Implementing knowledge management systems in public sector organisations: A case study of critical success factors

In 2006, the Government Department participating in this study deployed its Knowledge Management System (KMS): this case study describes the lessons learned by this public sector organisation in its journey towards becoming a knowledge organisation. Extant research on the implementation of KMS in organisations operating in the private sector posits a range of factors that are correlated with successful KMS implementation. This paper first outlines these factors and then employs them as an integrative analytic framework to evaluate the critical success factors (CSFs) for KMS implementation in this government organisation. The study supports the empirical fidelity of the factors presented in the framework. Yet despite the successful attainment of departmental specific CSFs, regulative influences from the institutional environment, which lay outside the locus of control of the department, led to sub-optimal outcomes in the use of the KMS in the short-term. Hence, government organisations need to understand and take into account such influences if they are to successfully implement KMS.