| In the current economy of increasing global competition, many organizations are attempting to use knowledge as one of the means to gain sustainable competitive advantage, and advances in technology are aiding these efforts. Knowledge is becoming a critical success factor for organizational performance. Organizations not only should learn but also learn faster to survive, and remain successful.; Like any other management initiative, implementing knowledge management in organizations is an investment decision and thus, its outcomes must be defined and measured. To measure success or lack of it, an organization has to develop metrics and benchmarks based on the knowledge management criteria. Literature review for the current research indicated that widely-accepted criteria and performance measures have not been developed for knowledge management.; This research effort is a non-experimental, exploratory research to establish criteria for measuring knowledge management efforts. Since knowledge and knowledge management are defined similarly for government, non-profit and for-profit organizations, focus and principles of knowledge management may remain similar for these organizations. However, expected outcomes or results that define the success of knowledge management for these different types of organizations could be different.; This research effort included the Delphi Technique and a survey questionnaire. The Delphi Technique results were used to complement the design of the survey questionnaire and supplement its findings. Data analysis and results helped to establish criteria for measuring knowledge management success.; Overall, improved communication, enhanced collaboration within the organization, and improved employee skills were considered as the criteria for knowledge management efforts. However, these criteria should ultimately support an organization's performance in improving efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation.; The research effort also helped to establish knowledge management criteria for government, non-profit and for-profit organizations. Improving communication is a common criterion for both government and non-profit organizations. In addition, government organizations favored improved productivity. Similarly, enhanced collaboration is common criterion for both non-profit and for-profit organizations. In addition, non-profit organizations favored improved learning and adaptation ability. For-profit organizations favored improved employee skills, and enhanced product or service quality as additional criteria for knowledge management efforts.; Contributions from this research should support government, non-profit, and for-profit organizations in making decisions about knowledge management initiatives and measuring their knowledge management efforts. |
