Research proposal v3

Background

• Knowledge has become the main source of economic growth in developed economies. Increasing importance of knowledge-intensive industries and knowledge workers
• Knowledge management (KM) is emerging as a discipline that integrates contributions from many disparate fields
• There is a growing concern over who the workers involved with KM are and how formal education can prepare them for the role

Objective

• To explain the development of KM competence in existing graduate KM programs as a process of knowledge creation and transfer
• MRQ:
  
• How is KM competence developed in existing graduate KM programs?
• SRQs:
• How do existing KM programs interpret KM competence?
• What knowledge and processes are used in the development of KM competence?
• In what contexts do those processes occur?
• How is KM competence assessed?

Methodology

An explanatory multi-case study:

• Qualitative content analysis of program descriptions and courses’ contents
• E-mail survey of program coordinators on the concept of KM competence

• Unstructured interviews of program coordinators
• Semi-structured interviews of selected instructors

Schedule

1. Literature review
2. Preliminary survey of existing KM programs
3. Case studies of selected KM programs
4. Writing and conclusions