Assessment of the Key Success Factors Of Strategic Knowledge Management That Influence Organizational Performance: A Case of the World Agroforestry Centre

A Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)The aim of the research was to evaluate Key Success factors of Strategic Knowledge Management (SKM) that influence organizational performance at the World Agroforestry Centre. The study was guided by the following research objectives; to determine the influence of structure related aspects in SKM on organizational performance; to evaluate the effect of culture related aspects in SKM on organizational performance; to determine the influence of people related factors of SKM on organizational performance. The study adopted a descriptive research approach and was limited to World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) management team based at ICRAF headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The total population of 70 managers in headquarters constituting of 16 top level managers, 30 middle level managers and 24 lower level managers out of which 60 respondents was selected and only 41 respondents filled and returned the questionnaires representing 68% of the respondents. The study utilised questionnaires as the data collection tool, these were structured and administered to the respondents. A pre-test survey was also carried out to test the validity and applicability of the data collection tool. The data analysis was done by use of descriptive and inferential statistics, this was undertaken using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). The data was analysed by means of statistical techniques of analysis such as frequencies and percentages, mean and standard deviations and correlation. The findings were presented through bar graphs, pie charts and summarized figures and tables. This study sought to scrutinise the effect of structure related elements of SKM on organizational performance. The findings indicate that a large portion of respondents agree that IT promotes understanding advent, switch and sharing amongst its employees. On the other hand, most agreed that the organization gives the necessary training on use of IT to improve performance. The study also examined the influence of culture related factors of SKM on organizational performance. It was indicated that large portion agreed that communication is vital and plays a major part in influencing employee performance. It was also established that trust in the organization facilitates knowledge sharing, and trust is highly ranked among the major strengths in the firm. To examine the influence of people related factors of SKM on performance of the firm. The findings show that most respondents admitted that workers are sufficiently v empowered, and there was doubt about the empowerment initiatives employed being extremely satisfactory and ensuing high staff productivity. On the other, hand many agreed that the leadership has continuously promoted worker empowerment at the firm. It was also noted that many disagreed that employees were highly satisfied with the training initiatives provided and this improved performance. The study concluded that indeed information technology played a vital role in knowledge creation, transfer and sharing among employees at ICRAF, this is attributed to the organisations use of training on use of technology to improve performance. It was also concluded that communication is vital and plays a key role in influencing the employee performance. Finally, it was also concluded that empowering employees is vital as such tactics result into high employee productivity, there is a need for leaders to continuously promote employee empowerment. It was recommended that at ICRAF, there should be a continuous promotion of information technology to facilitate knowledge creation, transfer and sharing among its employees.. The organisation should ensure effective communication to facilitate performance of employees. In addition, the organisation needs to ensure employees are satisfied with the leadership in order to ensure smooth operation and knowledge sharing. The study focussed on influence of structure related aspects, culture related aspects and people related factors of SKM on performance at ICRAF, there is a need to undertake further research in other companies in order to generalize the findings. There is also a need undertake further studies at ICRAF to analyse knowledge and information accessibility, and impact of leadership and support on employee productivity