KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THROUGH ICT

Abstract

In the contemporary world, the dynamics of educational landscape are undergoing a rapid and tremendous qualitative change. Today, it is subjected to similar forces as that of the marketplace to stimulate innovations, improve customer services and achieve operational excellence. With the advent of globalization and cross-border movement of students, educational institutions vie to excel in global rankings to increase their visibility and attract international students (Shastry, 2017). They also have to adjust themselves to respond rapidly to the changes in technologies and increasing demands of stakeholders. In such a scenario, many authors and thinkers have expressed their interest in introducing knowledge management (KM) practices into the field of education. According to Kidwell et al. (2001) if done effectively, KM can lead to improved teaching, research, innovation, industry income, internationalization and skill development. Similarly, the emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has opened new avenues that could play important role in meeting the prevailing challenges related to sharing, exchanging and disseminating knowledge by reducing spatial and temporal barriers. As compared to other countries, higher education system in India is facing several problems which is inhibiting its excellence in world university rankings. Despite having a huge demographic dividend, as per THES ranking, no Indian institution could make to the top 200, while according to QS ranking, only three higher educational institutions (HEIs) could make it to the top 200. The most notable reasons may be identified as lack of internationalization, high pupil-teacher ratio, low industry income and lack of quality research among others (Business Standard 2018; THES 2019). The research is timely and needs attention, as within education there has been less research or debate of KM as a strategy for enhancing the organization’s performance v i (Fullan, 2001). HEIs are usually agencies of production of new knowledge, but less number of institutions are actually active at this level. It is understood that we all are in a rapidly evolving educational landscape where technological breakthroughs have the potential to disrupt the existing model. Such disruptions can have behavioral, economic and social ramifications. A better understanding of such alterations will help academicians equip themselves for evolving classrooms accordingly and the changing nature of their jobs. The objective of this study is to find as to what extent KM is practiced in institutes of higher learning and whether KM practices significantly affect the institute’s performance. To assess ICT penetration in institutes of higher learning and to find out whether its interventions significantly affects the institute’s performance. It also takes into account if KM and ICT interventions vary among the differently rated institutions. Building up on the extensive review of literature, observations and expert opinion, the research study developed a scale and collected data from students, faculty and administrative staff using structured questionnaires on a 7 point likert scale. Thereafter, Exploratory Factor Analysis was performed in SPSS and four components each of KM and ICT were derived out of the analysis. The impact of KM and ICT components on institutional performance was measured using structural equation modeling (SEM) in AMOS. Empirical evidence supported the view that Knowledge management systems have a direct and significant impact on the performance of HEIs in India as measured by the R2 value of 62% of the model. The results of T-test and ANOVA also proved that there is significant difference in the performance of institutions based on their rankings.