Prospects for, and challenges of, knowledge sharing in the South African public sector : a literature review

Abstract

Today’s rapid pace of globalization has driven the current business environment into a permanent state of dynamic change. In the process, organizations have realised that, to ensure their survival, they need to efficiently manage the knowledge and skills available to them. Central to such a management practice is knowledge sharing which has come to play an important role in the building of sustainable competitiveness in a turbulent business climate. In a knowledge culture, it is the sharing of information that promotes innovative thinking. If government departments fail to adopt knowledge sharing practices, the preservation of their organizational memories is put at risk, also in view of the regular transfer of experienced workforces. The lack of a fruitful implementation of knowledge sharing practices diminishes the capacity to sustain government departments and this impacts negatively on the country’s economic growth. The current study reviews the prospects for, and the challenges posed by, knowledge sharing practices in the South African public sector. The objective of the study is to describe what possibilities the 21st century holds for improved knowledge sharing in the South African public sector. The collected data is analysed using a thematic content approach. The results outline that organizational structures in government departments are hierarchical and this hampers information sharing. The prevailing organizational culture does not support and encourage the creation and sharing of knowledge among staff members. The skills needed to facilitate the sharing of knowledge are insufficient, while there is no clearly defined responsibility for initiatives concerned with knowledge management. The study recommends the public sector organizations of South Africa to clearly formulate precise processes, policy frameworks and responsibilities that ensure the effective identification, capturing, managing, transferring and sharing of knowledge within the organizations.