Strategic Alignment and the Implementation of a Knowledge Management System: A Social Representation Perspective

In today´s highly competitive environment many organizations want to reuse existing organizationa knowledge to derive business value more effectively and efficiently. They seek to rely on strategically aligned knowledge management systems (KMS) to improve their organizational agility. They underestimate, however, the challenges associated with the implementation of such systems. Prior studies have shown that social interactions may influence the users´ perceptions and response to the implementation of a new information system. Based on an interpretive case study, this paper examines the implementation of a KMS and how social interactions among four groups of users shaped not only the implementation process but also the alignment of the KMS with organizational strategy. Adopting a socia representation lens, we are able to study how the groups develop different cognitive views of the KMS being implemented that ultimately lead to a strategic misalignment. Implications for research and practice are then discussed.