Knowledge Management Questionnaire

 I have attached Knowledge management questionnaire.

 

Knowledge Management in Industries

I am XXX XXX pursuing Ph.D. in Pondicherry University on “KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES” in industries. I request you to please fill in the questionnaire to facilitate the completion of the same.

Introduction:Knowledge management is the systematic process of finding, selecting, organizing, distilling and presenting information.   This project is to find the KM practices used in industries, Benefits and challenges faced in the implementation of KM practices.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Name               :   _________________                      Designation       :  ________________

Organisation     :   _________________                Place                      :  ________________

1. What is the type of industry?

i)        Manufacturing               ii)Service                      iii) IT & ITES               iv)  Others

2)      How old is the company?

i)        < 2 years                ii) 2- 5 years                       iii) 5-10 years        iv)  >10years

3)      What is the size of your company? (number of employees)

i)        < 50                 ii)51-100                      iii) 100 -250                 iv) > 250

4)Describe your business model:

i) Business 2 Business   ii) Business to Consumer           iii) Other

Please put a   mark  in the appropriate box wherever required.

5) What do you think of Knowledge Management (KM)?

a)   Never heard of it.                                                                                       [  ]

b)      Something they are already doing but not under the same name.                   [  ]

c)      It is just a management fad.                                                      [  ]

d)      It is strategic part of their business.                                                              [  ]

e)      Something that could be beneficial for the organisation.             [  ]

f)        If any other, please specify  __________________________________________

6)  According to you, what is knowledge management?

1.a technological concept: ‘the use of information technology to capture data

and information in order to manage knowledge’                                                 [  ]

2. a business-focused approach: ‘the collection of processes that govern the

creation, dissemination, and utilisation of knowledge to fulfil organisational

objectives’                                                                                                                    [  ]

3. a situation where no visible processes are used but it is ’simply the ability to

manage “knowledge’’ ’                                                                                     [  ]

4. about intellectual assets: ‘taking the form of documents and information

bases’.                                                                                                                         [  ]

7) Does your organization recognize knowledge as a part of their asset base?

a)   Yes                  [  ]                 b)  No               [  ]              c)   Can’t say     [  ]

8) Does your firm or organisation

1. Has a written knowledge management policy or strategy
2. Has a values system or culture intended to promote knowledge sharing
3. Has policies or programs intended to improve worker retention
4. Uses partnerships or strategic alliances to acquire knowledge

9) What is the attitude of senior management w.r.t. KM in your organization ?

a)   Sees it as very important and provides full support.                                      [  ]

b)   Sees it as very important but hardly supports it.                                           [  ]

c)   Sees it as a waste and hardly bothers.                                                         [  ]

d)   Was very supportive in the beginning but now lost interest. [  ]

 

10) Indicate which sources triggered your firm or organisation to put into effect the knowledge Management practices that you currently use. (Select whichever is applicable)

Internal          Mgt                Non –mgt workers                    union active in the workplace
External     i)Firm or organisation with  which you have a strategic Alliance, joint   venture or consortium ii)Universities, technical colleges, public labs or business school iii)Professional, trade or industrial associations or federations	iv)Competitors  v) Consultants   vi) Suppliers   vii)  Customers or clients

Knowledge Sharing / Knowledge acquisition / knowledge capture

12) Which technologies have you implemented in your organisation?

(please tick whichever is applicable)

a)  Internet              [  ]                 b)   Data warehousing                                     [  ]

c)  Intranet              [  ]                 d)   Knowledge management software             [  ]

e)  Extranet             [  ]                 f)    Decision support system                            [  ]

g)  Groupware        [  ]                 h)   Data management system                          [  ]

i)  E Commerce   [  ]                  j)   Automated Manufacturing                     [  ]

k) Quality circles  [  ]                l)    “Communities of Practice*(CoP’s)         [  ]

* An informal, self-organising group of people in the organisation, brought together by common interest who share expertise and solve problems together.

14) Which Knowledge management methodologies are used in your firm?

a)  Training                                                                                            [  ]

b) Attending workshops, conferences                                                    [  ]

c)  Exit Interviews                                                                                 [  ]

d)  Mentoring                                                                                       [  ]

e)  Documentation                                                                           [  ]

f)  Retiree programs                                                                              [  ]

g)   Coaching                                                                                        [  ]

h)   Rotational assignments                                                                     [  ]

i)   Collaborations with  R & D centres, Educational institutions,

Technological agreements etc.                                                         [  ]

j) Active R & D department                                                                 [  ]

15.  Your firm or organisation regularly

1. captures and uses knowledge obtained from other industry sources such as industrial associations, competitors, clients and suppliers                              [  ]
2. captures and uses knowledge obtained from public research institutions including universities and government laboratories                                                       [  ]
3. dedicates resources to detecting and obtaining external knowledge and communicating it within your firm or organisation                                          [  ]
4. encourages workers to participate in project teams with external experts      [  ]

Training and mentoring

16. Your firm or organisation

1. Provides formal training related to knowledge management practices      [  ]
2. Provides informal training related to knowledge management                      [  ]
3. Uses formal mentoring practices including apprenticeships                          [  ]
4. Encourages experienced workers to transfer their knowledge to new or less experienced workers                                                                                        [  ]
5. Encourages workers to continue their education by reimbursing tuition fees for successfully comleted work-related courses                                                   [  ]
6. Offers off-site training to workers in order to keep skills current                   [  ]

Communication

17. In your firm or organisation workers share knowledge or information by

1. Regularly updating databases of good work practices, lessons learned or listings of experts
2. Preparing written documentation such as lessons learned, training manuals, good work practices, articles for publication, etc. (ORganisational memory)
3. Facilitating collaborative work by projects teams that are physically separated (Virtual teams)

Knowledge organisation and retrieval

18. The extent to which knowledge is shared within the organization and assess whether knowledge information is easily accessed.

Knowledge Shared	To a Great Extent	To Some Extent	Not Shared	Don’t know	I Know Where to Access this Information
Information about key customers
Information about customer satisfaction
Information about competitors
Information about future plans
Information about senior management decisions
Information about the use of technology
Information about processes
Information about new initiatives
Information about other business functions
Information about training and development opportunities
Information about team and individual successes

 

19. How much time does it take for an employee to get the relevant knowledge document in your organization ?

a)   A few minutes   [  ]                c)   A few days                    [  ]

b)   A few hours      [  ]                d)   Week or more               [  ]

 

Reasons for  KM Practices

	Critically important	Important	Somehwat important	Not much	Not at all important
To improve the compeititve advantage of your firm or organsiation
To help integrate knowledge within your firm or organisation
To improve the capture and use of knowledge from sources outside your firm or organization
To improve sharing or transferring of knowledge with partners in strategic alliances, joint ventures or consortia
To increase efficiency by using knowledge to improve production processes
To protect your firm or organsiation from loss of knowledge due to worker’s departures
To train workers to meet strategic objectives of your firm or organisation
To increase worker acceptance of innovations
To increase worker acceptance innovations

20. Reasons knowledge management practices are used in your firm or organisation

Benefits of Using Knowledge Management Practices

22.Effectiveness of results of using knowledge management practices (Very effective, effective, somewhat effective, not effective)

	Very effective	effective	Neutral	Not muchEffective	Not at all effective
Increased our knowledge sharing horizontally(across departments, functions or business units)
Increased our knowledge sharing vertically (Up the organizational hierarchy)
Improved worker efficiency and/or productivity
Improved skills and knowledge of workers
Increased our number of markets (more geographic locations)
Improved client or customer relations
Helped us add new products or services
Increased our adaptation of products or services to client requirements
Increased flexibility in production and innovation
Prevented duplicate research and development
Improved our corporate or organizational memory
Increased our ability to capture knowledge from public research institutions including universities and government laboratories
Increased our ability to capture knowledge from other business enterprises, industrial associations, technical literature etc.
Improved involvement of workers in the workplace activities

 

Spending on kM practices

23. So the KM practices currently in use in your firm or organisation have dedicated budgets or spending?

If yes, what percentage of expenditure is dedicated to Knowledge Management Practices?

i)<5 %              ii)5-10%                       iii)10 – 20%     iv) >20%

Knowledge Retention

24.What do you think are the factors influencing Knowledge retention in your organization ?    (Rank the factors given below from 1 – 5  on your choice of preference)

a) Employees leaving for a better job elsewhere                         [  ]

b) Retirement                                                                                          [  ]

c) Promotion                                                                                          [  ]

d) Relocation                                                                                          [  ]

e) Downsizing and external factors                                                          [  ]

25.What are the problems faced by you in using IT for Knowledge Management?

(Rank the factors given below from 1 – 8  on your choice of preference)

a)    Lack of training.                                                                                         [  ]

b)   System too much complicated.                                                                    [  ]

c)   Lack of identifying the proper IT tool                                                      [  ]

d)   Lack of time to learn.                                                                                 [  ]

e)   Lack of user uptake due to insufficient  communication.       [  ]

f)    Every day use did not integrate into normal working practice.                       [  ]

g)   Unsuccessful due to technical problems.                                                      [  ]

h)   If any other ,please specify ___________________________________________

Challenges in implementing KM practices

26. What are the problems faced by you in using IT for Knowledge Management?

(Rank the factors given below from 1 – 8  on your choice of preference)

a)    Lack of training.                                                                                         [  ]

b)   System too much complicated.                                                                    [  ]

c)   Lack of identifying the proper IT tool                                                      [  ]

d)   Lack of time to learn.                                                                                 [  ]

e)   Lack of user uptake due to insufficient  communication.       [  ]

f)    Every day use did not integrate into normal working practice.                       [  ]

g)   Unsuccessful due to technical problems.                                                      [  ]

27. What is the biggest hurdle in effective implementation of KM in your organization ?

1.Changing people’s behaviour from knowledge hoarding to knowledge sharing.             [  ]

2.Lack of understanding of KM and its benefits.                                                             [  ]

3.Determining what kind of knowledge to be managed & making it available.                  [  ]

4.justifying the use of scarce resources for KM.                                                              [  ]

5.Lack of top management commitment to KM.                                                             [  ]

6.Overcoming technological limitations.                                                                          [  ]

7.Attracting & retaining talented people.                                                                         [  ]

 

28. Please mention your perception on the satisfaction level of the strategy does your organisation use for KM?

(Rank the factors given below as VS – Very Suitable, S – Suitable, M – Medium, NS – Not Suitable, NAS – Not at all suitable  on your choice of preference)

a)   KM as a business strategy.                                                                         [  ]

b)      Transfer of knowledge & best practices.                                                     [  ]

c)      Customer focused knowledge.                                                                    [  ]

d)      Personal responsibility for knowledge.                                                         [  ]

e)      Innovation and knowledge creation.                                                            [  ]

f)        If any other, please specify ___________________________________________

 

Responsibility for knowledge management practices

32. Which of the following groups is responsible for the knowledge management practices Currently in use in your firm or organization?

1. HR                                                                               [  ]
2. IT                                                                                 [  ]
3. Knowledge management unit                                         [  ]
4. Library / documentation centre                          [  ]
5. Executive management team                                          [  ]
6. Don’t know                                                                  [  ]

 

33.  Are there any knowledge management practices that your firm or or oraganisation uses that we have not included in the survey?

• No
• Yes, Please specify

 

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