The Influence Of Leaders’ Bases Of Power On Knowledge Management Project Performance: The Mediating Effect Of Knowledge Management Practices
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Date
2009-12
Authors
Jayasingam, Sharmila
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Knowledge management is regarded as a vital success factor for the survival of
organizations in the present world. With the mounting significance of knowledge
management, organizations are investing huge amounts in information technology in
an attempt to surpass one another in establishing a sound knowledge management
system. However, despite the adoption of first-rate information technology and access
to the richest information sources, surveys points towards an overwhelming failure rate
of knowledge management projects. Fundamentally, the failures are attributed to the
inability of organizations to grasp that the success of the knowledge management
projects does not simply depend on technology, but also on the ability to influence
organization members to contribute and participate actively in creating, sharing and
using knowledge. In influencing knowledge workers, leadership plays a crucial role. As
it was unclear on what leadership characteristics (in the form of social power) are
needed in a knowledge-based organization, a survey of 180 Multimedia Supercorridor
(MSC) status firms was conducted to fill this gap. In most cases, the effect of leaders’
power on knowledge management project performance was mediated by knowledge
management practices. The results showed that knowledge leaders, especially leaders
in smaller knowledge based firms should embrace personal power as this power has a
positive effect in encouraging knowledge management practices. The use of
information power was found to adversely affect all knowledge management practices
and therefore should be avoided at all cost. Finally, leaders must exercise position
power with caution because it not only encourages knowledge dissemination but also
impedes knowledge acquisition. Careful use of power can successfully influence
knowledge workers to perform knowledge management practices, which eventually
contributes to knowledge management projects’ strategic and process improvements.
Description
Keywords
Leaders’ Bases Of Power On Knowledge Management Project Performance , Mediating Effect Of Knowledge Management Practices