Tacit knowledge management strategies of small and medium-scale enterprises in Kwazulu-Natal province, South Africa
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Date
2022-04
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Abstract
The study examined the tacit knowledge management strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province, South Africa. Studies show that small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) are becoming an increasingly important driver of global economic growth due to their ability to innovate new products and services, produce huge quantities of things, enhance exports, improve entrepreneurial skills, and alleviate unemployment concerns. Tacit knowledge, the knowledge that spurs innovation and competitive advantage, has been identified as a resource that can boost the performance and productivity of SMEs, particularly in developing countries such as South Africa. This study posits that managing tacit knowledge will reduce SMEs’ operational discontinuity and knowledge loss. There was inadequate evidence of existing knowledge on how South African SMEs manage this knowledge. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the demographic characteristics and their relationships with the tacit knowledge management method, examine the existing methods of managing tacit knowledge, examine the current organisational enabling factors that aid tacit knowledge management, and determine the effectiveness of the existing tacit knowledge management methods, and to propose a tacit knowledge management framework. The study was guided by the socialisation, externalisation, combination, and internalisation (SECI) model of knowledge creation and the knowledge management enabler framework (KMEF). The study adopted the sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach of the post-positivist paradigm, which combined both qualitative and quantitative research methods. A non-probability sampling method with non purposive sampling was used to select SME owners/managers in KZN, South Africa, for the qualitative and quantitative phases of the study, respectively. Twenty (20) SME owners/managers were interviewed for the qualitative phase to explore the research aim and identify themes for the quantitative research instrument. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data, while the social sciences (SPSS) statistical package was used to analyse the quantitative data. The findings were integrated using the joint display of data, and the quantitative findings were used to generalise across the study population. The study finds no significant relationships between the educational qualification of SME owners/managers and the year of establishment of SMEs, and tacit knowledge management variables: acquisition, storage, and sharing. It was revealed that KZN SMEs share tacit knowledge mostly in meetings and capture it basically through monitoring. vii The study examined the tacit knowledge management strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province, South Africa. South Africa is currently seeing an increase in the number of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs); given the surge in SMEs, it is critical to pay attention to the elements that determine how these businesses succeed. Studies show that small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) are becoming an increasingly important driver of global economic growth due to SMEs’ ability to innovate new products and services, produce huge quantities of things, enhance exports, improve entrepreneurial skills, and alleviate unemployment concerns. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the demographic characteristics and their relationships with the tacit knowledge management method, examine the existing methods of managing tacit knowledge, examine the current organisational enabling factors that aid tacit knowledge management, and determine the effectiveness of the existing tacit knowledge management methods, and to propose a tacit knowledge management framework. The study was guided by the socialisation, externalisation, combination, and internalisation (SECI) model of knowledge creation and the knowledge management enabler framework (KMEF). The study adopted the sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach of the post-positivist paradigm, which combined both qualitative and quantitative research methods. A non-probability sampling method, purposive sampling, was used to select SME owners/managers in KZN, South Africa, for the qualitative and quantitative phases of the study. Twenty (20) SME owners/managers were interviewed for the qualitative phase to explore the research aim and identify themes for the quantitative research instrument. The quantitative phase targeted 326 SMEs through a Google form (adopted due to the mandatory Covid-19 restrictions). Only 180 responded, representing a 55.2% response rate. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data, while the social sciences (SPSS) statistical package was used to analyse the quantitative data. The findings were integrated using the joint display of data, and the quantitative findings were used to generalise across the study population. The sector of SME, type of business ownership, years of experience, gender, age, race, and employee size of respondents were associated with tacit knowledge management variables in the study. However, no association was found between the educational qualification of SME owners/managers and the year of establishment of SMEs and tacit knowledge management variables. Furthermore, it was revealed that KZN SMEs share tacit knowledge mostly in meetings and capture it basically through monitoring. It was also revealed viii that KZN SMEs reward tacit knowledge sharing using mostly non-monetary incentives. Most SME owners agreed that making tacit knowledge sharing a component of employees’ performance appraisal will enable tacit knowledge sharing and management. Additionally, KZN SMEs store tacit knowledge in computers, cloud storage, and physical file cabinets. They also employ computer technologies, e-mails, the Internet, and mobile phones to enable tacit knowledge management. Also, the study revealed that only a few SMEs had experienced a knowledge gap/loss in their organisations because they encourage informal networks and team formation and their employees are committed to teamwork. More than half of the respondents agreed that their current tacit knowledge management strategies need improvement. Also, the studies confirm the applicability of the SECI and KMEF but found that the socialisation and externalising modes of the SECI model take place within overlapping functions. The study concludes that tacit knowledge management among SMEs in KZN requires improvement and recommends creating more opportunities for women in South Africa to participate in SME activities. Likewise, through the relevant agencies, the government of South Africa should introduce various incentives, such as reduced loan interest for women, to boost their interest in entrepreneurship activities. SMEs need to adopt a deliberate approach to managing tacit knowledge by creating an organisational culture that promotes informal and formal interactions. They also need to design systematic tacit knowledge processing and preservation methods to capture, document, and record tacit knowledge. Also, an organisational policy document with inputs from knowledge owners and relevant stakeholders to guide tacit knowledge management is suggested. Furthermore, SME owners should create and improve teams and informal networks and make ICT tools available to preserve tacit knowledge. SMEs that can afford it can consider employing the services of consultant knowledge management officers to conduct periodic knowledge audits to identify knowledge gaps for proactive solutions. The study encountered difficulties getting the respondents’ database through the custodians of KZN SMEs. This limitation was followed by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and social distance restrictions and the July 2021 pro-Zuma protests that disrupted KZN SMEs’ operations. Adopting the online medium would have eliminated SME owners who were not literate, technology-savvy, or had no access to the Internet due to the prevailing load-shedding and loss of ix technological resources caused by the protests. As stated, the study was carried out in KZN Province only. Hence, the study’s findings cannot be generalised to all South African SMEs. This data will be useful for SME owners and governing bodies, such as chambers of commerce and trade and industry ministries, to guide SMEs’ training and development programmes. A major contribution of this study lies in the fact that it was the first to examine SMEs’ tacit knowledge management practices in the province of KZN and South Africa as a whole. In addition, the study adds to the available expert literature by contributing to the concepts of knowledge management, tacit knowledge, explicit knowledge, and tacit knowledge management. The study also contributes a tacit knowledge management model that consists of a knowledge audit designed to assist SMEs in identifying the following components: tacit knowledge subjects with critical expertise, tacit knowledge enablers, tools and systems to facilitate tacit knowledge management, and a combination of the aforementioned to determine the tacit knowledge management methods appropriate for SMEs
Description
Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Library and Information Studies, Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, 2022