A Knowledge Stock and Flow Perspective for the Assimilation of Knowledge Management Innovation

지식관리혁신의 동화를 위한 지식의 축척과 흐름의 관점

In order to provide a better understanding about the phenomenon of KM assimilation, this study attempts to conceptually develop and empirically compare two different models: (1) the first model, which considers the KM process as the flow of knowledge that plays an intervening role between knowledge stocks (i.e., knowledge worker, technical knowledge infrastructure, external knowledge linkage, knowledge strategy, and internal knowledge climate) and the level of KM assimilation; and (2) the second model is a simple direct effect formulation without any distinction between knowledge stock and flow. These two models were then tested and compared using the responses of 187 Korean organizations that had already implemented enterprise-wide KM systems. The findings indicate that the two models are useful in explaining successful KM assimilation. However, the first causal model with the distinction between knowledge stock and flow assesses the effectiveness of KM more accurately than the second model without the distinction. Interestingly, the KM process was shown to be the most critical factor for the proliferation of KM activities across an organization. The findings of this study are expected to serve not only as early groundwork for researchers hoping to understand KM and its effective assimilation in organizations, but should also provide practitioners with guidelines as to how they can enhance their KM assimilation level so as to improve their organizational performance.