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Micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are important to the economy of any country and knowledge is an important intangible asset for such companies in attempting to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Maturity models can be used to assess a situation in relation to the possibility of achieving certain objectives, as well as identifying necessary improvements. Hence, the main objective of this study is to assess the maturity of knowledge management in a group of Brazilian SMEs. Hence, data were collected from 232 Brazilian SMEs operating in different business sectors, namely industry, trade and service. The companies have a maximum of ninety nine employees and a maximum annual turnover of 36,000,000.00 Reais (Brazilian currency). The maturity model used has five levels. The analysed constructs were classified into four key factors: internal context, process, content and external environment. The analysed group of companies was rated (on average): at level 2 regarding the constructs information technology, explicit knowledge, partners, knowledge creation and knowledge storage, at level 3 regarding the constructs tacit knowledge, customers, suppliers and knowledge sharing and, at level 4 regarding the construct top management support. The items comprising each construct were analysed in order to indicate the actions required to reach the next level. The results obtained by applying the knowledge management maturity model in a group of companies can be used by individual companies as well as contribute towards the development by organizations of collective actions designed to improve knowledge management in companies of this size. This study contributes at both the business and academic spheres. Business managers can use the instrument to assess their companies and make comparisons with other companies. In academic terms, the study contributes towards the discussion on knowledge management in SMEs, given that they are more dependent on external knowledge than are large companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing the value of knowledge management is one of the most difficult tasks for enterprises. The main objective of this theoretical paper is to propose a knowledge management maturity model that relates knowledge management with strategic benefits in terms of absorptive capacity, innovation and organizational performance. The knowledge management maturity model developed in this study is based on an analysis of eight knowledge management maturity models previously published in scientific journals. The analysis considered the number of levels, the key factors, how the model is applied and the association of knowledge management with strategic benefits. The proposed model consists of five levels and four key factors, namely, internal environment (top management support, information technology), content (tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge), process (creation/storage and sharing), and external environment (customers, partners and suppliers). The levels are defined as follows: Level 1 – the enterprise does not recognize the value of knowledge; Level 2 – the enterprise recognizes the value of knowledge; Level 3 – the enterprise introduces knowledge management; Level 4 – the enterprise evaluates and improves knowledge management internally; Level 5 – the enterprise develops knowledge networking, internally and externally. The proposed model also considers the relationship between the key factors in the KM maturity model and absorptive capacity, innovation and organizational performance. In future research, a survey will be conducted to test the relationships between the key factors themselves and between the key factors and the strategic benefits (absorptive capacity, innovation and organizational performance). The hypotheses are: the support of top management influences tacit and explicit knowledge; information technology influences tacit and explicit knowledge; tacit knowledge influences explicit knowledge; the customers, partners and suppliers influence tacit knowledge; tacit and explicit knowledge influence knowledge sharing, creation/storage; knowledge creation influences innovation; knowledge sharing influences absorptive capacity; absorptive capacity influences innovation; and innovation influences organizational performance. The results of this model could provide: 1) an evaluation of the company as well as comparisons between companies in relation to knowledge management, and 2) an evaluation of the strategic benefits of knowledge management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attainment of sustainable competitive advantage is one of the reasons for the adoption of Knowledge Management (KM) in the organizations. Knowledge management implementation is a challenge for the organizations, because it involves the technology adoption, change in the processes and in some cases change in the organizational culture. Several frameworks with intention to guide the adoption of KM are identified in literature, which considers, for example, the attributes for the implementation success or a road map about the procedures to be carried through. However, many of them do not approach the KM as an evolving process, which demands attention to different aspects depending on the characteristics of the organization. The frameworks considered by this research are those which approach KM implementation in stages. In such a way, the goal of this research is to analyze the elements considered in the stage models for KM implementation, comparatively to the reality of two organizations of the information technology sector in Brazil. The research question is: How do the elements considered in the stages models for KM implementation occur comparatively to the reality of two organizations of the information technology sector in Brazil? To answer this question, the research method used is qualitative. The research strategy is the exploratory case study in two organizations in Brazil, both of the Information Technology sector. The data were collected mainly by semi-structured interviews. The main obtained results are: the analyzed organizations are in different stages of KM implementation, this result corroborates with the frameworks that deal with KM implementation as an evolving process; the experience of the analyzed organizations is in accordance to with the stages objectives considered for Lee and Kim (2001) and Lin (2007); when analyzing the elements contemplated in each framework stage, we verify that they do not reflect the experience of the two analyzed organizations; it is necessary to deeply discuss the elements to be contemplated in each stage of the KM implementation, specially the order in which they must be approached in the organization. The results of this research can be useful to academics and practitioners, because it deepens the discussion about frameworks for KM implementation in stages, and also they show the case of two organizations of the information technology sector in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]