A comparative study of the readiness of the administrative bodies of Sistan and Baluchistan province in the field of knowledge management implementation infrastructure

Master's thesis in the field of public administration, human resources orientation

Abstract

In this research, a comparative study of the readiness of executive bodies of Sistan and Baluchistan province in the field of knowledge management implementation infrastructure was done. The tool used to collect data was a 36-question questionnaire that measured the status of knowledge management infrastructures in the three infrastructures of organizational culture, knowledge management processes, and information technology. This research studied the number of 28 headquarters of the province. According to the official statistics of the aforementioned institutions, the number of the statistical population was 2311 people, and using the Morgan table sampling method, a statistical sample of 331 people was obtained, and finally, 390 usable questionnaires were collected by distributing more questionnaires. The results of Cronbach's alpha test showed that the questionnaire has acceptable reliability. For the purpose of validity measurement, the content and form validity of the questionnaire was also obtained. In order to analyze the data, descriptive and inferential statistical methods such as Student's t test and variance test were used. The results of the research showed that all 28 studied devices have a favorable condition in the field of infrastructure. The results of the ranking of the institutions also showed that, in general, the Blood Transfusion Organization has the highest rank and the South Road and Urban Development Department has the lowest rank in terms of knowledge management infrastructure. Finally, suggestions such as improving the culture of knowledge sharing, developing the system of evaluating and organizing knowledge, and some other operational and practical suggestions were presented to improve the state of knowledge management infrastructure. 

Key words: knowledge management, knowledge management infrastructure, organizational culture, knowledge management processes, information technology

Introduction

The current era is called the era of knowledge-based economy. In this era, the attention of managers of organizations has been drawn more to categories such as knowledge and creativity, and as a result, knowledge-oriented people have become more important than practical people.

Experts believe that the 80s was the decade of the quality movement and the 90s was the decade of re-engineering, and the current decade is the decade of knowledge management. According to Peter Drucker, the challenge of the first 50 years of the third millennium is knowledge productivity in organizations, which is only possible with proper and effective management (Afrazah, 2016). It is therefore not surprising that knowledge has transformed the old rules of competition and strategy, as the basis of industrial economies has shifted from material resources to intellectual assets. This has led researchers to investigate how to manage this valuable capital. Despite the significant research that has been done in the field of knowledge management, less research has comprehensively investigated all the infrastructure components of knowledge management. Therefore, this research tries to investigate and analyze the components related to the implementation of knowledge management in a comprehensive and integrated manner among the executive bodies of the headquarters of Sistan and Baluchistan province. In this chapter, we intend to briefly explain the importance of the research questions and the way to conduct the research in order to get a general picture of it. 1-2-Statement of the research problem Knowledge management requirements are a mechanism through which the organization manages knowledge and people in its different departments share their knowledge through this infrastructure, so that members can use that knowledge effectively. This infrastructure makes necessary processes of knowledge to be carried out with maximum efficiency, technologies including hardware and software are used more efficiently, and creation, sharing and application of knowledge is done. The main purpose of this infrastructure is nothing but the flow of knowledge in the veins of the organization's work processes. Knowledge management requirements include cultural requirements, knowledge process requirements and information technology requirements. A strong knowledge infrastructure is created based on strong foundations and these foundations lead to the full use of knowledge. Meanwhile, knowledge management focuses on people and their interactions. Creation and sharing of knowledge is the result of human interactions during work, therefore, in knowledge management, people must first be related to information. This communication includes necessary processes and encouragement; Not just to build trust and use existing information, but also to contribute to the global source of information. Then people need to be connected.They should be able to find each other and be comfortable asking for and receiving help and sharing their experiences. This work gives them the feeling that they always contribute to the realization of the organization's strategic goals. Knowledge management should not be confused with data management. Data management focuses on process and technology, while the pillars of knowledge management are people and their collective ability to collaborate quickly and effectively. Without data management, knowledge management will not be successful. Linking the two requires a commitment to a culture of knowledge sharing. To achieve this goal, the organization has no choice but to invest and commit to creating a favorable organizational culture. Without people having a commitment to knowledge and accepting current knowledge activities, the knowledge infrastructure will not be successful. Also, without having a technological infrastructure that is strong enough to support knowledge activities, the knowledge infrastructure will not work, and unless the processes are based on knowledge, the knowledge management will not have a suitable infrastructure for action (Sivan [1], 2000). The metaphor of transferring science from the arm to the brain and transforming information into knowledge and finally into specific work or output with added value indicates that diversity, creativity, innovation and knowledge-centeredness of organizations will be an inevitable choice for twenty-first century organizations (Michel and Rice[2], 2007). With the assumption of having these three factors, this research aims to explain and measure the status of each of these factors in the studied organizations in order to establish knowledge management and also to rank them in order to pay attention to and strengthen the weaker factors. Therefore, according to the importance of discussing the requirements and infrastructures of knowledge management implementation, the basic question of the present research is, what is the level of the headquarters executive bodies in Sistan and Baluchistan province in terms of knowledge management infrastructures? How are they ranked? And what are the ways to improve the status of these organizations in relation to the knowledge management infrastructure? 1-3- Research objectives The main goal is to evaluate the status of the field factors in the implementation of knowledge management in the executive bodies of the headquarters of Sistan and Baluchistan Province. Technology for the establishment of knowledge management in the executive bodies of the headquarters of Sistan and Baluchistan province

Investigation and evaluation of the status of cultural factor indicators for the establishment of knowledge management in the executive bodies of the headquarters of Sistan and Baluchistan province

Investigation and evaluation of the status of factors of knowledge management processes for the establishment of knowledge management in the executive bodies of the headquarters of Sistan and Baluchistan province

Comparison of the executive bodies of the headquarters of Sistan and Baluchistan province in relation to the infrastructure of knowledge management

1-4- Necessity of conducting research

Knowledge management in the new era has created tremendous changes in management issues. Knowledge management seeks to capture knowledge, wisdom and value-added experiences of employees as well as implement, recover and maintain knowledge as assets of the organization. According to Peter Drucker [3], "the secret of the success of organizations in the 21st century is knowledge management".  Therefore, the management of organizations should find the possibility of making more reasonable decisions on important issues and improving knowledge-based functions by relying on superior knowledge. Therefore, knowledge management is considered more important than knowledge itself, which is sought in organizations to explain and clarify how to transform individual and organizational information and knowledge into individual and group knowledge and skills (Glaser [4], 2003). Although currently many organizations have invested in the field of knowledge development at different levels and have been successful, many organizations have also failed. The absence of correct mechanisms for evaluating and implementing knowledge management has turned this type of investment into an additional cost in the minds of managers. Therefore, organizations should create an environment for knowledge sharing, transfer and confrontation among their members and train people to conceptualize their interactions and try to create a platform and identify ground factors for the establishment of knowledge management in the organization (Balogan [5], 2004). This is also necessary in government organizations.