ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN TELECOMMUNICATION ORGANISATIONS OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

Over the past few years, business environment has changed rapidly with the advancement of information technology and emergence of knowledge based economy. Tangible assets like supply of raw materials, machinery, investments, technological infrastructure no doubt still hold their importance but in recent years another asset is being valued and given much importance – intellectual capital or corporate knowledge. A lot of studies have demonstrated the importance of knowledge to organisational performance which has made organisations realise that knowledge is an important asset which serves as the basis for sustained competitive advantage. If a company owns superior knowledge about the market, suppliers, customers and their requirements and preferences, factors influencing the operations of the organisation, it can accomplish the objectives faster, better and at a reduced cost than the competing organisations. Not only in the manufacturing industries but in fields like health, nursing and telecommunication, knowledge management can play a pivotal role in developing competencies for the organisation. Telecommunications industry is a high-tech service industry which is continuously expanding its network and faces a stricter competition everyday with increased technological innovation and globalisation. Telecommunication companies devise newer strategies to become competitive domestically as well as internationally. With the emergence of new companies in the industry, each company needs to find sources for competitive advantage in order to survive. Pakistan telecom sector has achieved growth in a very short span of time. Monopolized structure has been abolished which helped the cellular mobile segment thrive. The introduction of two new cellular operators created a healthy competition resulting in reduced price rates, increased coverage and better quality of service. With the rapid growth of the industry, telecommunication organizations in Pakistan need to develop tools to survive the challenges and pressures put forward in the competitive environment. Owing to the importance of KM in telecommunication industry and the national knowledge based economy, this research focuses on finding out if the telecommunication companies in Pakistan recognise knowledge as an asset and use it to gain a competitive advantage. The research identifies factors which enable the success of KM implementation or act as barriers in Pakistani telecom environment, based on which recommendations are made as how the telecom companies can create opportunities for improvement and enhance their competitiveness through KM implementation.