Managing Knowledge Through Knowledge Management Systems: Innovation vs Tradition

This chapter identifies relevant digital tools and managerial practices supporting companies in the different phases of the knowledge management process. The findings of this chapter, which are based on a study of 25 suppliers operating in high-tech sectors, show that businesses prefer to use outdated knowledge management systems (KMS) rather than more recent ones that are also more affordable and user-friendly. This gap illustrates the challenges suppliers face in adapting to the rapid changes in technology as well as the lack of support from information and communication technology (ICT) vendors in the selection of suitable IT-based tools (KM-Tools). The chapter also emphasizes that the majority of suppliers investigated adopt a variety of knowledge management practices (KM-Practices) that are used on average more intensively than KM-Tools. The field analysis shows that many practices are common to many suppliers and that customers play a vital role in supporting suppliers in their knowledge management process.