A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE ON

CORPORATE PORTAL

Processes and Benefits

Kamla Ali Al-Busaidi

Information Systems Department, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O.Box: 20 , PC: 123, Al-Khod, Oman

Keywords: Knowledge Management, KM Processes, KM Benefits, Corporate Portal, Oman.

Abstract: This pilot study examines a corporate portal from a knowledge management perspective by identifying the

impacts of several corporate portal tools that support organizational knowledge management processes

(such as acquisition, conversion, application and protection) on organizational processes (such as efficiency,

effectiveness and innovation) and people (such as learning, adaptability and satisfaction). Preliminary

analysis based on academic staff utilization of a corporate portal in a local university in Oman shows that

providing tools through corporate portals that support knowledge conversion improves the effectiveness and

efficiency of the organizational processes and people's learning, whereas providing tools that support

knowledge applications improves the effectiveness of organizational processes as well as people learning,

adaptability and satisfaction. Thus, the analysis indicates that knowledge conversion impacts organizational

processes more than people, whereas the knowledge application impacts people more than organizational

processes. Offering tools that support knowledge protection also improves the effectiveness of

organizational processes. However, the preliminary analysis shows that knowledge acquisition process has

no impact on organizational processes or people.

1 INTRODUCTION

Deploying IT tools that facilitate knowledge

management and sharing are essential for the

development of a knowledge-based economy.

Several international reports highlighted the

importance of IT tools to improve the effectiveness

and efficiency of the nations and organizations

efforts to manage their knowledge, and build their

human resources (World Bank, 2003).

Portals are one of the IT tools that provide a

common gateway into multiple distributed

repositories. Portals provide an efficient access to

relevant and accurate information and knowledge

(Rainer et al, 2007). There are several types of

portals such as commercial portals, corporate

portals, affinity portals, industry-wide portals,

mobile portals etc (Rainer et al., 2007). A corporate

portal is a gateway into the organization’s

knowledge resources. Corporate portals improve

employees' productivity by improving corporate

information access (Aneja et al., 2000). As a

knowledge management tool, corporate portals

should provide tools that effectively support several

knowledge management processes (Benbya et al.,

2004). Corporate portal provides a single web-based

entry to corporate information and knowledge

located inside and outside the organization. Based

on Aneja et al. (2000), a corporate portal includes

internal and external information resources. Internal

information resources include internal websites,

collaboration products, documents, organizational

knowledge bases, and data warehouses; whereas,

external information resources may include external

websites, external content, news and news feeds, and

external services.

The objective of the study is to examine how

corporate portal supports organizational knowledge

management by providing tools that support

knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion,

knowledge application and knowledge protection ,

and how the support of each of these KM

processes(as identified by Gold et al(2001) results in

organizational processes benefits and people benefits

(as categorized by Becerra-Fernandez(2004) ).

Three are number of studies that empirically

investigated the effects of organizational KM

process on organizational effectiveness such as those

Ali Al-Busaidi K. (2009).

A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE ON CORPORATE PORTAL - Processes and Beneﬁts.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing, pages 69-74

DOI: 10.5220/0002308900690074

 SciTePress

of Gold et al (2001), Liu (2003). Also, a couple of

studies in developing countries such as Kuwait (Al-

Athari and Zairi, 2001) and Malaysia (Chong, 2006;

Syed-Ikhsan, and Rowl 2004) examined successful

KMS deployment. However, there are limited

studies that are focused on KMS users (Kankanhalli

and Tan, 2004) and clear measurements of KMS

users’ satisfaction are still not well established (Ong

and Lai, 2005). Based on my knowledge, there are

limited studies that investigated the specific benefits

that result from each of the KM processes

independently.

2 BACKGROUND LITRITURE

2.1 Knowledge Management Processes

Knowledge management systems are systems that

manage knowledge throughout the organization;

they are developed to assist individuals and

organization to store, retrieve, and transfer and

distribute knowledge thought the organization.

Structured or unstructured explicit knowledge from

internal or external sources can be stored in an

Organizational KMS (Davenport and Prusak, 1998;

Turban et al., 2001).

Knowledge management is the management of

organizational knowledge. Knowledge management

processes have been classified in the literature in

several dimensions, which are more or less the same.

Gold et al (2001) indicated that organizational

knowledge management capability is measured by

providing tools and mechanisms that support four

major knowledge management processes:

knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion,

knowledge application and knowledge protection.

Davenport and Prusak (1998) classified KM

processes as knowledge generation, knowledge

codification and knowledge utilization; Alavi and

Leidner (2001) classified KM processes as

knowledge creation, knowledge codification/storage,

knowledge transfer, knowledge application, while

Becerra-Fernandez and colleagues (2004) classified

them as knowledge discovery, knowledge capture,

knowledge sharing and knowledge application.

Several other frameworks of KM processes were

summarized by Benbya and his colleagues (2004).

2.2 Knowledge Management Benefits

The literature indicated that the use of KMS resulted

in several individual and organizational benefits.

Becerra-Fernandez et al. (2004) categorized

knowledge management benefits as people benefits

(learning, satisfaction, adaptability), organizational

process benefits (efficiency, effectiveness, and

innovation), products benefits (value-added products

and knowledge-based products and organizational

benefits (direct impacts such as return on investment

and indirect impacts such as economies of scale and

scope and sustainable competitive advantage).

Alavi and Lidner(1999) found that the perceived

benefits of KMS can be categorized as process

outcomes and organization outcomes. Process

outcomes include communication (enhanced

communication, faster communication, more visible

opinions of staff and increased staff participation);

and efficiency (reduced problem solving time,

shortening proposal times faster results, faster

delivery to market, and greater overall efficiency ).

Organization outcomes include Financial (increased

sales, decreased cost and higher profitability);

marketing(better service, customer focus , targeted

marketing, proactive marketing) ; and general

(consistent proposals to multinational clients ,

improved project management and Personnel

reduction).

Based on Herzberg’s two factors theory,

Hendriks argued that individuals share knowledge

because of motivation factors rather than hygiene

factors (Hendriks, 1999). Motivation factors are

related to achievement, responsibility, recognition,

work-challenge, and operational autonomy.

Hygiene factors are salary, bonuses and penalties.

KMS also improves individuals’ performance and

productivity in terms of time and speed of the

knowledge sharing process (Maier, 2002). These

benefits may be classified as tangible, intangible and

3 FRAMEWORK

3.1 Framework Development

The objective of this pilot study is (1) to examine the

role of a corporate portal as a knowledge

management tool and (2) to explore the benefits that

might be resulted of each of the knowledge

management processes in the context of corporate

portal. This study adopted Gold et al (2001) KM

processes of knowledge acquisition, knowledge

conversion, knowledge application and knowledge

protection, as it has been highly tested in the IS

research, and it is more comprehensive than other

classification. As for the benefits, the study adopted

the Becerra-Fernandez and his colleagues' (2004)

benefits classification of organizational processes

KMIS 2009 - International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing

(efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation) and

people (learning, adaptability and satisfaction).

3.2 Knowledge Management Processes

3.2.1 Knowledge Acquisition

Knowledge acquisition process is the process or

obtaining knowledge from internal and external

sources. Gold et al (2001) indicated that several

terms are used to describe this process such as

acquire, seek, generate, create, capture and

collaborate, and all these terms referred to

knowledge accumulation. Providing tools for

knowledge generation and acquisition is important

for the deployment of KMS as it creates an

organizational knowledge repository for future

organizational reuse. Knowledge capture and

acquisition is essential for the establishment of

organisational memory (Davenport and Prusak,

1998; Becerra-Fernandez and colleagues, 2004).

3.2.2 Knowledge Conversion

Knowledge conversion process is the process of

making existing knowledge useful; it is the process

of organizing, integrating, and combining,

structuring, coordinating and distributing knowledge

(Gold et al, 2000). This KM process is critical

because it standardizes organizational knowledge

and make consistent and useful for utilization. It set

the stage for a successful knowledge application.

This will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of

the organizational knowledge.

3.2.3 Knowledge Application

Knowledge application is the process of actually

using the knowledge to solve problem and make

decisions. It includes the retrieval and application of

knowledge. The main benefit of knowledge

utilization and application for individuals is

individual productivity, which is indicated by

improvement on individuals’ decision-making and

innovation capabilities (Davenport and Prusak,

1998; Liu, 2003). More specifically, productivity

improvement means that individuals will improve

their judgments and skills, which will help them,

make better decisions and accomplish their work

more efficiently. Knowledge application helped

companies improve their efficiency and reduce costs

(Davenport and Klahr, 1998).

3.2.4 Knowledge Protection

Knowledge protection process is related to the

protection of the organization knowledge from

illegal or inappropriate use. Protecting

organizational knowledge provides a competitive

advantage (Gold et al, 2001). For achieving

competitive advantage through organizational

knowledge, knowledge should be rare and inimitable

(Barney, 1999) Securing organizational information

is improving organizational efficiency and

effectiveness, and its information quality(Turban et

al, 2008).

4 METHODOLOGY

4.1 Sample

This pilot investigation includes only 25 participants

which are academic staff in a public university in

Oman who are the user of the corporate portal. The

medium of instruction in this university is English.

Based on the IT department, the objective of the

university portal came from the need to have

consolidated e-services for three types of users,

students, faculty members, and other staff. The

university portal is a dynamic web-based electronic

gateway on SQU internal and external data

resources. Information displayed is personalized,

and designed to serve particular sectors of the

campus community, that is different types of users.

Pages accessed through the standard access

authorization (username and password) issued to the

university students, faculty, technical and

administrative staff. Each type of user accesses the

information and resources that he/she authorized to

access.

The university portal has many features; some of

these significant features are: Content management,

resources aggregation, searching and indexing,

personalization, single sign-in and bi-lingual

(English and Arabic interface and content).

About 80% of the participants were male, and all

the participants have above average computer skills.

About 48% had at least two years of portal-use

experience, and only 16%of them had less than one

year portal-use experience. The majority of the

participants, 68%%, were PhD holders; while 28%

of them were MSc holders and 4% of them were

BSc holders. About 24% of the participants were

group lecturers, 44% were assistant professor, 24%

associate professors and 8% were full professors

A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE ON CORPORATE PORTAL - Processes and Benefits

only 20% of participants with less than 2 years work

experience.

4.2 Questionnaire

The questionnaire contained the constructs to be

measured for quantitative analysis, along with

demographic questions (e.g., gender, age, degree,

portal usage experience, work experience, and job

title). Construct measurements items were phrased

according to a 5–point Likert scale (strongly

disagree to strongly agree).

To test this study’s theoretical model, the

questionnaire had 34 indicators that formed the

independent and dependent constructs (see Table 1).

Constructs related to knowledge management

processes was adopted based on Gold et al (2008),

while the benefits were self- developed based on

Becerra-Fernandez et al. (2004). Check the

Appendix for the measurements. The study was

conducted in English (the typical medium of

business activities in Oman).

5 DATA ANALYSIS & RESULTS

5.1 Analysis Methodology

Data was analyzed by the SPSS 16. Preliminary

analysis of this pilot investigation was based on the

reliability, correlations and other standard statistical

measures (such as means, maximums and

minimums). Multi-variant analysis and hypothesis

testing was not conducted due to the small sample

size.

5.2 Constructs Reliability

The reliabilities of the measurements were evaluated

through internal consistency reliability, the

recommended level for internal consistency

reliability is at least 0.70 (Chin, 1998). Despite the

small sample size, this preliminary investigation

found that the reliability of the study constructs were

high. Table 1 shows that the study constructs’

reliability were all above 0.7 except for the

knowledge acquisition, which is 0.623 (almost close

to 7).

The mean values of the constructs shows that

the corporate portal provides average tools for

knowledge acquisition, conversion and application,

and above average for knowledge protection. The

means also illustrates that the participants gave

above average (greater than 3) for organizational

processes benefits of effectiveness and efficiency,

but below average for innovation. The participants

also gave above average (greater than 3) for people

benefits of satisfaction, learning and adaptability.

Table 1: Constructs Reliability.

Construct Total items Reliability Mean

Acquisition 3 0.62 2.82

Conversion 6 0.84 2.882

Application 6 0.80 2.89

Protection 4 0.92 3.24

Effectiveness 2 0.94 3.33

Efficiency 3 0.92 3.43

Innovation 2 0.93 2.50

Adaptability 2 0.77 3.06

Learning 3 0.91 3.06

Satisfaction 2 0.88 3.23

5.3 Correlations

Table 2 shows that the preliminary correlations

analysis indicates that offering tools that support

knowledge conversion through corporate portals is

significantly correlated with the efficiency of

organizational processes (a correlation of 0.599 and

a significance level of 0.01) and the effectiveness

of organizational processes (0.591; 0.01), and

employees' learning(0.412; 0.05). Table 2 also

shows that providing tools for knowledge

application significantly correlated with the

effectiveness of organizational processes (a

correlation of 0.538 and a significance level of 0.01),

employees' learning (0

.623; 0.01), employees'

adaptability (0

.478

;

0.05 and employees' job

satisfaction (0.454; 0.05). In addition, providing tools

for knowledge protection only significantly

correlated with the effectiveness of organizational

processes (a correlation of 0

.461, and a significance

level of 0.05) However, the correlations table shows

that offering tools through the knowledge portals for

knowledge acquisition have no significant

correlations with any of the organizational processes

benefits or people benefits.

KMIS 2009 - International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing

Table 2: Constructs Correlations.

Constructs

effectiveness efficiency Innovation Learning Adaptability Satisfaction

Acquisition

.173 .183 .375 .343 .180 .170

Conversion

.599

.591

.246 .412

.142 .341

Application

.538

.391 .281 .623

.478

.454

Protection

.461

.392 .096 .219 .019 .244

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-

tailed).

6 CONCLUSIONS

The objective of this pilot study was to identify the

organizational processes benefits (efficiency,

effectiveness and innovation) and the people

benefits (learning, adaptability and satisfaction) that

might result from offering tools that support

knowledge management processes (acquisition,

conversion, application and protection) in the

context of corporate portal.

Preliminary analysis based on 25 participants

showed that providing tools through the corporate

portals that support knowledge conversion impacted

effectiveness and efficiency of organisational

processes, whereas providing tools that support

knowledge applications resulted in process benefits

(effectiveness) as well as people benefits(learning,

adaptability and satisfaction). Thus, the analysis

indicated that knowledge conversion impacted

organizational processes more than people, whereas

knowledge application impacted people more than

organizational processes. Offering tools that support

knowledge protection also impacted organizational

processes effectiveness. The preliminary analysis

showed that knowledge acquisition had no impact on

organizational processes or people. This could be

traced to the low construct reliability.

Despite the small sample size, this pilot study

provided practitioners and researchers with reliable

measures that can be used to examine knowledge

management processes and also reliable measures to

examine the impacts of knowledge management

tools on organizational processes and people.

Preliminary analysis also provided some insights for

practitioners and researchers on knowledge

management impacts. Future research may include

larger sample size to conduct hypotheses testing and

advanced regression analysis. Future research also

may extend the measurements of the benefits to

include products impacts and organizational

impacts.

REFERENCES

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Alavi, M., Leidner, D., 2001. Review: Knowledge

management and knowledge management systems:

Conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS

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Barney, J., 1991. Firm resources and sustained

competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1),

pp. 99-120.

Becerra-Fernandez, I., Gonzalez, A., Sabherwal, R., 2004.

Knowledge management. Pearson Education Inc. New

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capabilities perspective. Journal of Management

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MEASUREMENTS APPENDIX

Knowledge Acquisition Tools : Corporate portal has tools for:

1.generating new knowledge(info) from existing knowledge

2. identifying best practices

3. acquiring new knowledge(information) from external sources

Knowledge Conversion Tools: Corporate portal has tools for :

1.transferring organizational knowledge(info) to individuals

2.distributing knowledge(information)throughout the organization

3.absorbing knowledge(info) from individuals into the organization

4.integrating different sources and types of knowledge(info)

5. converting competitive intelligence into plans of action

6. filtering knowledge(information)

Knowledge Application Tools: Corporate portal has tools for :

1.applying knowledge(information) learned from experiences

2. using knowledge(information) to solve new problems

3.locating and applying knowledge(information) to critical

competitive needs

4. taking advantage of new knowledge(information)

5. matching sources of knowledge(information) to problems and

challenges

6. making knowledge(info) accessible to those who needs it

Knowledge Protection Tools: Corporate portal has tools for :

1.protecting knowledge(information) from inappropriate use inside

the organization

2. protecting knowledge(information) from inappropriate use outside

the organization

3. restricting access to some sources of knowledge(information)

4.clearly communicating the importance of protecting

knowledge(information)

Processes Benefits: The use of corporate portal :

Effectiveness

1. improves the effectiveness of my work

2. improves the quality of my work

Efficiency

3. improves the efficiency of my work

4. helps me complete my work quickly

5. helps me complete my work at lower cost

Innovation

5. improves my creativity at work

6. Improves my innovation at work

People Benefits: The use of corporate portal :

Learning

1. improves my learning process

2. enhances my personal knowledge

Adaptability

3. enhances my adaptability level at work

4. helps me adapt quickly to new tasks

5. helps me be responsive to new job demands

Satisfaction

6. enhances my job satisfaction

7. makes me more satisfied with my job

KMIS 2009 - International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing