Analysis of Best Practice Policy and Benchmarking Behavior for Government Knowledge Management

Korean government has several best practice competition and diffusion programs for the purpose of public administration reform and the improvement of government service. From the perspective of knowledge management, this paper evaluates the best practice policy and analyzes the main factors influencing the recognition, adoption and utilization of best practices through the email-based survey and interview with local government officers. The result shows that 1) The government officers’ recognition of best practice programs and the best practices themselves is not high, 2) The adoption and utilization of a best practice is affected by its value and officer’s information needs, 3) Raising the recognition of Best practice policy affects the recognition and adoption of a best practice, and 4) The recognition and utilization of a best practice is affected by the work experience. The result gives important implications for designing and implementing government knowledge management systems and strategies.