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Journal of Education and Vocational Research
Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 159-164 May 2013 (ISSN 2221-2590)
Project Success and Knowledge Management (KM) Practices in Malaysian Institution of
Higher Learning (IHL)
*Md. Nasiruzzaman, Hani A. Qudaih, Abdul Rahman Ahmad Dahlan
International Islamic University, Malaysia
*princeiium@gmail.om
Abstract: The purpose of this research to identify the relationship of project success and knowledge
management practices in Malaysian Institutions of Higher education. As it's known the fact that the
Institutions of higher learningare dedicated in knowledge management businessdue to their nature of jobs
like knowledge creation, deployment and learning. The findings suggest that there is a strong relationship
between project success and the knowledge management practices implementation process, which is based
on, procure proper knowledge and practices, willing and dedicated leadership,strong ICT infrastructure and
value based organizational culture where successful knowledge transfer play as the mediator role. This
research provides a clear view for researchers and enthusiasts regarding success factors that may influence
project success in implementing KM practices in higher learning Institutions and other homogenous
organizations. This research is a pouring key ingredient for researchers to re-think about implementing KM
Strategies for the Institutions of Higher learning.
Keywords: Project Success, Knowledge Management Practices, Malaysian institutions of higher education
1. Introduction
In the modernization era, Knowledge Management and Project Management are recognized to bethemost
significant agent of change and play as a competitive role in organizations.Historically, Projects that meet its
objectives under time and budget considered as successful projects (Prabhakar, 2008). Today, many
organizations pay attention on management and successprojects, as they focus on achieving project
objectives. There is no doubt that organizations adopt managerial processes, which have their own tools that
give managers a good opportunity to succeed in order to achieve their goals. Even though continuous
research and discussion in many years ago, there is no satisfied solution for the issue of comprehensive and
an adequate evaluation rather than measurement of project success. Many researches have proposed
definitions and measurement approaches for project success within organizations. Knowledge has become
the most important capital in the present age and hence succeedsin any organizations, including universities
lie in using it. As a result, researches showed that thesystems of knowledge management in organizations are
givenfull attention in order to boost up learning and performance by capturing, sharing and using productive
knowledge. Nowadays, the change of Knowledge Management (KM) is evolutionary. Today, an evolving of
Knowledge Management practices in organizations has grown tremendously in research and publication. A
lot of researches and specialized people are trying to focus on solvingthe issues and problems that have been
existed in organizations. Recently, theories, backgrounds and frameworks of Knowledge Management (KM)
have been widely studied and reported by researchers. Evolving information and knowledge has affected all
Malaysians’ organizations and universities. Knowledge management has become a priority for Malaysian
higher education as well including universities.
According to Sandhuet al. (2011), in order to spur innovation, improve customer service, or achieve
operational excellence, most of the staff are knowledge workers due to the fact that sharing of knowledge is
very essential in knowledge-based organizations such as IHEs. Instead of creating new patterns of knowledge
management, it is better to acknowledge the existing KM in Institutions of Higher Learning for further
progress. IHEs and their staff are also required to recognize and respond to their changing role in a
knowledge based societyAl-AlawIet al. (2007). Ramachandran et al. (2007) argued that there is a growing
acknowledgement that an institution-wide approach to KM can enable higher education institutions (HEIs) to
evolve more effortlessly towards a highly effective and a dynamic educational environment which promises
considerable improvements in institutional-wide knowledge-sharing activities and subsequent improvement
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in overall performance. This paper discusses briefly the important key concepts of project success and
knowledge management (KM) practices in Malaysian institutions of higher education including public and
private ones and the main factors that may help to improve the knowledge transfers within the universities. It
also discusses about the challenges facing in higher education in Malaysia and the concept of Knowledge
management in education and the new trends in education.
Purpose of Research: The goal of this research is to examine the effects of knowledge management
implementation success in the Malaysian Institute of higher learning. The nature of the topic dictates the use
of exploratory research for knowledge management (KM) implementation in the Malaysian Institute of higher
learning. The proposed framework provides the outline of research and ways ofknowledge management to be
implemented in higher learning institution by successful sharing of knowledge.
Research Questions & Description
What is proper knowledge? How can proper knowledge be procured and influenced in knowledge
sharing as well project success?
What doesa dedicate leader do in knowledge sharing and project success?
How does the Robust ICT infrastructure influence in knowledge sharing and project success?
What is the contribution of a value based organization in project success?
In this research, proper knowledge refers to the term of appropriate or required knowledge. In this paper, it
is believed that the project success in a KMproject implication depends on other independent variables in
which they play a vital role to strong ground. When independent variables are successfully implemented and
shared then, they considered as a project's success. It is believed that any organization’s success cannot be
achieved until it gets a dedicated leader who is concerned about the organization's well-being and own sole
duty. The emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is more important in the World
Wide Webin which it has accelerated the knowledge management movement. ICT tools are user friendly and
directly contributing by creating efficient technological tools. These tools are helpfulon sharing the
knowledge effectively and playing a main role in project success. A value-based organization is the
organization that holds a specific motto as a guideline. An existing guideline for the organization controls its
activity from the core to the surface. As for the Institute ofhigher education, which is the place for knowledge
creation, follows the strict guideline for implementing and sharing knowledge. The success of implementing
knowledge through a guided path often tends to be more successful.
Research scope: The research emphasizes the fact that the system in implementing the knowledge
management practices through a successful knowledge-sharing model, which provides the solution for
successful knowledge transfer into the higher learning, institutes of Malaysia. This study indicates on the
relationship between knowledge management implication and project success. The research also identifies
the different phases to apply qualitative knowledge strategies among the institute of higher education in
many developed and developing countries.
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework
2. Methodology
We analyzed 45 selected articles in 2000–2013 as well as another amount of articles about the related era
before 2000.Those articles explain and show the real factors for project success and knowledge management
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practices in higher learning institutions. Besides, we tested how knowledge management has been engaged in
the projects and how its factors help in project success. In addition, we highlighted the main approaches to
the knowledge management process. Finally, we examine the relationship between knowledge sharing and
other independent factors identified from the literature.
3. Literature Review
It is essential to define the term of knowledge before going through the meaning of knowledge management
and the key factors of KM in any project success.Knowledge knows what, how and why. It includes evidences,
descriptions, facts, information, or skills acquired through experience or education.It has been well-knownto
be the most significant resource that contributes to the competitive advantage of an organization. According
to (Santo, 2005) there are two types of knowledge, namely explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. Explicit
knowledge is formal and quantifiable. It can be captured, stored and distributed. It is the most widely
knownin the conventional form of knowledge that can be found in books, reports, journals, and mass media
such as newspapers, television,the Internet, and etc. Tacit knowledge, on the other hand, hard to formalize,
itrefers to theindividuals’ insights, feelings and perception. Tacit knowledge based on personal experience, it
is more difficult to communicate, difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or
expressingit. However, explicit knowledge quickly loses its meaning without tacit insight. Knowledge is
created through interactions between explicit and tacit knowledge and not from eitherexplicit ortacit
knowledge alone.
Knowledge management (KM) has been defined differently by various authors and practitioners as an area
for wider debate and research among academics and professionalsin recent years.It involves knowledge
acquisition, documentation, transfer, creation, and knowledge application (Yahya&Goh, 2002). Organizations
including universities believed that project success knowledge management one of the highest important to
the competitive advantage. It considers also as a major mechanism of change in the new era of the knowledge
economy Al-Zayyat et al.(2009). The success of a Knowledge management initiative depends on many factors,
some within our control, some not. Typically, critical success factors can be categorized into four primary
categories, namely Procure proper knowledge and practices, Strong leadership, Robust ICT infrastructure,
and Value Based OrganizationHasanali et al. (2003). According to many studies about project management
and the key factors for any project success we have found that time, cost, scope and quality are the main
constraints or goals of any project. Knowledge management plays a big role in any successful projects. Any
project had objectives in which all clearly expressed focused on knowledge such as create knowledge,
improve knowledge access, enhance the knowledge environment, and manage knowledge as an asset.
Procure proper knowledge and practices: Universities and industries seem to have formed strong
partnerships in the life sciences, although the relationships may pose greater threats to the openness of
scientific communication than universities generally acknowledge. However, the amount of industrial
support smaller than federal supportfor university research Blumenthalet al. (1996). Teachers play
animportantrole in determining the successful implementation of environmental education among the young.
It was proved that the students’ attitudes towards the environment have been affected bythe teacher’s
attitude, knowledge and behavior (Summers, 2000). Knowledge transfer is the learning process of an
organizational unit (individual, group, department, or division) based on the experience of other
organizational units. Ginaet al. (2009)Found that the task-relevant knowledge and skillshave solved the
relationship between individual experience and performance on consequenttasks. Furthermore, the
organizational experience weakened the positive relationship between individual experience, knowledge and
skills. Researchers have also examined the transfer at the group and organizational levels of analysis.
Theorists have argued that not only do organizations learn from their own direct experience, they also learn
from the experiences of other organizations.
Strong leadership: It has been proven that, leadership often exhibits high performance together with job
satisfaction, organizational commitment and trust. Leadership and knowledge management system focus on
identifying and addressing agency leadership competencies so that continuity of leadership is ensured an
environment of continuous learning is present and knowledge is shared across the organization.This
triggered intense interest from both academia and practitioners in studying knowledge management and
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leadership effectiveness (Politis, 2001). According toMenkhoffet al. (2011)a key objective of knowledge
management is to maximize return on the organization’s tangible and intangible knowledge assets and
resources such as tacit knowledge, competencies and experiences resident in the mind of employees. In the
implementation of knowledge management, leadership is needed to steer people in achieving its intended
purpose (Hamdani, 2013). Moreover, Hasanaliet al. (2003)Argue that, nothing makes the greatest control on
an organizationrather than when leaders model the behavior they are trying to promote among staff. They
play a key role in ensuring success in almost any initiative within an organization. Successful knowledge
managers recognize that knowledge is transferred through multiple ways that reinforce one another.
Successful knowledge projects generallydeliverknowledge transfer through various channels.Davenportet al.
(1998)Argued that, successful knowledge managerstake advantages from senior management support. A
senior management team will support changes in performance assessments, which are the key to altering
motivation. Furthermore, in order to create an organizational infrastructure for knowledge management,
supportive executives will most likely assign the resources needed.Strong support from the executive can be
included many methods such as: sending rules that KM and organization learning are critical to the
university’s success, providing enough funding and resources for infrastructure, clarifying what types of
knowledge are most essential to the university.
Robust ICT infrastructure: Nowadays, the most fundamental role of purpose in ICT infrastructure is to
reinforce/ sustain the management of knowledge and the widespread sharing of information. These factors
portray a good sample of effective knowledge management tools. Next, further discussion will be on the
intranet and expert system technologies as well as through which effective tools manage the knowledge. The
development of ICT is increasing rapidly in line with the use and utilization of information technology at the
university. The development of information technology has influenced on the services and academic advising
for students (Hamdani, 2013). (Civi, 2000) Claimed that, the recent advancement in IT has
considerablydecreased the data management and inspired the concept of knowledge
management.(Yahya&Goh , 2002) Mention that, the interaction of human through certain media or
instruments including ICT that created new knowledge, and adds to the pool of organizational knowledge that
acts as the engine of an organization's growth and learning capability. Mostly, technological infrastructures
considered as a high role in projects success when they used tools and skills to use them in place. An example
of ICT infrastructure in Malaysian universities is setting of technologies for desktop computing and
communications. This means a capable, network PC on every desk, with standard software such as word
processing and presentation software, so staff can exchange documents in a flexible and easy environments
or a common operation. This plays an important factor in sharing knowledge. In brief, ICT infrastructure is an
important role in project success. It can help for sharing information and documents and share knowledge
between theorganization's staff.
Value Based Organization: Positive impact on organizational performance one of the key benefits of
introducing KM practices in organizationsand it is also affectingorganizationaloutcomes of organizations
innovation, product and employee improvement. Organizations must not shy away from attempting to share
and leverage tacit,explicate, andspecific knowledge. (Hamdani, 2013)argued that the transfer of knowledge
and knowledge creation can be encouraged by organizational. One of the examples in knowledge
infrastructures is culture; it must be geared towards rewarding innovation, learning, experimentation,
reflection and inspection. In order to reach a high level of effective knowledge transfer, share, create, and use
organizations should establish a culture conducive. They are making efforts to make their personnel
understand the importance of this valuable asset. Effective knowledge management requires a good fit
between the organization’s culture and its knowledge management initiatives. Changes that do not fit the
culture probably will not thrive, so management needs to align its approach with its existing culture or be
prepared for a long-term culture change effort. In general, if the cultural soil is not fertile for knowledge
management initiatives, no amount of technology, knowledge content, or good knowledge management
practices will make the effort successful Hussainet al.(2004). Therefore, building an organizational
infrastructure for knowledge management indicatesestablishing a set of roles and organizational groups
whose members have the skills to serve as a resource for individual projects. Knowledge friendly culture
considered as the most important factors for project success, and the truth it is hard to create if it does not
exist within the organization. Organizational culture should have various components with regard to
knowledge.People have a positive orientation and willing to acquire knowledge. Staffof the organizations are
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bright, intellectually curious, willing and most free to discover, and executives encourage their knowledge
creation and use.However, they are not inhibited in sharing knowledge because they do worry that transfer
and share knowledge will take a risk to their profession. Besides, universities should work hard to hire people
who reinforce the positive orientation to pursue knowledge in the expense of work-related objectives.
Project a success: A theoretical framework is proposed to suggest that both knowledge management factors
and project management factors can have significant influence on project success. Successful projects are the
building blocks to implement the changes in an organization in order to realize the strategic objectives set by
the organization (Cleland 1994). Nowadays, both academics (Cleland 1994, Rozman 1998) and professionals
agree that projects are the means of achieving organizationalstrategic objectives.Projects and project
management refer to the achieving strategic objectives of the organization to ensure long run success. It is
believed that project success is based on the primary project components, cost, time, performance and/or
quality of the completed project result with predefined values. Project implementation is inflected to be
successfully determined variables of the primary targets have been achieved.On the other hand, when
completed values or the variables output found poorer than expected then,the project can be seen as a failure.
AccordingFrom the point of view of the strategy-oriented project management, however, the above-
mentioned approach to project success looks narrow in outlook. It is known as the fact that, any project
should consider as a failure project in case that its results have different outcomes rather than the predefined
or expected results. In addition, if it suffers from the known triple constraints for any project such as time,
and cost overrun(Turner, 2009). Project success in nature needs to balance those constraints as well as
balances the whole organizations’ staff. In addition, project management can be achieved by balancing
between areas of technology and culture such as people, system and organization. Besides, the project
success criteria focus on success as a whole. According to (Levin, 2010) knowledge management KM should
be engaged throughout the project management lifecycle. He also emphasizes that knowledge assets should
be always established in an organization and each project should build on these and shares the knowledge.
(Gido & Clements , 1999) Referred to research have done,that showed the importance and significance of
certain factors have been tested and it shows that there were believed and evidence to be critical to project
success.
4. Findings from Literature Review
The project success by implementing knowledge management is more likely the descriptive research, which
is introducing a new framework based on current requirements. A key challenge of the developing nation like
Malaysia is needed to develop a knowledge-based society.Through the literature, the relation between
implementation of knowledge sharing and successful knowledge dissemination focused as the key
ingredients for project success. In the literature part, the variables have proven that the requirement and
necessity, which are undeniably integrating, part of the whole process. On top of that, procure proper
knowledge for project success is important because it determines the project success where strong
leadership works like a strong radar and likely to be the facilitator of the whole project in a systematic,
Robust ICT infrastructure accelerates the whole process of procure and disseminate knowledge and
theseorganizational codes of conduct sees over the knowledge management process compatibility. All these
variablesuccessfulimplementations make successful knowledge dissemination and project success.
5. Conclusion
The motivation of this study is to provide an insight view of project success that depends on knowledge
management sharing. This study used successful knowledge sharing as the mediating role in between
procures proper knowledge and practices, Strong leadership, Robust ICT Infrastructure and value based
organization. The new contributions of this paper help to understand aboutthe relationship of four
independent variables. Based on research, we have found that when all those four independent variable
implemented successfully, and thereforeit leads tosuccessful knowledge sharing in the projects. The results of
this study have important contributions for future researchers. This research has compiled the guidelines for
knowledge management professionals to help them implement knowledge management and achieve project
success. Researchers have suggested in implementing all factors to achieve a desired project success outcome.
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Limitations and Directions for Future Research: This study has a few limitations. The most identifiable of
which is that research is based on the secondary data source. The use of such data may have clues to the
overestimation of relationships. The study is mainly focused in thehigher learning institute of Malaysia. As an
outcome, the findings of this study may not be generalized used in other countries. For future research, other
countries should analyze the perception.
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