Knowledge Management Activities in Ghanaian Businesses: Review of Literature

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conduct a preliminary review of various studies and papers on KM activities in Ghanaian businesses. The review was guided by two key questions; what has been the literature on KM in Ghanaian Businesses? How have the various KM activities been applied, and in which sectors of the economy?

Methodology: The study was conducted based on an organized review of several papers searched through the various databases, including google scholar and springer link, with some inclusion and exclusion criteria. In the search, a total of 32 papers were deemed to be related to the aim of the paper. A quick scan of the abstract resulted in 20 papers best fit the criteria set and the focus was on papers that related to the KM processes and enablers and were related to the aim of the study.

Findings: The review revealed interesting findings; key among them is that the papers reviewed were dominated by studies in the public sector and specifically in the service industry, accounting for over 50% of all the articles searched. It also came up that significant challenges confronting businesses in implementing KM are lack of available KM systems, lack of leadership support, and lack of awareness of KM practices. On the issue of the KM processes that dominated the studies, it revealed that over 70% of the studies focused on KM sharing or transfer. Finally, it identified that the application of KM activities results in several benefits including innovation and business competitiveness.

Originality: The studies and papers on KM activities in Ghanaian businesses, particularly in the areas of KM processes and enablers are dominated by knowledge-sharing activities. Again, in assessing the sectors that dominated the discussion, it was evident that services sectors prevailed.