Knowledge management in administratitve units of municipals

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse knowledge management (KM) among the administrative units of Icelandic municipalities, with að special emphasis on knowledge sharing. An online survey was sent to nearly all the personnel of all the Icelandic municipalities’ administration. In total 385 individuals responded to the survey, a response rate of 63.3%. Also, five key employees within the administration of the municipalities were interviewed. The main conclusion indicates that there is no explicit strategy within the administration of Icelandic municipalities that supports knowledge sharing even though many methods of knowledge management are used to a certain degree. Organizational culture supports knowledge sharing in certain ways but without strategic intention. The larger municipalities have implemented more aspects of KM than the smaller ones. Positive correlation was found between incentives of managers to disseminate knowledge and knowledge sharing and between organizational culture and knowledge sharing. The respondents believe that the municipalities could provide better services if knowledge sharing were more systematic.