ICT and knowledge management: perspectives from the SECI model

The primary purposes of this paper are to understand perceptions regarding ICT use to support knowledge management (KM) and to identify suitable ICTs to support such initiatives. The aim is to study these objectives from the theoretical perspectives of the SECI model (i.e. socialization, externalization, combination and internalization).

A total of 100 working professionals who had prior KM implementation experiences participated in an online survey.

The authors found that survey respondents held positive attitudes towards the use of ICT to support different phases of the SECI model. It was also found that single ICT as well as varied combinations of ICTs were frequently used to facilitate the different phases of the SECI model.

The nature of this study may reduce the generalizability of its findings to other tasks or economic and cultural environments. Replication of this study in other contexts (e.g. other industries) would be extremely useful.

Understanding individuals' perceptions of ICT use as well as use of ICTs to support KM practices is important as it may affect the outcome of KM initiatives. Further, since spending on KM software and services are predicted to increase in the coming years, this research is therefore very timely.

This study systematically examines the use of single ICT as well as combinations of ICTs to facilitate different phases of the SECI model. This will contribute to an understanding of how ICT can be used to support KM initiatives in organizations.