are mentioned in detail by Goh (2002) [51] or Veer Ramjeawon & Rowley (2020) [84], and after the experience of our research, we identify with his concept. Our preliminary proposal is to use models from Bell (2016) [10] or Moud & Abbasnejad (2012) [50], which specifically deal with project-based organizations.…”

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“…Hal ini menunjukkan pengaruh infrastruktur teknologi informasi terhadap efektivitas pembelajaran daring tidak dimediasi proses akuisisi pengetahuan terlebih dahulu. Hal ini sesuai dengan peran langsung infrastruktur teknologi informasi sebagai tools atau supporting system untuk mengorganisir menunjang, meningkatkan aksesibilitas proses pembelajaran daring agar berlangsung efektif dan optimal (Al-Kurdi et al, 2018;Jain & Gupta, 2019;Veer Ramjeawon & Rowley, 2020).…”

Absorptive capacity and innovation generation in higher education institutions: the mediating role of inter-functional coordination

“…The HEI sector contributes to the development of intellectual property and knowledge production, by extending knowledge skills and producing quality and valuable graduates for the development of society as a whole (Moon et al, 2019). Managing knowledge is therefore crucial, not only in commercial organizations but also in HEIs (Fullwood et al, 2019; Ibrahim & Ali, 2021; Paudel, 2020; Ramjeawon & Rowley, 2020).…”

“…Even though it is expected that the HEI is a place where knowledge is freely shared among academics because they understand the importance of acquiring and sharing new knowledge, the reverse seems to be the case as the culture in the university setting is more individualistic and self-serving (Ramjeawon & Rowley, 2020; Fullwood et al, 2019). Within the academic environment, academics place a high premium on individual scholarly achievement rather than on the overall goal achievement of the university.…”