THE REFLECTION OF
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT REVOLUTION ON GOVERNMENT SECTOR PERFORMANCE IN THE KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY
BY
ABDULAZIZ SHOWAITER
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Compiling a research from an idea to completion is not an easy task, as it is well known that such journey is quite long and tough. However, the task would have been heinous, if not for the support I received from various people along the research process which eased this exciting journey and enabled me to complete the research on time. This acknowledgement is just a humble note to appreciate those who played a role –no matter how small- in this journey, and I would like to start by sending my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has helped me accomplish this goal.
First of all many thanks goes out to my parents, professors and module instructors who worked so hard to enable me acquire the knowledge in my course, which subsequently enabled me to design this research topic. Secondly, much thanks goes out to my supervisors, for being patient with me during the entire exercise and their insightful guidance that proved to be very vital for this research process. On top of that, I wish to thank everyone in the department who saw me through the entire research process, without whom the journey would have been more challenging and miss tracked.
Once again, much gratitude goes out to all the government organizations where the research was carried out for allowing me to carry out the research in their premises. And I would like to thank everyone who participated in the research, for taking the time off their busy schedules to participate in the interviews and to fill-in questionnaires. Your input is much appreciated because without your input, the research would not have been possible.
Last but not least I would like to thank my parents and all my friends for their support, encouragement, and suggestions, which made the journey a bit easier and enabled me to complete such a study.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements iii
List of Tables v
List of Figures vi
List of Abbreviations vii
Abstract viii
Chapter 1. Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Background 2
1.3 Research Problem
1.4 Research Objectives
1.5 Research Questions
1.6 Research Methodology
1.7 Research Design
1.8 Data Types and Sources
1.9 Data Collection Techniques
1.10 Data Analysis and Interpretation
1.11 Time Frame
Chapter 2. Literature Review 4
2.1 The state of governmental information process in Bahrain in the 21st century
2.2 Bloom’s hierarchy of learning objectives in relation to Bahrain government
2.3 Knowledge Management Cycles Evolution in Bahrain
2.4 Knowledge Management Maturity Models and Its application in governmental Bahrain sector
2.5 The novelty introduced by KM on the government sector in Bahrain
2.6 The impacts that relate learning organization concept in Bahrain
2.7 Bahrain Vision 2030
2.8 The relationship between Knowledge management and human resource management
Chapter 3. Research Methodology 6
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research design process
3.3 Research participants
3.4 Sample size and selection
3.5 Data type and collection procedures
3.6 Data analysis and synthesis
3.7 literature control and the applicability of the research
3.8 Research Approach
3.9 Results of Analysis
3.10 Discussion of Results
Chapter 4. Conclusion and Recommendations
Appendix A The Survey 7
Appendix B Pilot Study 8
References 9
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Gender Frequency table
Table 2 Age Frequency table
Table 3 Category per question
Table 4 Correlation Matrix
Table 5 Understanding and Recognition
Table 6 Training and Promotion
Table 7 Management Support
Table 8 Application
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 SPSS data
Figure 2 Variables
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
KM – Knowledge Management
SHRM – Strategic Human Resources Management
QAAET – Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training
ABSTRACT
The study sheds light on how the knowledge management revolution has contributed in evolving the performance of the government sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain during the few passed decades. The study was essential to contribute to the limited literature and establish possible contributions that knowledge management has made in the government sector in Bahrain. To achieve this purpose, a quantitative research methodology designs was adopted. A qualitative research was adopted in the pilot phase using non-structured in-depth interviews, which was aimed at testing the credibility of the study framework adopted. The collected data from quantitative surveys via questionnaires was analyzed using data analysis techniques and softwares. The research established that knowledge management in Bahrain was at 50%, and that it had a significant impact on innovation (generation of new ideas). Moreover, in terms of responsiveness, this study found out that those who recorded less information retrieval time had also recorded a high maturity level, and that knowledge management was found to be significant in supporting Bahrain vision 2030. In this vein, the study found a strong positive correlation between competitiveness and knowledge management. This was supported by the fact that knowledge management enhances the management of human capital, which is very vital in supporting Bahrain’s economy. Precisely, the study confirmed that a knowledge creation and management leads to the transformation of the economy from the traditional sectors of a knowledge-based sector. The study recommends that government should aim at coming up with plans that could trigger faster response to the information available because doing so, will enhance the capability of the organizations amidst stiff competition.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Leading organizations tailors the talent and interests of their employee’s to achieve their goals with higher productivity and engagement levels, to maintain lower turnover rates and to improve ability to satisfy certain employees who would hypothetically come up with outstanding results. Strategic Human Recourses Management, SHRM, is not only about introducing human-capital plans. It is more concerned with strategies implementation (Araimi, 2011). It is also involved with monitoring employees’ behavior towards strategies on a day-to-day basis, to control the path of the organization and to make sure it is meeting the intended goals and to ensure the application of best practices and document the lessons learned accordingly. SHRM is considered to be a toll to design business-processes-approaches to managing employees’ behavior and performance to focus the long-term-requirements and taking into account the continuous change in the organizations operating context (Anne-Wil Harzing, 2010). And to be more specific, SHRM is a mindset which only comes alive in the organization’s managerial levels when managers concentrate and pay more attention on the behavior of the employees towards the organization’s vision, mission, goals, values and aims (Robin, 2012). Today, globalization has made the nature of the businesses on edge to make continuous changes in improving their environments, technologies, business processes, ways of operations and employees skills, all of which to maintain their competitive advantage in the market (Lucas, 2012).
On top of that, organizations today has to focus on escalating their level of performance while trying to cut on costs, improve quality level and create novel products and\or services. Bearing in mind to implement all of these changes around the capabilities of the workforce to ensure the harmony between the human capital and the business nature to run smoothly (Armstrong, 2011). Changes usually face resistance, but an organization can minimize that by being smart in effectively managing its human resources in terms of their commitment, engagement, motivation and by providing the required synergy if needed. Being an organization run by smart management which tends to apply the adequate human HRM strategies to maintain the competitive advantage and to shape employees attitude and positive behavior (Anne-Wil Harzing, 2010).
In addition, knowledge management (KM) being the selective application of knowledge from past experiences of making current and future decisions for the main purpose of improving the effectiveness of the organization. The goal of KM is to identify knowledge that is critical and apply it in the appropriate situations. Acquire the critical knowledge in an organizational memory or knowledge base, determine how effective the knowledge being applied is and adjust the use of knowledge to improve on effectiveness (Zheng & Yang, 2011). Knowledge revolution is a phase of capitalism that is dependent on brainpower, education, skills, human capital information, knowledge, intellectual capital, intangibles ideas and brand names. It can only be compared to the industrial or agricultural revolution. It is based on the current postindustrial era where there is a lot of automation and routine. Value is being derived from education. Organizations need to develop their KM capabilities which will allow them to support a few of the important operations and activities of the organization. Knowledge management can help the organizations in storing, utilizing, and acquiring of processes like strategic planning, dynamic learning, planning, problem solving and decision making (Klaus North, 2013).
1.2 background
Knowledge Management is one of the main challenges in the most countries including the Kingdom of Bahrain. There are tremendous developments that have been undertaken to enhance knowledge management in the different governmental organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The global revolution of KM had a powerful and significant impact on Bahrain strategies of knowledge management. There have been many weaknesses of KM that have been pointed out in the Bahrain government which has led to a number of serious investigations on how to enhance KM in the kingdom. KM is also an important source of influence for all government organizations to take initiative actions, relevant to the development of the organization, and foster competitiveness. These investigations made an important assessment since its addition as a generalized model of a holistic approach. The work was a baseline for the practice of KM in the government of Bahrain. Since Bahrain has conservative policies in all its sectors including finance, thus contributed to be a reason on which why Bahrain was also affected by the global financial crisis due to following the traditional policies that the central bank practices. Bahrain’s government is still developing knowledge management models that will be utilized by the organizations in Bahrain especially the banking sector. It will also control how to derive concepts and apply knowledge management, locally, according to its reflection on decision making. It will also set a definition of the role of KM as tolls provider far decision-makers to manage the organizations and strengthen the decisions being made by capturing the knowledge of importance. The government organizations need to enhance their competitive levels and capability in the market so as to fully cover the dimensions of KM and develop the adequate resources in operations and processes of IT and HR capitals (Jones, 2015).
Research Problem
It is publically known, in Bahrain, that variations on quality levels of delivery have been spotted on official and non-official performance and services reports in the government sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain. According to that, this study aims to determine the reflection of the knowledge management revolution on the Bahrain governmental sector in terms of improving performance and manage human capitals.
1.3. Purpose of the Research
This study will shed the light on how the knowledge management revolution has evolved the performance of the government sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain since the beginning of the 21st century. As it will tend to assess the possible contributions made by introducing KM in the country. This study is therefore feasible, and it intends to contribute to the already existing literature on the topic.
1.4. Research Objectives
The aim of the study is to draw a conclusion on the current state of KM in the government sector in Bahrain and how it can significantly improve the performance level of the governmental sector in this country. As this study will focus on:
Examine the state of the governmental informational process in Bahrain during the 21st century.
Assess the novelty introduced by KM on the governmental sector in Bahrain.
Determine the impacts of the learning organization concept and its rising in Bahrain governmental sector.
Find a relation between Knowledge Management and Human Resources Strategies which is presented specifically in the governmental sector in Bahrain.
1.5. Research Question
The two main research questions that will be investigated in this study are:
1. How has the knowledge management revolution impacted the government sectors in Kingdom of Bahrain?
2. Is there one best approach of strategic human resource management to help improve government performance in regards to knowledge management?
1.6. Research Methodology
A quantitative research approach will be utilized by the help of a KM measurement survey (Appendix A). This survey was based on the framework to assess the holistic concept of the KM influence in organizational learning in the Bahraini government sector. Responses were collected from different management levels from different Bahraini government organizations. In Chapter 3 of this research, a research model was tested upon the research hypothesis and followed by structural equation modeling. The study results was aimed at revealing the significant and strong relations among the practices of the process of organizational development practices which makes KM a vital factor in the organization of the government and to draw a study on the current state of knowledge management in the governmental sector in the kingdom of Bahrain.
In the next phase, qualitative research methodology was adopted for piloting this research, using unstructured in-depth interview data collection technique, which is one of the qualitative research methods as also observed in (Saunders, et al., 2009). The approach to this research is inductive through basing the study on the principle of developing theory from collected data during data collection process, which is the collection of quantitative data (Saunders, et al., 2009). The aim was to assess the influence of knowledge management in the government sector of Bahrain during the past decades. The research has been designed to probe the perceptions and experiences of organizational leaders and personnel in order to obtain rich data to explore the research topic. The first stage of the research will start with a pilot investigation to get better insights into the existence of knowledge management in Bahrain (Results of Pilot Study can be found in Appendix B under the Appendices Chapter in this research).
Various factors were considered in order to determine the demographics to be used in the research. Various models will be researched before settling on the most appropriate model. In this context, best practice is considered to be a theory, that was initiated by American academics and is being recently adopted and developed in the United Kingdom, that appreciates the importance of the knowledge management frameworks and human resources management strategies in term of organizational performance as a whole, by configuring theoretical universal practices that fits all. Throughout the passing decade, there has been an interest towards HRM best practice, especially those models that are more concerned with organizational commitment (Paula Caligiuri, 2010).
1.7. Research Design
This research will adopt a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative research designs given that it covers a very wide scope. In justification of that, this research is therefore exploratory and descriptive.
1.8 Data Types and Sources
Different types and sources of data will be used for this research; they will mainly include previous researches and publications, books, articles, interviews and surveys,
1.9. Data Collection Techniques
Various data collection techniques were employed in this study. For the interviews, the entire relevant sample will be interviewed to collect all the necessary data. Surveys will also be conducted from different governmental organizations with the intention of coming up with the most conclusive results.
1.10. Data Analysis and Interpretation
One of the special data analysis techniques that was used was data mining and analysis softwares such as SPSS. Such a technique focuses on knowledge and modeling discovery. This will consequently ensure that data integration is achieved, which is an instrumental precursor when it comes to data analysis.
1.11. Time Frame
Given the delicate nature of the topic in question, and the scope of the research required to cover such a broad topic, the time frame for the study took 4 months. This enabled conclusive findings to be made on the issue. The input of various players will be required, and the government sector will have to come together for this to be a success.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 The state of governmental information process in Bahrain in the 21st century
The Kingdom of Bahrain marked a promising beginning in regards to KM, as it ushered in a new century in 2001, when it approved the constitutional monarchy. It has also made an admirable step in electronic government field which puts Bahrain among the pioneers in the Arabian Gulf region, this technology helps businesses, societies, and citizens to connect and interact with the government through channels which every individual or organization can access. In brief, according to Sahraoui (2005) electronic government shortened as e-government is defined as “governmental information as well as communication technology enabled services and activities to improve the effectiveness, transparency and accessibility” (Sahraoui, S, 2005). It can also be referred to as online government, transforming government or digital government and can be a non-internet or an internet infrastructure (Palvia & Shama, 2007).
Bahrain’s e-government services implementation is aligned with its Economic Vision 2030, which focuses on a stable development of this country in future. E-government main objective in Bahrain is to achieve sustainable economic development, independence especially in oil resources. The Kingdom of Bahrain, focuses on being the e-government leader, which is committed to providing all government services, inclusive of those which are best-in-class, integrated as well as those availed to all via their channels of choice. As a result of this strategy, it is believed that, the Kingdom will transform to be the best country to do business, live and work in (Harikrishnan and Khalid, 2015). The major areas of development include
1) E-Government Leader: the kingdom aspires to improve and maintain its regional e-government leadership position as well as utilizing the most recent technologies to provide value and service to all customers. It also aims at being recognized as a leading country within the region, in other words, a platform where other countries learn and benchmark from.
2) All services offered by the government: the Kingdom’s e-government strategy is focused on providing customer services, where all key services will be electronically enabled
3) Best-in-class, integrated: the Bahrain kingdom aspires to redesign service processes so as to be customer-centric with an aim of increasing customer’s satisfaction level relating to government services. The multiple agencies will be eliminated so that citizens can get services direct from the government and levels of service will be seriously adhered to and communicated up front.
In general, we can argue that Bahrain e-government mirrors the 4th phase of public administration transformation based on content analysis since the portal offers an opportunity for customers to interact with the government, in addition the options for e-service are increasing in number as well as information (Dito, 2010). On the other hand, the kingdom’s commitment is evidenced in the way it provides customers with unique features which are geared towards their satisfaction and that which encourages interaction between customers and government. The portal’s interface navigation is simple and oriented in such a manner that it suits businesses, visitors, individual customers and it offers special attention to tourists and foreign investors thus focusing on economic development.
For the purposes of integrating the locals and foreigners, Kingdom of Bahrain e-government services portal are provided in both English and Arabic, in addition to this Smartcard issuance targeted all residents, both foreigners and nationals thus if applicable, e-services will be available to all groups (Magdalena & Razzaque, 2013). The Bahrain system captures, or rather mirrors globalized world where multiculturalism takes the lead, and not forgetting migratory movements are becoming a reality and are increasing. Smart cards introduction in Bahrain presents a very unique opportunity which requires a single sign-on property, for one to enter into various e-services available in e-government portal, although, currently each service requires data re-entry as they are offered separately.
2.2. Bloom’s hierarchy of learning objectives in relation to Bahrain government
The Kingdom of Bahrain through Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training abbreviated as (QAAET) conducted a program review on education which had ceased teaching and focused on learning, students being the center of the learning process as a result there has been a dramatic increase of students seeking higher education access since 1990 in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahrain’s national university faced a lot of pressure due to students’ intake increase. In order to counter this demand higher education was opened to private sector, which was also in line with the general privatization policy in Bahraini (CHEA, 2012). As a result, Bahrain experienced an exponential growth of higher education institutions as well as diversification of programs which led to producing a good number of graduates from higher education.
Recently there are few public and many private institutions which are licensed and regulated by Higher Educations Council, which works under the Ministry of Education. Both private and public institutions are charged with responsibilities of developing the content and structure of their study programs, although this issue has posed a concern to public, the Bahraini government as well as the marketplace, especially in the way program’s quality of outcomes is maintained especially in a situation where there isn’t an overseeing independent body.
This need of an independent body gave birth to QAAET in 2008, whose emphasis is on learning outcomes while on the other hand, the institution’s responsibility is anchored on ensuring that course and program learning outcomes are evaluated, properly reviewed and well developed in all institutions offerings and also ensure that there are consistent policies implemented in measuring students’ learning outcomes achieved. It has also been pointed out that introducing learning outcomes as a programs’ review measuring tools, allows the institution and the reviewed program to share a common language with the reviewing body.
2.3. Knowledge Management Cycles Evolution in Bahrain
Knowledge Management as observed by many organizations are linked with many organizational changes which are geared towards product differentiation or better productivity that allows service and effective results to be achieved through good organizational competitors as well as integrated understanding. Knowledge Management is viewed as the process of codifying, transfer, and generation of knowledge within organizations, in Bahrain for instance, this process was initiated when the private sector was allowed to man higher education, that led to, international trends and branches where student diversity increased.
The kingdom of Bahrain has been pushed by the growing awareness of the importance of knowledge management, which is viewed as the geneses of organization competitiveness. Its main objective is to do all it can to eradicate each and every obstacle that prevents it from exploiting the full potential of the knowledge in various ways (Phusavat & Anussornnitiarn, 2010). Although according to recent studies knowledge management has not been perfectly connected to suitable practices which are relevant to the development of organizations. Bahrain’s strategy aimed at introducing effective knowledge management practices which required an organizational climate, coupled with a reward system which encourage cooperation, innovation, learning, trust and value the work of employees, something that was lacked in several government organizations (Lucas, 2012). Knowledge management is an internal resource of an organization that backs the development of holistic system to manage the development of new knowledge in accordance with organizations requirements.
The kingdom of Bahrain like other countries, has faced challenges which are related to the environment and which are coincidental to pressures (Chawla & Joshi, 2010) related to making an efficient and effective knowledge management practices so as to make it factors the main production factor based on competitive factors (Eftekharzadeh, 2012). In addition, Bahrain realized that its government was incurring too high cost when offering services in comparison to private sector and a progressive reduction of resources in the public bodies which required support from an effective knowledge management.
Currently, the Kingdom of Bahrain has made a considerable progress which can be attributed to knowledge management’s holistic influence that promotes understanding and integration as well as relationships within the organizations (Zheng & Yang, 2011). This holistic approach presents organizational managements with various options that help them to deal with complexities, challenges, issues, thus making knowledge management a dynamic practice instead of being a concept that will just assist knowledge management practices, to act as a tool for achieving customer satisfaction on services delivered.
2.4. Knowledge Management Maturity Models and Its application in governmental Bahrain sector
Knowledge management is substantiated as a concept that influences various organizational practices as well as considering external and internal factors that relate to better understanding of the organization. According to Bahrain, the major internal factors to be considered based on government organizations concerns have to include training, leadership, processes, network, policies relating to human capital and culture are some of the factors that initiate presence of knowledge (Rhodes, Lok & Hung, 2008). De Souza (2006) in his publication stated that competitors normally have easy time to access and duplicate external knowledge that comes from various public sources, while others hold it that if organizations incorporate their own knowledge, (De Souza, 2006 ) with the so called external knowledge it would lead then into practices that will develop their organizational innovativeness (Chen and Huang , 2009). The kingdom of Bahrain through e-government has created a platform which will utilize external knowledge as it is portrayed in competitors and consumers, which is an important organ that drives organizational values, performance and innovation.
Knowledge management, since 2006 has been practiced in accordance to international standards, where “Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development” was among the first organization to attract attention by using the word “knowledge economy” which showed the importance of knowledge management in every economic activity of non-government as well as those of government products and services. Since then this body has come up with measures for knowledge management and knowledge economy at government level, in addition, the knowledge economy measure was preceded by Economic forum and the International Monetary Fund which lead to knowledge management influence. As a result, organizations were forced to evaluate their government organizations through benchmarking where they focused on such factors as a knowledge management strategy, channels of open communication and knowledge management awareness (Storey & Kahn, 2011). According to Ahmed and Salleh (Salleh and Ahmed, 2008), argument is that each and every available standard overlooked the issue of knowledge management influence on decision making, productivity, responsiveness to customer’s teamwork, improved efficiency, quick response, creativity or innovation among other organization’s requirements.
2.5. The novelty introduced by KM on the government sector in Bahrain
Knowledge management in the Kingdom of Bahrain has introduced such things as trust which cuts across the organizations (Politis, 2003). This trust is seen to work within co-workers as well as an interpersonal and is believed to influence knowledge sharing thus improving organizations development. Trust is a factor required by team members for them to respond openly in their knowledge sharing (Smith & Rupp, 2002). Another factor is the way staff communicate to each other, in other words the oral interaction between co-workers, which is believed to exist where there is social network in the work area, and it is also taken as a very crucial factor since it encourages knowledge sharing among workers.
Another factor of concern is an information system which is termed as an arrangement of processes, people and data that interact in support of day to day activities of decision making and problem solving in an organization (Whitten, Bentley and Dittman, 2001). For instance, the Kingdom of Bahrain has applied the use of e-government to ensure that information is shared and also for the purposes of improving government services (Connelly and Kelloway, 2003). Different organizations use varying methods in the process of acquiring or even creating knowledge repositories, thus creating a platform where expertise shares their knowledge electronically as well as availing the shared knowledge to other staffs.
1) The kingdom of Bahrain is used to a traditional organization structures, thus adopting modern structures must be flexible and not based on bureaucracy (Ho, 2011). In present days, many managers are aware of the challenges of bureaucratic structure, which are termed as complicated and slow (Syed-Ikhsan and Rowland, 2004). For information to be shared effectively and easily such bureaucratic structures need not to be there, since it creates barriers which may result in hindering information flow.
2.6. The impacts that relate learning organization concept in Bahrain.
One of the greatest impacts relating to learning organization is the ability to create leaders who are successful and think in line with the system as it is implied by the name “system thinkers”, on the other hand they channel their energy on daily activities and emphasis on forces and treads of change. In addition to this they use their skills, that they acquire in bringing events together and in the same time find their relationship and, as a result, take the necessary measures, on the other hand, tapping the collective intellect of workers in an organization, poses a challenge to learning organization, although knowledge management has helped to solve this challenge. Bearing in mind, an error that emanates from generalization have been successfully eliminated by use of data oriented approach.
Finally, learning organization has been able to make intrinsic and extrinsic visions of an organization (Colin and Croasdell, 2014). Where intrinsic visions are geared in making new, or rather innovating new products or improving the existing ones while on the other hand, extrinsic focuses on attaining something of an outsider, for instance a competitor. In other words, for learning organization to be there both intrinsic and extrinsic must be available.
2.7. Bahrain Vision 2030
The kingdom of Bahrain aims at changing from an oil economy to an economy which is competitive and productive globally, which is driven and shaped by the government and private sector hand to hand, one should not forget the importance of oil since the kingdom of Bahrain oil production and processing ads up to sixty percent of the exports. Moreover ,economic conditions have been unstable for a long time now, which can be traced back to 1985. In order to achieve this the Kingdom of Bahrain started liberating the telecommunication sector, and as a result Bahrain is known for hosting a number of international firms. Bahrain has established several avenues which are geared towards vision 2030, one of them is a free trade agreement between Bahrain and United States so as to reduce trade barriers between the involved nations.
The issue of e-government is also aligned with vision 2030, whose aims at efficient and effective service delivery to residents, visitors, businesses and citizens. The idea of e-government, promotes a number of factors which includes democracy, accountability, participation, responsiveness, effectiveness and transparency (Nugent J, 2001), therefore it is clear that electronic government has the capability of offering governance principles in an electronic environment.
Also in line with Bahrain’s vision 2030, aspiration to introduce common service centers, which will be installed in government premises such as post offices, government agency counters, police stations and governors or even in new places, ( Nakibullah& Islam, 2007), where they had a target of having a total of fifteen such common services before December 2010 serving all e-services based on portal.
Hence, the need of updating and coming up with new ideas in regards to the KM in the government sector in Bahrain by being innovative and creative. This will play a huge role to facilitate a better economy and better knowledge capturing, codifying, sharing and applying. In this context many government organizations started being electronic which eased the knowledge management strategies to take place and enforce its existence, ever before realizing that KM concepts are being applied.
2.8 The relationship between Knowledge management and human resource management
Basically, there is a very thin line that differentiates between human resource management and knowledge management, as both are focusing on workers and aims at achieving the best from these workers (Handzic, 2011). Where in The kingdom of Bahrain government, knowledge management is attributed to workers who are in direct contact with management and in production (Lubit, 2010), on the other hand, human resource main objective in Bahrain is to manage workers who are the custodians of knowledge. The department of human resource understands that without those workers even if they have the information and machine their organizations cannot run (Grimaldi and Rippa, 2011). As a result knowledge is viewed as an organization asset in Bahrain, although traditional assets were taken to be tangible things (Grant, 2001). The human resource on the other hand, do view experienced workers as an asset that an organization relies on and based on this Bahraini government organization have assessed, all the reasons that makes a worker or a member of staff an asset to a company or an organization and realized that it is knowledge, thus it introduced the aspect of knowledge management human resource department.
The existence of a culture where a concept of “training the new” is applied puts the organization one step closer to fulfill its KM needs, as in Bahrain and also in other countries across the world, this is viewed as a way of sharing knowledge and, therefore, qualifies to be in the category of knowledge management (Gorry, 2008). Bahrain’s organizations also have a culture of rewarding those who are performing well in certain fields, this act is identified and implemented by human resource as a way of upholding and encouraging team work, innovation and product / services development.
vnvbnvbnbnv
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This paper reviews the contribution of knowledge management on the government sector current performance in Bahrain. Buheji (2013) outlined that knowledge management was found to have played a critical role in other areas of the economy, especially in the private sector. Moreover, knowledge management has led to more efficiency and increased productivity in the economy in general. This study adopted both exploratory and descriptive research approaches in order to conduct this analysis. According to Buheji (2013) knowledge management encompasses several factors such as the availability of the required information technologies, individual capabilities and awareness, coordination between departments, acceptance and the trust of the policymakers. Accordingly, this chapter established the methods of data collection and analysis that would help in the evaluation of the impact of knowledge management on the economy.
3.2 Research design process
Five stages of this study:
Stage I: Clarification of study topic or the research problem
Stage one attempt to clarify the study topic or the research problem. At this stage, the scope of the research is clearly established. The researcher establishes all the areas that the research will cover and makes it clear which areas the research will not cover. In this stage, the investigative framework that can help in solving the research problem is developed. Stage one is also associated with identifying what is already known from the literature review while at the same time emphasizing on the knowledge gap that need to be filled.
Stage II: Development of the research strategy
At Stage Two a conceptual model that can lead to the development of the research strategy is developed. It is developed by reevaluating the research questions and the hypotheses. The development of the research strategy can follow the following steps:
i. Develop the conceptual mode
ii. Define the problem situation
iii. Finalize the identification of variables/dimensions/constructs
iv. Modify and finalize the conceptual framework
v. Modify and finalize research questions and hypothesis
vi. Identify and develop a suitable research strategy
Stage III: Identify the data collection method and research instruments
At this stage research instruments and data collection methods are established. The legitimacy and unwavering quality of the methods and the instruments picked must additionally be resolved at this stage. The identification of research instruments and data collection methods can be done using the following six steps:
i. Identify and discuss the research method
ii. Identify research instruments
iii. Set and finalize scales for measurement after getting expert reviews on the survey set up
iv. Identify method of data collection
v. Set data collection plan
vi. Establish the validity and reliability of the research instrument
Stage IV: Validity and reliability of the research instruments
For research to bear reliable conclusions, the instruments used must be reliable as well. Therefore, before a researcher commits to the field activity of data collection, he/she must first build up the legitimacy and the unwavering quality of the instruments to be utilized. Research instruments validity and reliability can be established by following the steps below:
i. Pilot the survey (Appendix B)
ii. Define survey coordinators for data collection
iii. Set method for data processing
iv. Execute procedure for data collection
v. Data entry as per coding
vi. Cleaning of data and coding
Stage V: Data Analysis
Here, the methods that will be used for data analysis are identified. In thecae of the quantitative data, analysis can be undertaken using the variation, bivariate and multivariate analysis procedures depending on the number of variables used. After the results of the regression and CFA analysis have been done, they will be discussed in comparison to the research outcomes and the research objectives. This process can follow these steps:
i. Data processing
ii. Model framework
iii. Run confirmatory factor analysis
iv. Regression analysis
v. Analyze and draw empirical conclusions
vi. Draw discussions based on the literature
vii. Draw conclusion based on the objectives
3.3 Research participants
The participants in this research were people who were involved/or were working with various departments of the government in the Kingdom of Bahrain. They had shown their willingness to participate in the interview process and answer a questionnaire.
3.4 Sample size and selection
For the purpose of this research, a sample of 55 participants were randomly chosen based on availability. This sample was divided into categories i.e. civil servants and members of the government sector. This sample was divide this way in order to capture both the beneficiaries and the implementers of the programme.
3.5 Data type and collection procedures
This study tried to survey the effect of the introduction of the knowledge management in Bahrain. This type of research is both exploratory and descriptive in nature therefore both the secondary data and the primary data shall be useful for the research. The primary data shall be collected through interviews and administration of questionnaires. On the other hand, secondary data was collected from the libraries and the government databases (Mohsen, Ali, & Jalal, 2011). Data such as the economic performance of the Kingdom, the census data, development plans such as the Kingdom’s vision 2030 were readily available on the government database.
3.6 Data analysis and synthesis
Data analysis and synthesis is the most imperative step in this research. The raw data collected will not have any meaning if not analyzed properly. In this analysis, SPSS software was used to determine the correlation and the nature of the relationship among various variables. In this research, the variables used were the economic growth measured in terms of the real GDP per capita, knowledge management and the organizations’ competitiveness. Both knowledge management and organization competitiveness are qualitative variables and, therefore, were measured in terms of the rankings that emanated from the respondents. At this stage, the researcher attempts to link the results found with the research objectives. Furthermore, tables are drawn that could aid in analyzing the trends especially in the economy as a result of the knowledge management revolution.
3.7 Literature control and the applicability of the research
Literature control refers to the comparison of the research findings in the literature reviewed. At this stage, the researcher tries to identify the points of convergence and divergence from the main literature and theory (Buheji, 2013). Through comparisons, the researcher may be to identify the extreme findings and analyze them separately to find out their implications for the research. After the results comparison, the researcher will now be able to identify the applicability of the research to the general body of knowledge and policymaking.
3.8 Research Approach
This research shall employ a positivist approach which keeps the research objective independent and uses scientific methods to evaluate it. In this method, the hypotheses are subjected to the empirical testing by the use of the quantitative methods in order to provide objective interpretation of the reality (Buheji, 2013). For the reliable result to be reached, the research plan, the survey instrument, the measurement tools used, the sampling plan, the data collection, data entry coding, and analysis of data and finally in the way that results are reported must also be up to date and reliable.
4. RESULTS OF ANALYSIS
The survey conducted aims to determine the status of the organization when it comes to understanding knowledge management and spreading its importance to everyone in the company.
Data Gathering
Questionnaires were given to 55 randomly selected individuals who filled up the necessary information such as their gender, age, and opinion about knowledge management. Using SPSS, the data was coded as follows: gender: 1 = female, 2 = male; age: 1 = less than 20 years old, 2 = 20 to 30 years old, 3 = 31 to 40 years old, 4 = 41 to 50 years old, 5 = more than 50 years old. For questions 3 to 32, 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree.
The sample data is shown in Figure 1 while the variable characteristics are illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 3 SPSS data
Figure 4 Variables
Tables 1 and 2 present the descriptive statistics of the gender and age of participants and it can be seen that there are more males (N=18, 32.7%) than females (N=14, 25.5%). Furthermore, majority of the respondents are between 20 to 30 years old (N=29, 52.7%). Next to that is the 31 to 40 years old range (N=12, 21.8%).
Table 9 Gender Frequency table
GenderFrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValidFemale1425.543.843.8Male1832.756.3100.0Total3258.2100.0MissingSystem2341.8Total55100.0
Table 10 Age Frequency table
AgeFrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValidless than 20 years old35.55.55.520 to 30 years old2952.752.758.231 to 40 years old1221.821.880.041 to 50 years old814.514.594.5More than 50 years old35.55.5100.0Total55100.0100.0
Correlation
Correlation is a statistical ranking tool that measures the degree by which two or more variables are related. The questions were categorized under the following groups and their average was taken to make the analysis simpler.
Table 11 Category per question
CategoryQuestionsUnderstanding and Recognition3457926273025Training and Promotion11121317282931Management support6814151819212223Application2024321610
The result of analysis shows that the Pearson’s r correlation between age and the four categories are negatively correlated. On the other hand, there is a statistical significance seen between gender and management (p-value = 0.014) and gender and application (p-value = 0.027) using a level of significance = 0.05. This means that male participants agree that there is management support given and ample application of knowledge management. Furthermore, there is high statistical significance (alpha = 0.01) seen between application and the three categories, namely, understanding and recognition, training and promotion, and management support. This means that respondents believe that in order to have knowledge management application to day-to-day activities, there must be the involvement of top management, employees as well as proper training and cascading of information.
Table 12 Correlation Matrix
Correlations GenderAgeUnderstanding & RecognitionTraining & PromotionManagementSupportApplicationGenderPearson Correlation1-.034.044.240.331*.299*Sig. (2-tailed) .803.752.077.014.027N555555555555AgePearson Correlation-.0341-.012-.001-.211-.031Sig. (2-tailed).803 .929.997.123.825N555555555555Understanding& RecognitionPearson Correlation.044-.0121.757**.625**.713**Sig. (2-tailed).752.929 .000.000.000N555555555555Training & PromotionPearson Correlation.240-.001.757**1.834**.952**Sig. (2-tailed).077.997.000 .000.000N555555555555Management SupportPearson Correlation.331*-.211.625**.834**1.882**Sig. (2-tailed).014.123.000.000 .000N555555555555ApplicationPearson Correlation.299*-.031.713**.952**.882**1Sig. (2-tailed).027.825.000.000.000 N555555555555*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Regression
Regression analysis aims to determine which factors have a significant effect on the dependent variables.
The result below shows that 59.3% of the variability seen in the understanding and recognition of knowledge management is predicted by the model. Since the p-value is < 0.05, the model is significant but only the training and promotion variable can predict the dependent variable since p-value = 0.16 < alpha = 0.05.
Table 13 Understanding and Recognition
Model SummaryModelRR SquareAdjusted R SquareStd. Error of the Estimate1.770a.593.552.461a. Predictors: (Constant), Training_and_Promotion, Age, Gender, Management_Support, Application
ANOVAaModelSum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig.1Regression15.20753.04114.289.000bResidual10.42949.213Total25.63654a. Dependent Variable: Understanding_and_Recognitionb. Predictors: (Constant), Training_and_Promotion, Age, Gender, Management_Support, Application
CoefficientsaModelUnstandardized CoefficientsStandardized CoefficientstSig.BStd. ErrorBeta1(Constant).586.4651.259.214Gender-.208.134-.152-1.556.126Age-.006.069-.009-.090.928Application-.001.394-.001-.002.999Management_Support.044.240.039.182.856Training_and_Promotion.841.336.7612.508.016a. Dependent Variable: Understanding_and_Recognition
Table 6 presents that 92% of the variability seen in the training and support needed for knowledge management is predicted by the model. Since the p-value is < 0.05, the model is significant but only the Application variable can predict the dependent variable since p-value = 0.00 < alpha = 0.05.
Table 14 Training and Promotion
Model SummaryModelRR SquareAdjusted R SquareStd. Error of the Estimate1.959a.920.912.185a. Predictors: (Constant), Management_Support, Age, Gender, Understanding_and_Recognition, Application
ANOVAaModelSum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig.1Regression19.30653.861112.934.000bResidual1.67549.034Total20.98254a. Dependent Variable: Training_and_Promotionb. Predictors: (Constant), Management_Support, Age, Gender, Understanding_and_Recognition, Application
CoefficientsaModelUnstandardized CoefficientsStandardized CoefficientstSig.BStd. ErrorBeta1(Constant).059.189.313.756Gender-.026.055-.021-.466.643Age.017.028.027.615.541Understanding_and_Recognition.135.054.1492.508.016Application.851.101.8518.422.000Management_Support.002.096.002.022.983a. Dependent Variable: Training_and_Promotion
Table 7 presents that 81.7% of the variability seen in management support given to knowledge management is predicted by the model. Since the p-value is < 0.05, the model is significant but only the Application (p-value < 0.00) and Age (p-value = 0.005) variables can predict the dependent variable since their p-values < alpha = 0.05.
Table 15 Management Support
Model SummaryModelRR SquareAdjusted R SquareStd. Error of the Estimate1.904a.817.798.274a. Predictors: (Constant), Application, Age, Gender, Understanding_and_Recognition, Training_and_Promotion
ANOVAaModelSum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig.1Regression16.42853.28643.735.000bResidual3.68149.075Total20.10954a. Dependent Variable: Management_Supportb. Predictors: (Constant), Application, Age, Gender, Understanding_and_Recognition, Training_and_Promotion
CoefficientsaModelUnstandardized CoefficientsStandardized CoefficientstSig.BStd. ErrorBeta1(Constant).794.2573.089.003Gender.087.080.0721.081.285Age-.112.038-.182-2.966.005Understanding_and_Recognition.015.085.017.182.856Training_and_Promotion.005.212.005.022.983Application.821.203.8394.047.000a. Dependent Variable: Management_Support
Lastly, Table 8 presents that 93.5% of the variability seen in the application of knowledge management is predicted by the model. Since the p-value is < 0.05, the model is significant but only the Management Support (p-value < 0.00) and Training and Promotion (p-value < 0.00) variables can predict the dependent variable since their p-values < alpha = 0.05.
Table 16 Application
Model SummaryModelRR SquareAdjusted R SquareStd. Error of the Estimate1.967a.935.928.167a. Predictors: (Constant), Management_Support, Age, Gender, Understanding_and_Recognition, Training_and_Promotion
ANOVAaModelSum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig.1Regression19.61353.923140.467.000bResidual1.36849.028Total20.98254a. Dependent Variable: Applicationb. Predictors: (Constant), Management_Support, Age, Gender, Understanding_and_Recognition, Training_and_Promotion
CoefficientsaModelUnstandardized CoefficientsStandardized CoefficientstSig.BStd. ErrorBeta1(Constant)-.138.170-.813.420Gender.043.049.035.869.389Age.021.025.034.858.395Understanding_and_Recognition-8.090E-005.052.000-.002.999Training_and_Promotion.695.083.6958.422.000Management_Support.305.075.2994.047.000a. Dependent Variable: Application
5. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
The survey analysis indicates the status of government organizations in regards to understanding knowledge management and how they spread its importance to other people in the organization. According to the survey analysis, the 55 randomly selected individuals provided their views about knowledge management. The data was coded into SPSS to help in analysing the responses provided by the different individuals. The responses were grouped according to age and gender of the respondents.
According to the survey analysis, the statistics indicate that the participants feel that there is management support as well as adequate application of knowledge management. The high statistical significance indicated between application, and the three categories is as a result of the impact of knowledge management revolution in government sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The survey analysis confirms that due to knowledge management revolution; individuals expect that the top management and employees must always be involved in the organization’s daily activities. The knowledge management revolution has also increased awareness of employees on the training they need to receive in order to improve their performance of work.
From the survey analysis, the employees believe that for proper knowledge management, there is a need for training and support. This is indicated in Table 6 which presents the percentage of the variability seen in the training and support needed for knowledge management.
The survey analysis also indicates that the revolution of knowledge management has also affected the manner in which government sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain consider management support given to knowledge management. Table 7 presents the percentage of variability seen in management support that is given to knowledge management in government sectors.
The knowledge management practices may be used to influence initiatives that help in ensuring better government development. It is, therefore, important for government sector to continue with research on knowledge management and how its maturity can lead to improved performance in the government sector.
According to the survey analysis, the knowledge management revolution also has had a significant impact on the application of knowledge management. Table 8 indicates the percentage variability seen in the application of knowledge management as predicted by the model. Different government sectors need to address continuously the knowledge management initiatives that would lead to the knowledge-based government sector. This can be done through the identification of place, purpose, perspective, and process in regard to knowledge management.
The survey analysis shows that positive knowledge management is an important tool in the government sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The current research provides information about knowledge management that may be used by government sectors, leaders, and other decision-makers in the government to understand and focus on the specific indicators that are in line with the government programmes. The research helps leaders and other officials in the government to understand the consequences of the implementation of knowledge management.
For government sectors to improve their performance and effectiveness, there is a need to select and implement the necessary knowledge management framework; this will assist the government sector to better tackle the challenges brought about by the changing environment. This makes the development of a knowledge management frame not only desirable, but also necessary for the government sector because such a framework will establish a methodology that would link different disciplines in the sector to knowledge management, and thus improving the performance of the entire government.
Knowledge management can be referred to as the activities through which the government sector get value from the knowledge-based assets and intellectual capital available. To implement knowledge management strategies, the government sector can carry out practical programs that have clear milestones and knowledge management strategy that will be practically effective in improving the government sector’s performance. The government sector in Bahrain is expected by the citizens to deliver high-quality services with regard to education, infrastructure, and healthcare.
Proper knowledge management initiatives in the government sector can lead to highly efficient and effective government because the government sector is considered to have vast knowledge. Such knowledge management can increase the country’s use of internal resources and thus improving the overall economy. Knowledge management is especially important in cases where tacit knowledge is not available.
Knowledge management utilizes the internal resources of the government sector to ensure relevant initiatives are supported, and the required development practices take place. The current study may be used to analyse how government sector makes use of knowledge management and its influences to improve the performance of the government. Therefore, this study may be used as a tool by different government sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain for providing a better understanding of the discipline of knowledge management by ensuring adoption and facilitation of knowledge management initiatives. Knowledge management will also ensure that the appropriate initiatives are prioritized.
Initiatives developed through the knowledge management processes can be regarded as important internal assets in the different government sectors. The results of this research encourage the government sector to support knowledge management initiatives as a tool that they can use in creating success and improved government development practices.
Appropriate management of knowledge will help ensure that there is reduced opportunity loss through processes that ensure that initiative selection is linked to the overall objectives of the government sector. If the government sector is able to optimize its initiatives, it is highly likely that the outcomes and value proposition will be more sustainable and tangible.
The adoption of appropriate knowledge management can be used to ensure that positive influence on the performance of government sector. Such knowledge management can increase the innovation and learning in the government sector thus improving the performance of the entire government. This is in line with the issues of knowledge management infrastructure where the capabilities of knowledge process lead to improved organizational performance and organizational learning.
This research provides a model that may be used by government sectors in ensuring that there is efficient and appropriate utilization of resources and provision of services to the citizens. The findings of the survey analysis provide details on what the leaders and government officials should consider while managing knowledge that will help improve the performance of the government sector. If the officials in the government sector embrace the spirit of knowledge management practices, then they would understand how knowledge management practices add value the government initiatives and thus improving the efficiency and performance of the government sector.
The proposed knowledge management model that may be used in the government sector will generate better results and will improve the relationship between knowledge management and the internal resources with different development practices in the government sector. The current research provides a direction for future studies focused on the strengths associated with integration of different disciplines that form a comprehensive framework that can be used to tackle different problems associated with government sectors.
Conclusion and Recommendation
There are different human resource management strategies that may be used to improve the performance of government in regards to knowledge management. However, a single approach may not be appropriate to ensure improved performance due to the difference in employees capabilities and motivation. Therefore, there is a need to mix different approaches. The mixed approaches should be used to provide a model that will facilitate the transformation of the government sector towards improving its performance and being more effective and efficient.
The study indicates that knowledge management is a crucial source of an organization capacity in the government sectors. Knowledge management can be considered as an important influence that can enhance the performance and overall competitiveness in the government sectors. The current study confirms this by indicating how knowledge management practices have revolutionized the government sectors.
Currently, government sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain s facing radical changes, thus, there is a need to adapt to such change to ensure continued effectiveness in this sector. However, there is a challenge in linking the different practices with the knowledge management. The existing lack of positive approaches that may be used to influence knowledge management implementation and thus getting its value is an important issue that needs to be considered in future research.
CHAPTER 4
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The current research can also help the different government sectors identify the actions to take in regard to how knowledge management and how government sector performance improvement can be targeted. If this research is conducted and enhanced in different sectors, it can help management n government and private sectors in improving the performance and effectiveness of their organizations.
The current research helps practitioners and leaders understand the central role played by knowledge management through the generation of initiatives that have different developing values and classifying them accordance with their priority.
Future research may be focused on developing knowledge management best practices that consider the relationships between cause and effect which is still considered a challenge in different government sectors. The finding is this research may be developed further so that they can be used practically for the self-assessment of different government sectors to ensure optimum knowledge management initiatives; consequently, improving value creation in the different parts of the government.
Knowledge management can improve the competitiveness of a private or government sector whether direct or indirectly. For instance, knowledge management can influence resources and internal values that can make the government sector to be highly efficient and effective. Knowledge can be assessed by the use of different methods, future research is recommended to focus on how knowledge may be managed based on values and how such knowledge can be used to increase competitiveness in the private sector as well as in the government sector.
Government sector should understand the capability of knowledge management and how to effectively manage knowledge assets. The government sector should manage knowledge from its development and ensure that its use helps in improving performance. Future research should continue in this area so as to trigger thoughts on how government sector can initiate different knowledge management processes that would lead to improved performance. Future research should thus facilitate the knowledge management capability optimization so as to boost the government sector performance and effectiveness which will add value to the country.
APPENDIX A: THE SURVEY
I am conducting this survey as a part of my MSc Masters Degree in Engineering Management with The George Washington University. This survey is an instrument to help measure the Knowledge Management awareness in the governmental sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The survey has 33 questions and will not take more than 5 minutes to be filled. Mostly it asks to rank your opinions on different aspects on knowledge management according to your organization. Your answers will be anonymous and will be used only for the analysis of the research mentioned above.
Please do not hesitate to contact me in case you require any further assistance or clarification via any of the following methods:
Researcher: Abdulaziz Showaiter
Mobile: +973 3982 8800
eMail: azizms2@gmail.com
Part A
Q1. Gender __ Male __ Female
Q2. Age __ less than 20 __ 20 to 30 __ 31 to 40 __ 41 to 50 __more than 50
Part B
Q.QuestionStrongly AgreeAgreeNeutralDisagreeStrongly Disagree3.Do people at all the levels in your organization have a general understanding of the concept of “knowledge management?”4.Do people from all levels of your organization recognize knowledge management as the most crucial key resource of the organization?
5.There is a broad board level designed purposely for knowledge management.
6.In your opinion, do you think that the top management of your organization is committed to the concept of knowledge management?
7.Do you agree with the following statement “sharing and recording is a second nature routine in your organization”?
8.Do you support the following statement, “the top management of your organization acknowledges that knowledge management as a critical part of the business strategy of the organization?
9.Failing is viewed as an opportunity for better learning in your organization?
10.Does the working fraternity of your organization recognize change management as a part of their working lives?
11.Do you agree with that all the employees in your organization are very co-operative and are always ready to help when they are asked for some advice or some information?
12.Do you believe that knowledge hoarding is viewed as a weakness, while knowledge sharing is viewed as the most important strength of your organization?
13.People in your organization are very transparent when it comes to gathering information and data from each other.
14.It is true to say that all the intellectual-assets and good-will concepts are both recognized in terms to importance and valuablilty in your organization?
15.At the moment, there is an ongoing review of the effectiveness and he efficient knowledge management to the entire company by the senior level management?
16.Knowledge is viewed as an important strategic and tactic assets in your organization.
17.Perfect knowledge management characteristics such as sharing and reusing available knowledge within the organization are promoted actively in your organization on a regular basis.
18.The top management in your organization strongly discourages bad management behavior within and outside the organization.?
APPENDIX B: PILOT STUDY
Here is the second appendix.
REFERENCES
Al Obaidy, H. S. (2011). Building capacity for a knowledge-based economy in Bahrain. World Association of Sustainable Development. Retrieved from http://www.worldsustainable.org
Harzing,A. ?. P. (2010) International Human Resource Management. SAGE pubishers.
Araimi, F. A. (2011). Power of Human Resources. AuthorHouse.Armstrong, M. (2011). Armstrong’s Handbook of Strategic Human Resource Management. Kogan Page.
Bahrain Economic Development Board. (2013). Kingdom of Bahrain: Economic Yearbook 2013. Retrieved from http://www.bahrainedb.com/en/EDBDocuments/Bahrain-Economic-Yearbook.pdf
Buheji, M. J. (2013). Knowledge Management Influence on Government Organisations Competitiveness (Doctoral dissertation, University of Brunei, Brunei). Retrieved from http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/7236/1/FulltextThesis.pdf
Buheji, M. J., & Jahrami, H. (2013). Competitiveness of Government Organizations through Customer Satisfaction in a Knowledge Economy: Study in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Journal of Public Administration and Governance, 3(4). Retrieved from http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/jpag/article/view/4931/_4
Catherine Truss, ?. M. (2012). Strategic Human Resource Management. Oxford University Press.
Chawla, D & Joshi, H. (2010). Knowledge management initiatives in Bahrain Public and Private Sector Organizations. Journal of Knowledge Management, 811-827.
CHEA. (2012). Accredation and accuntability: Looking backand Looking Ahead’ Council for Higher Education Accredition (CHEA) Occasional Paper. Washington DC.
Chen, C and Huang, J. (2009). Strategic Human Resources Practices and Innovation Performance: the mediating role of knowledge management capacity. Journal of Business Research, 104-114.
Chopra, J. K. (2010). Human Resource Management A Comntemporary Approach. Pinnacle technology.
Colin W, and Croasdell D,. (2014). A Comparative Case Study of Knowledge Resource Utilization to Model Organizational Learning. University of Nevada press.
Connelly, C and Kelloway, E. (2003). ‘‘Predictors of employees’ perceptions of knowledge sharing cultures”. Leadership & Organization Development Journal,, 294-301.
Darwish, S. (2014). Education and Human Capital Development in Bahrain:”Future International Collaboration with Malaysia”. International Journal of Academic research and development, 3(4), 321-334. Retrieved from http://elvedit.com/journals/IJARM/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Education-and-Human-Capital-Development-in-Bahrain.pdf
De Souza. (2006 ). The difficulties of measuring KM. Knowledge Management review. New York: Harper Business Press.
Nakibullah A, & Islam F,. (2007). Effect of government spending on non-oil GDP of Bahrain. Journal of Asian Economics.
Chawla, D & Joshi, H. (2010). Knowledge management initiatives in Bahrain Public and Private Sector Organizations. Journal of Knowledge Management, 811-827.
CHEA. (2012). Accredation and accuntability: Looking backand Looking Ahead’ Council for Higher Education Accredition (CHEA) Occasional Paper. Washington DC.
Chen, C and Huang, J. (2009). Strategic Human Resources Practices and Innovation Performance: the mediating role of knowledge management capacity. Journal of Business Research, 104-114.
Colin W, and Croasdell D,. (2014). A Comparative Case Study of Knowledge Resource Utilization to Model Organizational Learning. University of Nevada press.
Connelly, C and Kelloway, E. (2003). ‘‘Predictors of employees’ perceptions of knowledge sharing cultures”. Leadership & Organization Development Journal,, 294-301.
De Souza. (2006 ). The difficulties of measuring KM. Knowledge Management review. New York: Harper Business Press.
Dito, M. (2010). Migration policies and Challenges in the Kingdom of Bahraini. Journal of e-services and e-governance in Bahrain and the Gulf.
Eftekharzadeh, R. (2012). Knowledge management implimentation in Developing Countries. The Enterpreneur, Spring, 44-58.
Gorry G,. (2008). Sharing knowledge in the public sector: two case studies. Knowledge Management research and Practice, 105-111.
Grant, R. (2001). Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 109-122.
Grimaldi M, and Rippa, P. (2011). An AHP-Based Framework for Selecting Knowledge Management Tools to Sustain Innovation Process. Knowledge and Process management, 45-55.
Handzic, M. (2011). Integrated socio-technical knowledge management model an empirical evaluation,. Journal of Knowledge Management, 198-211.
Harikrishnan, S and Khalid, A. (2015). Bahrain Government Embraces COBIT 5 Governance and IT Management.
Ho, L. (2011). Meditation, learning, organizational innovation and performance,. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 113-131.
Lubit, R. (2010). Tacit knowledge and knowledge management: The keys to sustainable competitive advantage. Organisational Dynamics, 164-178.
Lucas, L. (2012). The evolution of organizations and the development of appropriate knowledge structures. Journal of Knowledge Management, 190-201.
Magdalena, K, & Razzaque, A,. (2013). Bahraini Government and the e-Government Initiative: an Assessment. Brighton: Sussex Academic press.
Nugent J,. (2001). Bahrain and the Gulf. Worcester: Billings and Sons Ltd.
Palvia,S, C & Shama S, S. (2007). E-Government and E-Governance. Retrieved June 16th, 2015, from Definations/ Domain Framework and Status around the World: http://www.iceg.net/2007/books/1/1_369.pdf
Phusavat, K & Anussornnitiarn, P. (2010). Sustaining Organisational Development through Knowledge Management in Public Sector. International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 16-31.
Politis J,. (2003). ‘‘The connection between trust and knowledge management: what are its implications for team performance. Journal of Knowledge Management,, 55-66.
Rhodes J, Lok, P & Hung, R. (2008). Factors Influencing Organizational Knowledge Transfer: Inplication for Corporate performance. Journal of Knowledge Management, 329-355.
Sahraoui, S. (2005). E-Government in Arabian Gulf 1: Government Transformation verses Government Automation. Retrieved June 16th, 2015, from http://www.iseing.org/egv/eGOV05/Source%20Files/Papers/Cameraready-16-P.pdf
Salleh, K and Ahmed,S. (2008). KM in the Local Authorities – A suitable platform for E-Government? 8th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organizations . UK: Cambrige University.
Smith H & Rupp W,. (2002). ‘Communication and loyalty among knowledge workers: a resource of the firm theory view’. Journal of Knowledge Management, 61-99.
Storey C, & Kahn K,. (2011). The Role of Knowledge Mnanagement Strategies and Task Knowledge in Stimulating Service Innovation. Journal of Service Research, 397-410.
Syed-Ikhsan S, and Rowland F. (2004). ‘‘Knowledge management in public organizations: a study on the relationship between organizational elements and the performance of knowledge transfer. Journal of Knowledge Management, 95-111.
Whitten J, Bentley, L, and Dittman, K. (2001). System Analysis and Design Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill,.
Zheng, W & Yang, B,. (2011). Linking organizational Culture, Structure, Strategy and organizational effectiveness: Mediating role of knowledge management. Journal of Business Research, 763-771.
TO GET YOUR ASSIGNMENTS DONE AT A CHEAPER PRICE, PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US NOW.