KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ISSUE - A CASE STUDY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AT A SAUDI UNIVERSITY - Research paper

Oct 15, 2026

This qualitative research investigates Knowledge Management in the Department of Educational Administration at a Saudi university, aiming to clarify KM as a concept, examine how it is implemented, and identify the obstacles encountered. Findings are organized into three main themes with sub-themes, including understanding KM, applying KM, and challenges. Results show interviewees view KM implementation as easy in research contexts but weak in administration, with key challenges linked to administrative and cultural issues.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Research questions

Literature Review

Knowledge, information, and data

Explicit vs. tacit knowledge

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ISSUE: A CASE STUDY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AT A SAUDI UNIVERSITY FATEMAH ABDULLAH ALHAZMI Taibah University ABSTRACT This research employs a qualitative methodology to investigate Knowledge Management (KM) in the department of educational administration at a Saudi university. The research seeks to establish an understanding of KM, including its implementation and challenges. The findings from the participants are grouped into three major themes, each of which contains a number of sub-themes: (1) Understanding KM; (2) applying KM; and (3) the challenges of applying KM. The study is divided according to the participants’understanding of KM into five sub-themes: (1) the process of knowledge creation, socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation; (2) sharing tacit knowledge; (3) finding data electronically; (4) transferring tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge; and (5) sharing information. The results reveal the majority of interviewees view the implementation of KM as straightforward in the area of research and weak in the area of administration. All the interviewees stated that the main challenges when implementing KM in their department relate to issues of administration and culture. INTRODUCTION All organisations, in both the public and private sectors, aim to both fulfil their goals and objectives and to be competitive. However, this cannot be achieved without sharing ideas and knowledge between members within the organisation. Knowledge has previously been viewed from several perspectives, i.e. abstract, philosophical, religious and practical (Asoh, Belardo, & Neilson, 2002) . Its history stretches back over several thousand years, during which there has been a consideration of the meaning of knowledge, along with how it can be created and shared in an effective manner. Organisations have since become increasingly aware of the importance of knowledge as a primary resource, including in both the commercial sphere and the public sector. However, knowledge itself is insufficient to reach effective decisions concerning some issues within an organisation, and there is also a need to manage knowledge in order to compete successfully in the marketplace. The concept of KM has several benefits, including: • To identify required knowledge; • To encourage innovation throughout an organisation; • To reduce cost; • To create technical knowledge; • To increase the value of knowledge; • To invest intellectual capital; and • To increase awareness among workers concerning events within an organisation (Alzyadat & Alqutawi, 2010) . The researcher recognized from the literature that KM is a relatively new field of study, it has recently received considerable attention in the academic field. Higher Education Institutions in any educational system have aims to be achieved such as prepare new generations with the skills, cultural and scientific literacy, flexibility, and capacity for critical inquiry and moral choice Educational Planning 49 Vol. 25, No. 1 necessary to make their own contribution to society (Birgeneau, 2005, p. ix). However, all these and other objectives are based on knowledge that need to be managed. This paper therefore focuses on the practical issues ofKM in a department of educational administration in a Saudi university. It focuses on the following research questions: 1. To what extent do members understand the concept of KM? 2. In what way is the concept of KM applied within the department? 3. What are challenges of implementing KM in the department? LITERATURE REVIEW In order to understand the concept of ‘Knowledge Management’, it is first necessary to understand the concept of knowledge, i.e. what it is, and to identify the differences between knowledge and information, and the differences between knowledge and data. Data consists of numbers, words, letters, facts or figures without any context, i.e. it is not

FAQs

What is the paper’s main purpose regarding Knowledge Management?

It investigates Knowledge Management in the Department of Educational Administration at a Saudi university, focusing on understanding KM, how it is applied, and the challenges of implementing it.

How does the study structure its findings?

Participant insights are grouped into three major themes—understanding KM, applying KM, and challenges—each containing several sub-themes.

What challenges are reported for implementing KM in the department?

Interviewees report that the main challenges relate to administrative and cultural issues, and that implementation is stronger in research than in administration.

Oct 15, 2026

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