Exploring Knowledge Management Perceptions of Human Resource and Business Managers in Singapore

The field of knowledge management (KM) research is wide and interdisciplinary in nature. From an implementation perspective, it is often associated with information technologies (IT) and information systems (IS) professionals. In our study, we chose to focus on understanding the perceptions of non-IS professionals in order to gain a first-hand understanding of KM issues from their perspectives. This paper reports the preliminary findings of an ongoing research which aims at exploring some of the issues and concerns commonly associated with the notion of KM among non-IS practitioners. Our research subjects were targeted at very senior executives, managers and consultants engaged in human resource (HR) and other management functions. The main objective was to elicit a variety of KM perceptions and concerns common to these non-IS professionals based in Singapore. Through a series of focus group sessions, a range of issues is surfaced and categorised broadly into themes such as organisational culture, KM vision and leadership, roles of human resource management, knowledge sharing, talent shortage, accessing and documenting knowledge, knowledge regeneration and learning. The findings also raise new challenges for HR management in the context of KM research and practice.