Barriers of knowledge transfer and mitigating strategies in collaborative management system implementations
| Pages | 2-20 |
| Date | 06 March 2019 |
| Published date | 06 March 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-09-2018-0072 |
| Author | Juanqiong Gou,Nan Li,Tete Lyu,Xiyan Lyu,Zuopeng Zhang |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Knowledge management,Knowledge management systems |
Barriers of knowledge transfer
and mitigating strategies in
collaborative management system
implementations
Juanqiong Gou,Nan Li,Tete Lyu and Xiyan Lyu
School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University,
Beijing, China, and
Zuopeng Zhang
Coggin College of Business, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Abstract
Purpose –As the dynamics of the external environment of the enterprise continue to increase, the
support of information systems for organizational agility becomes increasingly important.
Collaborative Management System (CMS) is a new type of information system that can cope with the
dynamic changes of the organization. Effective knowledge transfer is the core of the system
implementation. The purpose of this study is to explore the knowledge transfer barriers faced by CMS
in its implementation process.
Design/methodology/approach –Through field interviews with a representative CMS provider, this
paper summarizesthe barriers of knowledge transfer duringCMS implementation into three aspects.
Findings –Based on the innovative measures taken by the company and relevant literature, the
correspondingmitigating strategies are proposed.
Originality/value –The findingsenrich the implementation methodology of agile informationsystems by
exploring the knowledge transfer problem from a novel context. The study also provides a reference for
practicalimplementation to overcome the dilemma of knowledgetransfer.
Keywords Knowledge transfer, Barriers, Strategies, Collaborative management system,
System implementation
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
With the globalized economy and rapid development of the mobile internet, the external
environment of enterprises is undergoing dynamic changes. As new competitors
continue to emerge and product life cycles are shortened, customer needs are now
characterized by individualization and diversification, which increases the uncertainties
and risks faced by enterprises. Against this backdrop, improving enterprise agility is the
key to coping with the dynamic changes of the external market and improving
the competitiveness of enterprises (Gandossy, 2003). To support enterprises to adapt to
the various changes they face, the information systems that assist enterprise activities
must have the ability to adapt to the changes as well so as to provide support to
enterprises at different levels. In this regard, some studies (Sambamurthy et al., 2003;
Overby et al., 2006) explore the contribution of information systems to organizational
agility and corporate competitive advantage.
VJIKMS
49,1
2
Received1 September 2018
Revised1 September 2018
Accepted24 November 2018
VINEJournal of Information and
KnowledgeManagement Systems
Vol.49 No. 1, 2019
pp. 2-20
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5891
DOI 10.1108/VJIKMS-09-2018-0072
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2059-5891.htm
Since Gartner first proposed the concept of ERP in the 1990s, ERP has gone through
more than 20 years of development. In these 20 years, ERP has dominated the field of
enterprise managementsystems as a benchmark to help companies make all-round changes.
At the heart of the ERP management model is planning and program-driven execution,
emphasizing the standardization of core business processes and the stability within the
enterprise (Li and Wang, 2011). However, with the changes in the external environment of
enterprises, their organizational goals are also in the process of dynamic changes. The
solidification of the management model and the standardization of the process emphasized
by ERP cannot respond to the market quickly, which may lead to the loss of market
opportunities. Therefore, companies need an agile information system to support the
realization of organizationaldynamic goals.
Collaborative software is a great tool to help ease workload for group-based projects
where multiple employees are workingon a single assignment or otherwise need to actively
communicate in real time (M2PressWIRE,2018). It can support the fulfilment of enterprises’
dynamic goals. In China, there is a special type of collaborative software, named as
Collaborative Management System (CMS), different from traditional collaborative software
and effective in supporting organizations to pursue agility and respond to internal and
external changes (Du, 2008). The reason why such information systems can cope with
changes in dynamic organizations is mainly manifested in three aspects. First, the current
management model is not integrated in this type of system. The system is highly
customized and extremely flexible. Users can create personalized scenarios to respond to
changes in business needs and drive the growth of value-added services. Therefore, CMS
has become a business system platform for manyenterprises, not just a workflow platform.
Second, CMS manages collaborativeprocesses and collaborative behavior. At the same time,
the business objectives are achieved by peoplein the organization through dynamic market
response and internal and external coordination. This “people-centric”model makes the
business process continuous and drives iterative innovation, while the traditional ERP
emphasizes the stability of the business process and it is difficult to make dynamic
adjustments. Third, CMS can effectively connect different resources, break the barriers
between horizontal departments, and achieve horizontal and vertical coordination of
business processes.
CMSs are superior in responding to the dynamic changes of organizational goals and
coordinating resources to achieve organizational goals, but their series of features
mentioned above pose great challenges to the implementation of the system. Information
systems are knowledge-intensive products. The process of information system
implementation is essentially a knowledge transfer process between the implementer and
the customer (Shi, 2008).In the process of informationization implementation, the knowledge
transfer mechanism between an information provider and a client enterprise should be
established to integrate information technology with corporate culture, organizational
structure, and businessprocesses (Gong, 2003).
Apparently, only when the knowledge transfer in the CMS implementation process is
effectively guaranteed, can such systems play their original role. Nevertheless, very few
studies have investigated the challenges of knowledge transfer during the CMS
implementation and ways to overcomesuch challenges. Our study attempts to address this
research gap. Specifically, we conducted on-the-spot interviews with managers of China’s
representative CMS providers to summarize the barriers faced by knowledge transfer
during CMS implementationand develop propositions about how to overcome these barriers
effectively. The objective of our paper is to explore the characteristics of agile information
systems such as CMS in dynamic environments, and to study the challenges and measures
Knowledge
transfer
3
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