Knowledge management capability and organizational memory: a study of public sector agencies

• Published date: 02 August 2019
• Date: 02 August 2019
• Pages: 671-687
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-10-2018-0225
• Author: Henry Adobor,Enyonam Kudonoo,Alireza Daneshfar
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management

Knowledge management capability

and organizational memory: a

study of public sector agencies

Henry Adobor

Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship,

School of Business and Engineering,

Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, USA

Enyonam Kudonoo

College of Business Administration, Ashesi University, Accra, Ghana, and

Alireza Daneshfar

Department of Accounting,

University of New Haven, West Haven, Connecticut, USA

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore organizational memory (OM) in three public agencies in a

developing country context. Research suggests that knowledge management (KM) can build a nation’s

intellectual capital and improve the effectiveness of public sector management. Therefore, how knowledge is

preserved is important.

Design/methodology/approach –The study targeted three large public institutions in Ghana. The study

used a survey of 756 individuals in managerial and operational level positions in institutions to test the

hypotheses in the study.

Findings –The findings confirm that knowledge management capability (KMC) has a positive and

significant impact on OM. Knowledge acquisition and retention capabilities, in particular, are critical

variables in building OM.

Research limitations/implications –The research relied on self-reports and so one cannot completely

rule out social desirability and consistency biases. Using cross-sectional data also makes it difficult to make

inferences about the causality.

Practical implications –Public agencies desirous of building their OM will need to build critical KMC

and infrastructure.

Originality/value –This paper links KMC to OM in public institutions in an emerging country context.

Keywords Public sector management, Organizational memory

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

This study explores organizational memory (OM) building in three public agencies in a

developing country. Public sector organizations are increasingly focusing on knowledge

management(KM) as a competence for delivering ontheir mission (Sandhawalia andDalcher,

2011). It is important that any knowledge that is developed be retained for later use to be of

any value. OM, the ability to remember and learn from experience, is an important asset

(Gammelgaard and Ritter, 2005). Prior research suggests that an organization’s knowledge

and experience arestored in its memory (Walsh and Ungson,1991; Fiedler and Welpe, 2010).

In an effort to identify valuable insights on OM in public agencies in one developing

country, this research explores OM in three public institutions in Ghana. The objective is to

provide a greater understanding of how public agencies can develop their OM. We base our

understanding on how knowledge management capability (KMC) affects OM in public

organizations. We use theories of KM (Cross and Baird, 2000), KMC (Gold et al., 2001; Chiu

and Chen, 2016) and the storage bin view of OM (Fiedler and Welpe, 2010; Walsh and

Ungson, 1991) to develop hypotheses linking KMC to OM. We begin the manuscript with a

International Journal of Public

Sector Management

Vol. 32 No. 6, 2019

pp. 671-687

© Emerald PublishingLimited

0951-3558

DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-10-2018-0225

Received 16 October 2018

Revised 12 July 2019

Accepted 16 July 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0951-3558.htm

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KMC and OM

review of the relevant literature that links KM to OM. We next describe the context of the

study, the data set, measures and the methodology used to test the hypotheses. The section

after that presents the results of our analysis. The empirical analysis relies on survey data

gathered from three public agencies in Ghana. We then present the results of our analysis,

discuss the implications of the results for KM and OM generally, and more specifically for

memory building in the public sector in Ghana. We conclude the paper by addressing the

limitations of the study and suggesting avenues for further research.

Literature review

Public agencies in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa have embarked on service improvements

and KM is becoming important in this respect (Acheampong, 2014). Although public sector

KM is important, not much research exists on this topic generally (Chiu and Chen, 2016).

Yet, many organizations in the public sector are knowledge-intensive organizations and

poor KM practices might lead to high costs, loss of institutional memory, knowledge gaps

and poor decision making (Luen and Al-Hawamdeh, 2001).

Most studies of KM focus on the private, not the public sector (Oluikpe, 2012;

Ringel-Bickelmaier and Ringel, 2010), even though a greater understanding of KM issues in

the public sector would be useful. For example, as De Angelis (2013) suggests, the public

sector is influenced by a growing need for efficiency and customer focus. Wiig (1997)

suggests that KM can build a nation’s intellectual capital and improve the effectiveness of

public and private decision making. Zhou and Gao (2007) suggest that KM in the public

sector can enhance governments’compet ence and improve service quality. More

importantly, findings from KM studies in the private sector may not apply to the public

sector because of its unique context (Massaro et al., 2015).

Existing researchhas highlighted the critical roleof OM as a central system in the storage

of knowledge produced in organizations (Kim, 1993). Research has broadened our

understating of the characteristics and mechanisms of OM including how memory is

acquired (Shrivastava and Schneider, 1984), retained (Gherardi, 2006) and how it is used

(Martin de Holan and Phillips, 2004). In general, our understanding of how memory is

developed may still be at the nascent stages (Olivera, 2000; Fiedler and Welpe, 2010) and

research effort on KM and OM, in particular, may just be catching up with the practical

recognitionof their value (Rhoads et al., 2007).Empirical research on OM in the publicsector is

limited, and moreparticularly research on Sub-Saharan Africa (Massaroet al., 2015). The loss

of OM in public agencies can affect theirability to advance their mission,deliver on programs

effectively and engagein the sort of transformations that are necessaryfor dealing with new

challenges. Any action that results in a loss of existing personnel results in loss of that

organization’smemory and learning capability (Dunham and Burt, 2011)and that makes the

preservation of OM crucial. As Rusaw (2005) points out, the loss of OM in government can

deplete the supply of mentors and coaches and an organization’s problem-solving ability.

Palepu (2001) suggests that it is important to develop strategies to promote the retention

of institutional memory and experience that might be lost through rapid staff turnover

especially in developing countries. Public agencies across Sub-Saharan Africa are suffering

from a loss of personnel with years of experience due to all forms of attrition: an aging

workforce, retirement, civil strife and in some countries the ravages of diseases such as HIV/

AIDS (Chankova et al., 2009), leading to a premature departure of experienced employees.

The need for contextualizing KM studies arises because research on KM and OM conducted

in the developed countries may not apply to Sub-Saharan Africa because of contextual

differences such as culture and the stage of institutional development (Kiggundu et al.,

1983). Ohemeng (2010) suggests that policymakers need to consider the local environmental

conditions and tailor policies that fit the environment. Unlike developed countries,

developing countries lack strong institutions and the resources for developing the

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