Readiness of Public and Private Sector Organizations for Knowledge Management: A Literature Review

This paper reviews the growing literature on organizational readiness for knowledge management (KM) inboth public and private sectors. It is based on literature published during the period 1997-2016. Only originalresearch papers have been included in this literature review. The thematic structure has been adopted. In thebeginning, significance of knowledge as well as the significance and definition of KM will be clarified. Afterwards,the underlying problems and methodological issues raised in the literature will be discussed. The paper alsoreviews the relationship between organizational readiness and organizational and human contributing factors.Finally, significant differences in employees’ attitudes and willingness to be involved in the KM process accordingto different demographic variables will be examined. Research shows that it is essential to assess organizationalreadiness before embarking on KM projects. In addition, research indicates that both organizational factors,namely, culture, structure, and information technology (IT) infrastructure, and human factors, namely, acceptanceof KM and willingness to participate in the KM process influence, organizational readiness for KM. This study isuseful for researchers and practitioners to understand current trends and problems and methodological issues.This paper identifies trends, problems and methodological issues. A mixed-approach investigation consisting ofboth quantitative and qualitative methods is recommended to provide a comprehensive understanding of thecontributing factors influencing organizational readiness for KM.