Knowledge Management Issues; an analysis of three cases.

A surge in the popularity of knowledge management projects over the past decade has led to a plethora of information regarding knowledge management being published. These publications detail ways in which Knowledge Management projects can be undertaken as a compelling strategy for organisations to improve their business processes and competitiveness. As such, knowledge management projects have generally been portrayed in a positive manner. The objective of ‘Why KM Projects Fail: A Multi-Case Analysis’ is to provide insight and explanation as to why, in spite of an abundance of positive press, over 84% of Knowledge Management projects fail to have any impact on the organisation. It concentrates on 5 case studies of failed Knowledge Management projects, extracting from each the central factors that contributed to the project’s failure and the various stages of the project at which these factors occur. Finally, the article presents its findings in model form for future use.
As mentioned previously, the article derives its main findings from 5 case studies. The case studies are of a range of businesses attempting to implement a variety of Knowledge Management systems. Case 1 follows a Global Bank attempting to implement a KM project with the objective of using its intranet to develop a Knowledge Management system that would integrate information and services across its global divisions. Case 2 follows a pharmaceutical company attempting to implement 3 major Knowledge Management projects; ‘Lessons’, a system to archive operational knowledge, ‘Warehouse’, a system to capture the details of administrative and decision making process, and Café, a platform for self-reflection. Case 3 follows a manufacturing company attempting to implement three knowledge management systems to improve knowledge of production methods, distribute information of offered products and improve structural product design. Case Four follows a European-based company attempting to convert to