Implementing knowledge management in academia: teaching the teachers

Abstract

The ability to acquire, share, and utilize knowledge has become a critical organizational capability as businesses attempt to cope with a rapidly changing environment. Colleges of business, the critical suppliers of future business managers, are not immune to such environmental changes. As such, many academics have come to realize that they must adopt cultures that embrace continuous learning so that college programs can be periodically updated to meet changing demands. Unfortunately, given the nature of academia, the implementation of many knowledge management (KM) processes is often difficult. To address such difficulties, this paper first identifies several barriers that inhibit KM within the college context and then presents a multi‐step framework that can be used to identify the boundaries of a college’s knowledge base so that it can be reconciled with the body of knowledge and skills currently needed in industry. The paper also offers some general concluding remarks as to the importance of KM and its role in helping colleges of business remain relevant in the educational supply chain.