1. Temtim Assefa, Monica Garfield, Million Meshesha
Enabling Knowledge Sharing among Employees: the case in Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) By
Temtim Assefa, Monica Garfield, Million Meshesha
IT PhD, IS Track
November 9, 2012

2. Presentation Agenda Background Research Problem Research Method
Research Findings
Proposed Solutions
Implications for theory and practice

3. Background Today’s Economy Today’s Organizations
knowledge based society
dynamic and fast changing environment
Today’s Organizations
need to be adaptive
knowledge is a key strategic resource

4. Knowledge as a Resource
The Need for Knowledge to operate in today’s market
creates a shared understanding among employees for achieving organization goals
Increases employees and organizational intellectual capability for actions
Increases organization capability to create new products and services
Increases internal efficiency and reduces costs
Increase customer relationship satisfaction

5. Challenges to Use Knowledge
Many researches conducted how to promote knowledge sharing among employees but it is unresolved issue
Much knowledge in the organization is not shared (Azudin et al, 2009)
Research on knowledge sharing barriers is limited
Further research is required to understand what hinders employees to share knowledge in the workplace

6. Research Problem Knowledge is social construct
Factors that hinder or promote knowledge sharing are embedded with its context
Researchers recommend more empirical case study researches in different contexts (Bechina and Bommen, 2006)
Therefore
What are the barriers of knowledge sharing in the workplace ?
How those knowledge sharing barriers affect knowledge sharing process among employees

7. Research Method
Exploratory case study research method was used to better understand knowledge sharing barriers in the work place (Yin, 2003)
Use triangulated data sources to increase the validity of the research finding
Concerned with analytical generalization rather than statistical generalizations
Used to extend existing theories from empirical evidences

8. Cont’d …
Data was collected through Interview, observation and document survey from March to September 2011
NIVO software was used for data organization and reduction
Main themes of knowledge sharing barriers were identified
Simple frequency tables were used to show the relative importance of knowledge sharing barriers

9. Research Context
Financial transactions form the backbone of any country’s economy
Promote savings and investments
Commercial banks handle largest share
CBE is a government bank with a share of more than 70% the banking service in the country
It is also the first bank in the country
CBE is selected for its unique feature among commercial banks in the country

10. Research Finding

11. Organizational Factors
Responses %
Information confidentiality 13
28.3
Low Appreciation for Knowledge Sharing 9
19.6
Lack of incentive 8
17.4
Time constraint 7
15.2
Top management resistance 6
13.0
Geographical distance 3
6.5
Total 46
100

12. Individual factors Knowledge hoarding 10 47.6 Self efficacy 8 38.1
Responses %
Knowledge hoarding 10
47.6
Self efficacy 8
38.1
Personal relationship 3
14.3
Total 21
100.0

13. Technological Factors
Responses %
Lack of services 6
66.7
Lack of skills 3
33.3
Total 9
100.0

14. IT service
“Although IT can do a lot for information sharing, it is not that much developed in the Bank. We cannot easily share data with other Units and branch offices. The available network infrastructure is not adequate and reliable.” Respondent
“Even the top management members are not concerned about IT system. If they started today an IT based service like ATM, it may not function tomorrow. Instead of increasing customer satisfaction, IT becomes a cause of customer dissatisfaction.” Respondent

15. Proposed Solutions Barriers Proposed Solutions Organizational factors
Creating a knowledge sharing vision
Allocating incentive mechanisms
Creating knowledge sharing culture
Individual factors
Training to share knowledge
Establishing forums for social interactions such as knowledge sharing session
Technological factors
Establishing KMS (knowledge repository and expert yellow pages )
Establishing a Knowledge Center

16. Conclusion
This study identified the main barriers for intervention to create a knowledge sharing culture in the study organization
Most important factors in creating a successful KMS are not technology factors but are organizational and individual factors
Knowledge sharing barriers hinder on the job learning, which is important to increase employees capability to perform their task
CBE should focus on the creation of a knowledge sharing culture before they build a technology driven KMS
Establishment of a KMS indicates organizational commitment to use knowledge as a resource

17. Conclusion
Most important factor to create a successful KMS is not technology but organizational and individual factors
Organizations should focus on creation of knowledge sharing culture before they build KMS
Establishment of KMS indicates organizational commitment to use knowledge as a resource
Knowledge sharing barriers hinder on job learning that is important to increase employees capability to perform their task
The Study identified the main barriers for intervention to create a knowledge sharing culture in the study organizations

18. Further Research
Further investigation is required whether organizational and individual factors continue to be the most important factors in an organization which has advanced a technology driven KMS
The study is conducted on a single case, similar research should be conducted to make our research findings more generalizable for other organizations and countries with similar socioeconomic conditions
It is recommended to test our model with quantitative research methods to quantify to what extent the identified variables explain the knowledge sharing barriers.

19. Thank You!