Exploring Current State and Diffusion of Knowledge Management (KM) Research

The aim of this research-in-progress paper is to provide a comprehensive and systematic review of the literature relating to knowledge management issues in order to establish the current “state of play” in the domain along a number of dimensions including unit of analysis, research paradigm employed, and the research topics/issues investigated. Information on a series of variables was extracted after conducting a review of 1043 articles on knowledge management, published in various peer reviewed journals between 1974 and 2008. Our findings suggest that the positivist paradigm, empirical and conceptual/descriptive research, and the multi-method approach were used predominantly when investigating the topics related to KM. KM systems followed by KM environment issues were the most widely published areas within KM domain. Further, we have identified literature gaps that require further exploration and conceptual refinement in the context of knowledge management research.