Assessing the role of knowledge management in adding value: moving towards a comprehensive framework

Researchers and practitioners have emphasised the need for advances in knowledge management (KM) research to better understand how organisations add value from their KM practices. Thus, a comprehensive framework, rooted in two main theoretical streams of KM practices, objectivist and practice-based perspective, is proposed. We believe this explains how KM practices add value, and will assist organisations to obtain a more accurate picture of their KM practices, the factors that influence KM implementation, and how KM can be measured. The framework also serves as a means to identify how well KM practices meet organisational strategies. This paper begins with a review of different KM perspectives and then reports the findings of qualitative in-depth interviews with UK car manufacturers