| Some authors have asserted that academic leaders at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) do not involve faculty in institutional decision making or shared governance, thus creating governance environments that lack communication and collaboration among leaders, faculty and external constituents. Knowledge management (KM) theory asserts that knowledge creation begins with the individual; and that organizations are able to aggregate this knowledge into value-added decision-making and action for the entire organization. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to determine to what degree KM practices are employed within a select group of HBCUs. The research questions in this exploratory correlational research were; to what extent HBCUs were using KM to capture institutional knowledge, what strategies were being implemented within their respective KM programs, and did the use of KM enhance databased decision making. A modified version of the Knowledge Management Practices (KMP) was administered to 108 HBCU administrators, faculty, and staff to assess KM practices and their effects. Descriptive analyses indicated that 19.94% of private HBCU and 31.25% of public HBCUs were using at least minimal levels of KM. ANOVA analyses revealed that significantly more KM practices were used in public HBCU than in private HBCU, and this paralleled public/private HBCU differences in perceived KM effectiveness. Findings suggested that KM practices improved communication. The positive social impact of this study is that it demonstrates that KM can be used by HBCUs to better communicate and interact with government, parents, and community leaders who are pressing these universities for more accountability and efficiency. |
