Do Smes Do Knowledge Management? Or Simply Manage What They Know?

International Small Business Journal
http://isb.sagepub.com Do SMEs do Knowledge Management?: Or Simply Manage what they Know?
Vicky Hutchinson and Paul Quintas International Small Business Journal 2008; 26; 131 DOI: 10.1177/0266242607086571 The online version of this article can be found at: http://isb.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/26/2/131

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International SMEs do Knowledge Hutchinson & Quintas: Do Small Business Journal Management? Copyright © 2008 SAGE Publications (Los Angeles, London, NewDelhi and Singapore) http://isb.sagepub.com [DOI:10.1177/0266242607086571] Vol 26(2): 131–154

i s b j

Do SMEs do Knowledge Management?
Or Simply Manage what they Know?
VICKY HUTCHINSON
University of Salford, UK

PA U L Q U I N TA S
Open University, UK Recent studies of knowledge management indicate that the growth of interest in this area is primarily focused on the larger organization.Not only do large firms feature in the majority of published case studies but also their employees are regular contributors to conference proceedings. This article addresses the comparatively under-researched issue of knowledge and its management in small businesses. Looking beyond formal Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives and structures, emphasis is placed upon the importance of informalknowledge processes. Two related propositions are made: first, knowledge is managed by organizations without use of the language and concepts of KM and accompanying formal KM structures, and that this behaviour might uncontroversially be called ‘informal’ knowledge management, and secondly, small firms are more likely to adopt such informal processes to manage knowledge. These propositions are exploredwithin the context of small firms and the research revealed that small firms do indeed manage knowledge informally as part of their normal activities, without the use of the terminology and concepts of KM. However, contrary to expectations, on occasion some also engage in formal KM. KEYWORDS: formal KM; informal knowledge management; SMEs

Introduction
The management of knowledge has, over thelast decade, moved to centre stage as a significant issue for organizations in all sectors of the economy. To the accompaniment of macro-economic and social policies, driven by the ‘knowledge economy’ rhetoric, large organizations have been encouraged to develop strategies for knowledge creation, sharing and exploitation. This article addresses two related issues that have received comparativelylittle attention in published literature: the management of knowledge in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the distinction between formal and informal 131
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International Small Business Journal 26(2) knowledgemanagement processes – based upon the premise that in order to understand the management of knowledge in SMEs it is necessary to look beyond the introduction and practice of formal or nominal Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives. The first issue is readily apparent. The overwhelming majority of publications that have been influential in establishing knowledge management as an important field refer to the...