Knowledge management: an asset for managing change?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s104.2017.04Keywords:
knowledge management, organizational changeAbstract
Purpose of the paper: Nowadays, organizations have the increasing need to face the challenge of managing change as their environment evolves dramatically and rapidly. This study aims at investigating to what extent knowledge management can help organizations to take up this challenge effectively. It is based on a survey of 486 establishments in the French medical and social sector around the central hypothesis that knowledge management permits a rapid adaptation to the new constraints of a constantly changing environment in order to ensure the long-time survival of the organization. The results show that this hypothesis is indeed validated. Consequently, it is of utmost importance for organizations to deploy knowledge management policies in order to ensure their continued existence.
Method: A structural model based on a questionnaire to test and validate the hypothesis.
Results: The central hypothesis that “knowledge management permits a rapid adaptation to the new constraints of a constantly changing environment in order to ensure the long-time survival of the organization” is validated.
Limits to research: Some factors which have not been studied in this research may also have an impact on the role of knowledge management in organizational change and will need to be the subject of further research.
Practical implications: Organizations need to take into account knowledge management as a key factor to manage change effectively and successfully in a fast-changing environment.
Originality of the paper: Although knowledge management on the one hand and change management on the other have already been extensively studied, connecting the two to show that the former can be a decisive factor in the success of the latter is an innovative approach.
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