Context-relevant criteria for starting knowledge management initiatives

In qualitative research, context is essential in order to observe and understand the phenomena of interest in a more holistic way. Emphasizing context in knowledge management (KM) initiatives helps managers choose the most suitable way to implement KM in accordance with their business strategies. This paper integrates the concepts of context, Earl´s (2001) seven schools of knowledge management (KM), a reverse datainformation-knowledge hierarchy, and knowledge reusability. By considering two important properties of context, namely codifiability and complexity, we propose a practical framework to help KM managers to choose from among different KM strategies. First, we introduce important works on KM and the context issue in the IS field. After explicating the important elements of context, we extract the two important properties. Based on these two dimensions, we analyze the feasibility of implementing and applying different KM initiatives, and then consider how the practical framework can help KM managers choose from among different KM strategies. By a case study in a small business, we show especially the usefulness of the framework for small and medium corporations to initiate or conduct their knowledge management.