Elsevier

Applied Soft Computing

Volume 12, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 527-535
Applied Soft Computing

Segmenting critical factors for successful knowledge management implementation using the fuzzy DEMATEL method

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2011.08.008Get rights and content

Abstract

Knowledge is a key source of sustainable competitive advantage. In response to increasingly drastic and competitive environments, many organizations wish to better utilize and manage knowledge for business success. For the purpose to execute formal knowledge management (KM) effectively, some works have suggested several critical factors of KM implementations. However, in a strategic view, such a list of critical factors must be further honed to increase practical usefulness, as not all critical factors necessarily share the same importance. Moreover, assessing the importance of critical factors inevitably involves the vagueness of human judgment. Hence, this study presents a favorable method combining fuzzy set theory and the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method to segment the critical factors for successful KM implementations. Also, an empirical study is presented to illustrate the proposed method and to demonstrate its usefulness.

Graphical abstract

Looking at this causal diagram, it is clear that evaluation factors were visually divided into the cause group (e.g., C3, C1, C5) and the effect group (e.g., C4, C11, C9).

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Highlights

► A successful KM initiative requires identifying of critical factors which guide the success of KM implementation. ► It is favorable to extend the DEMATEL method with fuzzy set theory and linguistic variables for decision-making in fuzzy environments. ► The proposed fuzzy DEMATEL method worked smoothly in tackling the problem of segmenting the critical factors into meaningful groups in order to facilitate the KM initiative.

Introduction

In Taiwan, many firms recognize that utilizing and managing corporate knowledge provides the competitive advantage and improved performance, and try to employ a variety of ways to enhance their rate of knowledge creation and utilization. Some firms manage knowledge with formal knowledge management (KM) initiatives and structures, while other organizations do indeed manage knowledge informally as part of their normal activities without the use of the terminology and concepts of formal KM structures [20]. Knowledge has the ability to utilize information and influence decisions, as well as the capability to act effectively [2]. The power of knowledge is a very important resource for preserving valuable heritage, learning new things, solving problems, creating core competences, and initiating new situations for both individual and organizations [32]. Therefore, numerous firms desire to better activate and leverage the knowledge for achieving value creation and business success. In order to implement the KM effectively, some creditable works have provided several critical factors of KM implementation [38], [53], involving business needs, KM purposes, top management support, technology, communication, culture and people, sharing knowledge, incentives, time, measurement, cost, and so on.

However, in a strategic view, those critical factors are all significant but not necessarily to implement at the same time. Even a same critical factor may be differently important to individual firm with the varied priorities; due to each organization has its own purposes, strategies, conditions of resources, and capabilities in KM implementation. Especially, it is hard to obviate the possibility of the causal relationship within those critical factors. If the kind of causal relationship can be profoundly disclosed, the critical factors are able to be well prioritized and segmented into some meaningful groups. Hence firms can properly adjust the importance of critical factors according to the strategic needs of different KM phases. A list of critical factors is required to be further decomposed for higher practical usefulness. To determine the importance of critical factors is a qualitative decision-making problem and inevitably involves the vagueness of human judgments [33].

Thus, in terms of the critical factor segment, it is better to employ an effective method which can deal with the vague judgments of human and model the causal relationship within critical factors. The fuzzy set theory is a mathematical way which can handle vagueness in decision-making [1], [68]. The Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) is a potent method which helps for generating a structural model and visualizing the causal relationship by offering a causal diagram [11], [12], [13], [18]. Hence, this study proposes a favorable method combining the fuzzy set theory and the DEMATEL to segment the critical factors for successful KM initiatives. An empirical study is presented to illustrate the proposed method and to demonstrate its usefulness and validity. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, some of the prior literature related to the critical factors of KM implementation is reviewed. In Section 3, the proposed method is developed. In Section 4, an empirical study is illustrated. Finally, according to the findings of this research, concluding remarks and suggestions are presented.

Section snippets

KM implementation

Reacting to an increasingly rival business environment, numerous organizations are emphasizing the importance of KM to create competitive advantage, and basing the KM strategy on their unique resources and capabilities. For implementing the KM successfully, it is a wise way to starts with a well understanding in terms of critical factors of KM implementation. The concept of knowledge and the related critical factors are discussed below.

Methodology

For building and analyzing a model involving causal relationships between complex factors, the DEMATEL is a potent and comprehensive method. In order to extend the DEMATEL for decision-making in fuzzy environments, the essentials of the DEMATEL and the fuzzy set theory are discussed below.

Empirical study and discussions

Being in need of enhanced competitive advantage, most organizations wish to enrich and utilize knowledge effectively. In this section, an empirical study shows how a high-tech company applied the proposed method to segment a list of critical factors for a successful KM initiative.

Concluding remarks

Knowledge is the fundamental basis of competition, so that organizations must endeavor to enrich their knowledge resources and need to design a knowledge strategy to enhance a sustainable competitive advantage. A successful KM initiative requires identifying of critical factors which guide the success of KM implementation. However, all critical factors are significant, but do not necessarily share the same importance, even having causal relationships between them. With a strategic view, such a

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