Abstract
Knowledge management (KM) initiatives, projects and systems are just beginning to appear in organisations, there is little research and field data to guide the successful development and implementation of such systems or to guide the expectations of the potential benefits of such systems. Therefore, and due to the complex and integrated nature of KM, the investments involved, and the relatively high implementation failure rates, this paper attempts to fill this gap by investigating the critical success factors of KM implementation in organisations that have already implemented it, and learn from their practice. In this paper, an integrated model for effective implementation of KM projects based on a best practice perspective has been proposed. This paper aims to identify and empirically assesses the critical success factors (CSFs) in the KM implementation and the investigation of how the KM processes and these factors are being addressed and implemented in projects. This paper has identified a series of critical issues that must be carefully considered to ensure successful implementation of a KM system project. However, most of these factors are not related to technology and almost entirely to the people and business processes, and they are highly interdependent. Although this study has reviewed a large body of relevant literature and collected a vast set of appropriate data from both primary and secondary sources, it is not possible to claim that the empirical investigation has come across all issues related to KM project implementation. The paper shows that by explicitly describing these knowledge assets, the KM activities within organisations can more effectively leverage knowledge and improve performance. In essence, adhering to the various levels of application of KM projects will ensure that organisations can derive maximum benefits from KM and that the decision-making process and the flow of information happen in a seamless, corporate-wide perspective. Finally, it is hoped that the theory and research findings presented in this paper can aid the development of the KM, as well as serving as a consultative tool for organisations in their KM implementations.