Mapping the organizational factors that support knowledge management in the Brazilian automotive industry

Abstract

Purpose – The latest models on knowledge management (KM) recognize four phases for its practice: acquisition, storage, distribution, and knowledge utilization. The KM is characterized as a multidisciplinary discipline, involving both technical and social aspects. Therefore, the purpose of this research is both social and of coordination, aiming to identify contextual factors, internally developed in the organizations, which support the KM process in the Brazilian companies in the automotive sector. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the research purpose, a quantitative research method was employed, based on a survey research in the automotive sector. Findings – The results point to the existence of eight contextual factors that support the KM process in the organizations. These factors are mainly related to the human being, responsible for the retention and transformation of primary knowledge, and the development of an organizational context that encourages the learning process through the culture and structure designed for this purpose. Research limitations/implications – One of the limitations is that the study is based on constructs derived from a theoretical background, however it does not offer an empirical test to validate the selected constructs. Future studies could create a metric to evaluate the constructs' consistency and use regression analysis to validate them. The second limitation relates to empirical research. The survey achieved a return of 78 companies and a larger sample could provide more robust data. Practical implications – Practitioners need to take cognizance of the fact that KM process must not be confused nor focused on IT deployment. The development of an organizational context is much more complex and important to the success of KM. By characteristics of mapped factors, it is possible to conclude that KM process is focused on the development of individuals. It is from their employees that the organization promotes the knowledge exploitation in problem solving activities and incremental improvements, and knowledge exploration, rebuilding the competences to innovate the processes. Originality/value – The main contribution of this paper is to identify the factors that companies in the Brazilian automotive industry must develop in order to promote KM. Furthermore, the research shows the relationship between these factors and KM process.

Knowledge Management in Brazil: What Governance Mechanisms are Needed to Boost Innovation?

“…At the same time, knowledge management research has been criticized recently for the tendency to overlook the context in which the data was collected and its potential impact on research findings (Sergeeva & Andreeva, 2016). For example, while there are a number of studies of knowledge management in Brazilian organizations (Dominguez Gonzalez & Martins, 2014; Lakshman & Parente, 2008; Oliva, 2014) they barely discuss the peculiarities of managing knowledge in this context. To address these concerns, we explored what aspects of Brazilian context might shape the patterns of use and the efficiency of knowledge governance mechanisms in Brazilian organizations.…”

Academic Staff and Industry Revolution 4.0: Knowledge, Innovation and Learning Factor

“…The storage in the knowledge management process is about developing an organizational memory where knowledge is officially stored in a physical memory system, connected with the information system which is informally retained as the values, norms, and beliefs associated with an institution's organizational routine in the adaption of IR 4.0 (Gonzalez & Martins, 2014).…”

Knowledge Management: an Analysis From the Organizational Development

“…KM should combine IT with the organizational development, including the organizational culture and structure, being an activity that develops, stores and transfers knowledge, aiming to provide the necessary information so that the organization members take the right decisions (Gonzalez and Martins, 2014;Alavi and Leidner, 2001). …”

“…In relation to the KM process, it can be defined as the management effort to promote and facilitate the activities of acquisition, storage, distribution and utilization of knowledge by individuals and groups (Gonzalez and Martins, 2014;Cormican and O'Sullivan, 2003;Zheng et al, 2010;Liao et al, 2011).…”

“…Authors such as showed, at the end of the 20th century, that several organizations around the world introduced initiatives for the KM based, typically, on information technology (IT), which promotes a broad dissemination and access to knowledge by individuals in the organization. However, the focus of several studies dealing with KM has moved to the study of organizational aspects, emphasizing the role of employee development (Gonzalez and Martins, 2014;Quigley et al, 2007;Cross and Sproull, 2004), an organizational culture that fosters knowledge sharing (Davenport and Prasak, 1998;Terziovski, 2003) and an organizational structure that allows the integration of employees and departments of an organization (Andrews and Kacmar, 2001;Pandey and Duta, 2013;Wilkinson and Young, 2006). Such guidance is due to the fact that IT has become effective in the process of storage and sharing of data and information.…”