Knowledge management practices in Indian industries – a comparative study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study Knowledge Management (KM) implementation in Indian manufacturing, IT and IT Enabled Services (ITES) and power generation and distribution companies. Various dimensions of KM, namely: process, leadership, culture, technology, and measurement are compared across the three industries to understand the differences in KM practices.

Design/methodology/approach

Samples comprised 17 responses from ITES, 32 from manufacturing and eight from power generation and distribution organizations. Convenient sampling scheme was used. The paper reports the findings of the difference in KM practices with respect to the organizations' use of the above mentioned dimensions across the three industries.

Findings

The raw mean score of various dimensions for ITES is the highest followed by manufacturing, and power generation and distribution on all except the leadership dimension. However, one way ANOVA results indicate that no significant difference is found for KM process, culture and technology. Statistical difference is found on the remaining two dimensions, namely, leadership and measurement, which are further analysed.

Research limitations/implications

The study includes 17 responses from ITES and eight from power generation and distribution. A larger sample from these two industries may enhance generalizability of results.

Practical implications

Findings of the study can serve as input to companies from the three industries in developing best practices across KM dimensions for improving performance.

Originality/value

While KM has been studied in Indian manufacturing, pharmaceutical and IT industries, its comparison across industries has not been carried out.

Citation

Chawla, D. and Joshi, H. (2010), "Knowledge management practices in Indian industries – a comparative study", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 708-725. https://doi.org/10.1108/13673271011074854