Impact of Communication Climate on Knowledge Management Readiness among Universities in Lagos State

Abstract

Knowledge is both a blessing and a curse, blessing because it is the only organisation source, which is neither depletable nor depreciable and curse because it is easily available and accessible to others, including competitors, and hence shortens the life of organisation competitive advantage. This is not a surprise because knowledge economy in organisation strategy where activities, products and services are knowledge-driven and knowledge based. This paper investigated the impact of communication climate on knowledge management readiness among administrative staff of libraries of universities located in Lagos state, Nigeria.

Research questions were raised and hypotheses were formulated, data was sourced from primary sources making use of questionnaire as the instrument of data collection. This was analysed with simple statistical tool of percentages, mean and descriptive tool of pie and bar chart to demonstrate the frequencies.

It was discovered that when organisation is ready for knowledge management readiness, individuals, contents, contexts and process variables can explain variances in commitment and pessimism toward knowledge management. It specifically assessed the effects of critical success factors, including positive and negative effects, innovativeness, perceived organisational support, communication climate, appropriateness, personal valence, management support, participation and quality of information on the affective, continuous and normative commitment and pessimism for determining the extent that an organisation is ready to embrace knowledge management initiatives. As employees in organisations progress with age, they acquire a set of knowledge that is customized to the firms’ operations, structure and culture.

This study concluded and recommends that regardless of the type of organisation, there is no doubt that acumen and insight will give an organisation a winning edge. Therefore, leveraging the advantages of knowledge management readiness in an institution requires long-term commitment and leadership that values trial and error and a dedication to innovation and continuous improvement.

Key Words: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Readiness and Administrative Staff