Abstract:
Knowledge is the currency of the current economy, a vital organizational asset and a
key to creating a sustainable competitive advantage. Knowledge is increasingly being
recognized as the new strategic imperative of organizations. The most established
paradigm is that knowledge is power. Therefore, one has to hoard it, keep it to oneself
to maintain an advantage. Managing knowledge is a major challenge that has
impacted on how individuals cooperate to make sure the organization fulfills its
objectives. In Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) managed factories, expert in
a given field are relied upon to provide necessary services based on what they know.
These personnel are expected to consult minimally as they are the ones relied upon in
tea production. In order to tie together the benefits of knowledge management in tea
processing, there is need for adequate mechanisms for generating, capturing, and
disseminating documented and undocumented knowledge to be developed. The aim
of this study was to develop a web based system prototype for knowledge
management at KTDA tea processing factories in Kericho County. The objectives
were to: establish knowledge requirements of personnel in KTDA factories; determine
methods used in knowledge management and sharing in KTDA factories; establish
the challenges experienced by management in knowledge management and associated
systems in KTDA factories; and model and build a prototype that facilitates
knowledge, storage, processing and sharing among the KTDA factories. An iterative
waterfall model was used during design and development of the system. Using
qualitative design, this study sampled 50 employees of KTDA factories in Kericho
County for face to face interviews. Data collected were analyzed through descriptive
statistics in order to identify system requirements and challenges faced in the current
system. The findings revealed that development and success of the knowledge
management system is directly dependent on the level of commitment of the top
management towards developing the system. A web based system prototype was then
designed and developed for possible implementation by KTDA factories. The study
makes a number of recommendations for effective and efficient web based
management of knowledge in KTDA factories. It is recommended that these factories
should find ways of adopting the current information technology methods other than
the manual systems currently in use. In this study a system prototype was developed,
it was recommended that a web based system for knowledge management can be
extended other departments of the factory such as finance and human resource.