A KMS Success Model : Investigating a Consulting Company’s Knowledge Management System and the Influence of Personalization and Codification

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the success of a consulting agency’s KMS, examine the relationships between the factors constituting to its success, and explore possible effects of the knowledge management strategies codification and personalization on these correlations. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a case study researching a Swedish consulting company’s KMS success using a KMS success model by Wu & Wang (2006). The survey’s results were interpreted using standard multiple regression analysis, which helped to investigate and interpret the correlations between the dimensions constituting KMS success. Findings – The findings in this paper suggest that personalization and codification have an influence on the quality of the correlations between the KMS success dimensions leaving the overall structure intact. Additionally the influence of System Quality on Perceived KMS Benefits and User Satisfaction on System Use were not found significant. Research limitations/implications – This study ‘s main limitiation is a sample size and the case study approach, which limit the generalizability of the results to other contexts. Practical implications – The most important implication of this research is the importance of the user for KMS success. A company needs to focus on improving the benefits a user receives from a KMS, which can mainly be achieved by improving the knowledge made available through the KMS, and by providing a proper basis for the KMS, in order to ensure a minimum level of System Quality. Other factors influencing the success of a KMS are incentives, which can help to increase system use and the quality of system use. Originality/value – The paper shows that when researching KMS success one should take the structure of the company’s knowledge management strategy into consideration. It further proves the applicability of the model in different contexts and its validity for accurately measuring KMS success