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Are Faculty Members Ready? Individual Factors Affecting Knowledge Management Readiness in Universities

Department of Library and Information Science, College of Social Sciences, Kuwait University, Jamal Abdul Nasser St., Kuwait

E-mail Address: laila.marouf@ku.edu.kw

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Naresh Kumar Agarwal

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5171-2356

School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, 300, The Fenway, Boston, MA, USA

E-mail Address: agarwal@simmons.edu

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219649216500246Cited by:10 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

Knowledge Management (KM) provides a systematic process to help in the creation, transfer and use of knowledge across the university, leading to increased productivity. While KM has been successfully used elsewhere, universities have been late in adopting it. Before a university can initiate KM, it needs to determine if it is ready for KM or not. Through a web-based survey sent to 1263 faculty members from 59 accredited Library and Information Science programs in universities across North America, this study investigated the effect of individual factors of trust, knowledge self-efficacy, collegiality, openness to change and reciprocity on individual readiness to participate in a KM initiative, and the degree to which this affects perceived organisational readiness to adopt KM. 157 valid responses were received. Using structural equation modeling, the study found that apart from trust, all other factors positively affected individual readiness, which was found to affect organisational readiness. Findings should help universities identify opportunities and barriers before they can adopt KM. It should be a useful contribution to the KM literature, especially in the university context.

Keywords:

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