Towards a Design Theory for Process-Based Knowledge Management Systems

In today’s knowledge economy, organizations need to effectively manage their knowledge to support an increasing number of knowledge intensive business processes. Such knowledgeintensive business processes could be more effectively supported by Process-based knowledge management (PKM) systems that integrate knowledge management services with process management systems. However, currently there are minimal design guidelines for developing such PKM systems. In this research-in-progress paper, we highlight this research problem, and propose a preliminary framework that can be extended to serve as a design theory for developing process-based knowledge management systems. Specifically, we identify kernel theories governing the design and development of PKM systems, and propose a design process for developing PKM systems. We also identify future research opportunities for further extending the framework and its evaluation.