Proposing a Knowledge Management System (KMS) Architecture to Promote Knowledge Sharing among Employees

Knowledge is a strategic resource for knowledge intensive organizations like commercial banks. However, the use of knowledge as resource depends on an organization’s ability to select, capture, store, disseminate and apply its knowledge resources. This organizational capability is created if the organization undertakes explicit initiatives to establish and sustain a KMS as one of its core business functions. An empirical investigation of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) shows that there is no explicit initiative or responsible unit to manage its knowledge resources. This study uses a design science research method to investigate the problems KM in CBE and propose KMS architecture which is believed, when implemented, to solve current problems. The main theoretical contribution of the study is that it demonstrates how to design a KMS architecture using system analysis and ontology methods. The paper has also implication for practice as it suggests solutions for observed problems and ways to increase CBE’s capability to use its knowledge resources.