The International Information & Library Review (2011) 43, 130e136

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Exploring the competencies of informationprofessionals for knowledge managementin the information institutions of Bangladesh

Md. Abul Kalam Siddike a,*, Md. Shiful Islam b

aBangladesh Association of Young Researchers (BAYR), BangladeshbDepartment of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

KEYWORDSSkills;Competencies;Knowledgemanagement;Informationprofessionals;Information institutions;Bangladesh

* Corresponding author.E-mail address: kalam.siddike@gm

1057-2317/$ - see front matter ª 201doi:10.1016/j.iilr.2011.07.001

Abstract Aim of the study: The aim of the study is to explore the views of information profes-sionals for knowledge management (KM) in the libraries/information institutions of Bangladesh.Research questions: This paper seeks to address the following research questions: How theinformation professionals of Bangladesh perceive the views of KM? What are likely to be the skillsrequired by the information professionals of Bangladesh for KM in the libraries of Bangladesh?and what are likely to be the critical success factors for encouraging KM in the information insti-tutions of Bangladesh?Method: The methodology includes a quantitative approach. The study has been conductedthrough a survey using a pre-structured questionnaire. A short and structured questionnairewas sent to 50 information professionals who had been working in different libraries inBangladesh through email and/or by postal mail. The respondents were selected from six divi-sions of Bangladesh (25 respondents from Dhaka division, 5 each in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna,Barishal and Sylhet divisions). Out of the 50 individuals sent the survey we received 30responses, for a response rate 60%.Findings: The results of the study show that that 93.24% of the respondents first read about KMin the literature, but none had taken any courses on KM. Only 6.76% of the respondents had at-tended a workshop on KM. Findings also yield most professionals believed that several compe-tencies including those in: communication, facilitation, coaching, mentoring, networking,negotiating, consensus building, and team working were essential for KM in the libraries ofBangladesh. This paper also suggests some critical success factors for encouraging the informa-tion professionals to KM in the libraries of Bangladesh. It investigates the original views of thelibrary and information professionals of Bangladesh regarding the skills and competences ofinformation professionals for KM in the libraries of Bangladesh.Recommendations of the study: The department of Information Science and Library Manage-ment of Dhaka University and Rajshahi University should introduce KM course(s) either in thegraduate level or in the post-graduate level.ª 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ail.com (M.A.K. Siddike).

1 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the competencies of information professionals for knowledge management in Bangladesh 131

Introduction information institutions of Bangladesh. Therefore, we made

In this information and knowledge age, KM has emerged asa current ‘hot issue’ for many organizations (Kim, 1999).One of the significant events faced by Library and Infor-mation Science (LIS) was the emergence of KnowledgeManagement (KM) as a business concept during the lastdecade (Roknuzzaman & Umemoto, 2009). According toGartner Group (1997), KM is “a discipline that promotes anintegrated approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating,retrieving and sharing of an enterprise’s informationassets”. There seems to be a close relationship between LISand KM, and some authors explain KM is an old concept(Hawkins, 2000), and a new name for what librarians orinformation professionals have been doing for years(Ajiferuke, 2003), while Petrash (1996) argued that KM isgetting the right knowledge to the right people at the righttime so they can make the best decision. Davenport (2004)on the other hand, consider that KM is distinct from bothlibrarianship and information management; Koening (1997)described KM as librarianship in new clothes; Rowley (1999)and Schwarzwalder (1999) stated KM simply as a case ofnew wine in old bottles. Another way to define KM is thatknowledge management is the conceptualizing of an orga-nization as an integrated knowledge system, and themanagement of the organization for the effective use ofthat knowledge (Wang, Hjelmervik, & Bremdal, 2001).According to Watson (2003), KM involves the acquisition,storage, retrieval, application, generation, and review ofthe knowledge assets of an organization in a controlledway. In this regard, Jain (2009) carried out research on KMgiving the importance of KM for the 21st century informa-tion professionals, their evolving new roles, skills andchallenges, and finally recommended some importantaspects to have in place for information professionals to bepart of this KM economy. Ajiferuke (2003) explored thatmany information professionals are involved in the KMprograms and playing key roles, such as deign of theinformation architecture, development of taxonomy, orcontent management of the organization’s intranet andothers play lesser roles, like providing information for theintranet, gathering competitive intelligence, or providingresearch services as requested by the KM team. Kim (1999),on the other hand, defined knowledge, KM and consideredthe partnership for KM, especially how librarians asknowledge professionals, users, and technology experts cancontribute to effective KM. Rehman (2006) exploredmanagement and functional competencies that wouldmake LIS professionals relevant in the emerging market. InBangladesh, Haq and Munshi (2005) defined KM, showeddifferent approaches of KM activities and mentioned themodules and processes of KM and also discussed the KMtechniques in libraries. Furthermore, they showed thepresent status of KM activities in the libraries of Bangladeshas well as gave some directions for better implementationof KM in the libraries of Bangladesh. The above review ofliterature reveals that the definition of KM, its implicationsto information science or libraries, skills and roles ofinformation professionals that will help them to implementKM in the library premise. There is an acute gap of litera-ture and initiatives to implement KM in the libraries and

an initiative to explore the skills and competencies of theinformation professionals of Bangladesh for KM in theinformation institutions of Bangladesh and identified someCritical Success Factors (CSFs) that will be essential forencouraging KM in the libraries of Bangladesh. However, therest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2e4describes the objectives, research questions, and method-ology and the sample of the study; Section 5 presents theresults and discussion, Section 6 discusses the criticalsuccess factors for encouraging KM in the informationinstitutions of Bangladesh, and we conclude with a briefsummary in Section 7.

Objectives of the study

This study explores the competencies, knowledge, skills, andattitudes of information professionals for KM in the infor-mation institutions of Bangladesh. In the current economicclimate, organizations are characterized by more knowledgeincorporated in the new content, business and services. Thelibrary as a social organization has its own tradition to dealwith information and knowledge. In a digital environment,the role of knowledge has become even more significant.Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the views ofinformation professionals of Bangladesh about KM. Thespecific objectives of this study are to:

- investigate the competencies required by the infor-mation professionals of Bangladesh for KM in thelibraries/information institutions of Bangladesh;

- identify some critical success factors for encouragingthe information professionals to KM in the informationinstitutions of Bangladesh.

Research questions

In pursuing the above research objectives, the followingresearch questions (RQs) have been posed that will guidethe study:

RQ1: How the information professionals of Bangladeshperceive the views of KM?RQ2: What are likely to be the skills required by theinformation professionals of Bangladesh for KM in thelibraries of Bangladesh?RQ3: What are likely to be the critical success factors forencouraging KM in the information institutions ofBangladesh?

Methodology and the sample of the study

The methodology includes a quantitative approach. Thestudy was carried out through email and/or by postal mailsurvey (A letter was posted to the information profes-sionals) based on a pre-structured questionnaire. Therespondents were selected from each division of

Figure 2 Geographic distribution of the respondents.

132 M.A.K. Siddike, M.S. Islam

Bangladesh based on their professionals’ experiences and/or ICT skills as well as research interest on KM. We exclu-sively used the Members’ Directory, of the Library Associ-ation of Bangladesh (LAB) and of the BangladeshAssociation of Librarian, Information Scientists and Docu-ment lists (BALID) for the selection of respondents. Thegeographical distribution of the sample shows that itincludes 25 (50%) in Dhaka, 5 (10%) each in Chittagong,Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal and Sylhet division.

A short and structured, both open and close ended,questionnaire was sent to the respondents by email andpostal mail. We sent 50 questionnaires all over Bangladeshand received 30 responses from them; and the responserate was 60% (See Fig. 2). In this survey, chose the highestnumber of information professionals from Dhaka divisiondue to having a large number of libraries there. We usedSPSS 16.0 for descriptive analysis of data.

Results and discussions

Profile of the respondents (n Z 30)

Geographic distribution of the respondentsFig. 2 indicates that the highest number of responses, 16(53%), came from Dhaka Division where the highest samplesize was 25 (50%) in the same division as shown in Fig. 1.The second highest responses, 4 (13%), were received fromRajshahi, followed by Khulna 3 (10%), Sylhet 3 (10%),Chittagong 2 (7%), and Barishal 2 (7%).

Professional positions of the respondents

Fig. 3 shows that 33.30% of the respondents are librarians,23.31% are deputy librarians, 26.64% are assistant librar-ians, 9.99% are library officers, and 6.66% are other cate-gories of information professionals.

The views of the respondents about “Know-How”

As the concept of KM is not clear to many informationprofessionals of Bangladesh, they are not versed enough tocomment on KM, but the respondents were asked how theycame to know about KM. Fig. 4 reveals that 93.24% of therespondents first read about KM in the literature, but nonehad taken any courses on KM. Only 6.76% of the respondentshad come to know about KM by attending a workshop on KM.

Figure 1 Geographical distribution of the sample.

The views of the respondents regardingcompetencies for KM in the libraries of Bangladesh

The competencies including communication, facilitation,networking, negotiation, consensus building, team work,coaching, and mentoring competencies were identified byAbell (2000) and the results validate the competencies forKM in the libraries of Bangladesh. Competencies includeknowledge, skills, and attitudes. The respondents wereasked to specify their level of agreements on some specificKM skills and competencies. The responses regarding skillsand competencies for KM in the libraries/informationinstitutions of Bangladesh are analyzed in Table 1 on 1e5Likert scale, and Mean and Standard Deviation of their levelof agreement were calculated according to the followingscores: 1.00- not required, 2.00- Partially required, 3.00-required, 4.00- very required, 5.00- badly required.

Communication skills

Communication skills are one of the significant skills for KM.Table 1 reveals that the respondents agreed with a meanscore 3.47 on 1e5 scales that communication competenciesare badly required for knowledge management in theinformation institutions of Bangladesh.

Facilitation skills

Facilitation is also an important component of KM. Therespondents agreed with a mean score 3.30 that facilitationcompetency is badly required for KM in the libraries ofBangladesh.

Networking skills

The information professionals should have networkingcompetencies in order to manage, maintain, and handle e-resources properly. The respondents affirmed with the high-estmean score 3.83 in Table 1 that networking is also stronglyrequired for KM in the information institutions of Bangladesh.

Negotiation skills

KM not only handles tacit and explicit knowledge but alsodeals with human resources. In this regard, negotiation

Figure 3 Professional positions of the respondents.

Exploring the competencies of information professionals for knowledge management in Bangladesh 133

competencies of KM play an important role to solve orga-nizational problems. However, the respondents agreed withthe mean score 3.43 these competencies are badly neededin the libraries of Bangladesh.

Consensus building skills

The participants of the survey reported with the secondhighest mean score 3.57 in Table 1 that consensus buildingcompetencies are essential for KM in the informationinstitutions of Bangladesh.

Teamwork skills

One of the important competencies of KM is teamwork skilland the respondents reported with the second highestmean score 3.57 in Table 1.

Coaching skills

The respondents asserted with a mean score 3.30 thatcoaching competencies are also required for KM in theinformation institutions of Bangladesh.

Mentoring skills

Mentoring is also one of the significant competencies of KM.The respondents affirmed with a mean score 3.30 that

Figure 4 Views ab

mentoring competencies are required for KM in the infor-mation institutions of Bangladesh.

Critical success factors (CSFs) for encouragingKM in the information institutions ofBangladesh

Davenport, De Long, and Beers (1998) identified eightcritical success factors for success of KM but they agreedthat these factors were hypothesized, not proven. SimilarlyChourides, Longbottom, and Murphy (2003) identifiedvarious critical success factors for successful KM imple-mentation in five organizational functional areas: strategy,human resource management (HRM), IT, quality andmarketing. While Liebowitz (1999) proposed six key ingre-dients in order to make KM successful in organizations. Hesuggested the need for a KM strategy with support fromsenior leadership, a chief knowledge officer (CKO) orequivalent and a KM infrastructure, knowledge ontologiesand repositories, KM systems and tools, incentives toencourage knowledge sharing and a supportive culture.However, we used the following nine Critical SuccessFactors (CSFs) that were provided by Sarawanawong,Tuamsuk, Vongprasert & Khiewyoo, (2009). Theresearchers also firmly believe and propose that these nineCSFs will help to build a successful implementation of KM inthe information institutions of Bangladesh; these are illus-trated in Fig. 5. Next, we investigate the views of the

out ‘Know-How’.

Table 1 Views of the respondents about the skills andcompetencies for KM.

Statement N Minimum Maximum Mean Std.Deviation

Communicationskills

30 2.00 5.00 3.47 .776

Facilitation skills 30 1.00 5.00 3.30 1.022Networking skills 30 1.00 5.00 3.83 1.053Negotiating skills 30 2.00 5.00 3.43 .858Consensusbuilding skills

30 2.00 5.00 3.57 .773

Team workingskills

30 1.00 5.00 3.57 .898

Coaching skills 30 1.00 5.00 3.30 1.188Mentoring skills 30 1.00 5.00 3.30 .915Valid N (listwise) 30

134 M.A.K. Siddike, M.S. Islam

information to learn their agreement about the importanceof these CSFs in the implementation of KM in the informa-tion institutions of Bangladesh.

Table 2 indicates the level of agreements of therespondents for each of the KM critical success factors inBangladesh perspective on 1e5 Likert scales. It is alsoworth noting here that Mean and Standard Deviation of theresponses were calculated according to the followingscores: 1.00- Not important, 2.00- Less important, 3.00-Important, 4.00- More important, 5.00- Most important.

Organizational culture

Developing and implementing an organizational culture isone of the significant critical success factors for KM. Therespondents reported with the second lowest mean score4.17 in Table 2 that organizational culture is one of themost important CSFs for KM in the information institutionsof Bangladesh.

Figure 5 CSFs for KM in th

Information technology (IT)

An information and communication technology (ICT) infra-structure provides a broad platform for exchanging data,coordinating activities, sharing information, emergingprivate and public sectors, and supporting globalizationcommerce, all based on powerful computing and networktechnology (Liao, 2003). However, the respondents asser-ted with a mean score 4.50 that IT is important for KM in theinformation institutions of Bangladesh.

Staff

Information institutions of Bangladesh should develop staffwith an understanding of KM tools and processes. Therespondents reported with a mean score 4.37 that staff isan important critical success factor for KM in the informa-tion institutions of Bangladesh.

Organizational administration

Bangladesh should evolve from a rigid hierarchical structureto a process-oriented structure. The management shouldfocus on empowerment. Bangladesh should have mecha-nisms in place to reward staff members who are consistentwith learning and knowledge sharing. The respondentsreported with the lowest mean score 4.13 in Table 2 thatOrganizational administration is an important CSF for KM inthe information institutions of Bangladesh.

KM administration structure

Bangladesh should develop a qualified and ideal KM team tolead and develop an effective KM operation at the infor-mation institutions. The structure of KM administration ofBangladesh should be composed of a CKO (Chief KnowledgeOfficer), KM members from different faculties, and KM

e libraries of Bangladesh.

Table 2 Views of the respondents about the CSFs for KMin the libraries of Bangladesh.

Statement N Minimum Maximum Mean Std.Deviation

Organizationalculture

30 3.00 5.00 4.17 .912

InformationTechnology

30 3.00 5.00 4.50 .777

Staff 30 1.00 5.00 4.37 .964Organizationaladministration

30 3.00 5.00 4.13 .776

KM administrationstructure

30 4.00 5.00 4.80 .407

Administrators 30 3.00 5.00 4.23 .859KM process 30 3.00 5.00 4.20 .805KM measure 30 3.00 5.00 4.17 .912KM strategy 30 3.00 5.00 4.57 .679Valid N (listwise) 30

Exploring the competencies of information professionals for knowledge management in Bangladesh 135

faculty members with expertise in the method of KMprocesses, thereby enabling a high potential to drive KMsuccessfully. The respondents of the survey affirmed withthe highest mean score 4.80 in Table 2 that KM adminis-tration structure is the most important CSF for KM in theinformation institutions of Bangladesh.

Administrators

Administrators must understand, support, and participatein KM achievements, have strong commitment to KMinitiatives, establish clear KM strategies, and vision, as wellas knowledge of process that encourage practice. Therespondents reported with the mean score 4.32 thatadministrators are the most important CSF for KM in theinformation institutions of Bangladesh.

KM process

Information institutions of Bangladesh should have a stan-dardized KM process that will be designed to provideguidelines for staff. The KM process must be easy to use andunderstand. However, the respondents agreed with a meanscore 4.20 that KM process is the most important CSF for thelibraries of Bangladesh.

KM measure

The libraries of Bangladesh should measure the impact ofKM activities for performance, including benefits such asreduced staff work time, and increase quality of productsand service. The respondents agreed with the secondlowest mean score 4.17 in Table 2 that KM measure is themost important CSF for KM in the libraries of Bangladesh.

KM strategy

The information centers of Bangladesh must establisha clear vision and strategic plan for use of a knowledgemanagement approach. The respondents asserted with the

second highest mean score 4.57 in Table 2 that KM strategyis important for KM in the libraries of Bangladesh.

Conclusions

The aim of the study was to explore the views of informa-tion professionals for knowledge management in thelibraries of Bangladesh. The results of the research showedthat 93.24% of the respondents first read about KM in theliterature, but none had taken any courses on KM. Only6.76% of the respondents had attended a workshop on KM.The findings also indicate that several competencies arerequired by the information professionals of Bangladesh forKM in the information institutions of Bangladesh, includingthose related to communication (mean score 3.47), facili-tation (mean score 3.30), networking (mean score 3.83),negotiation (mean score 3.43), consensus building (meanscore 3.57), teamwork (mean score 3.57), coaching (meanscore 3.30), and mentoring (mean score 3.30). This paperidentified and proposed nine CSFs which are very essentialfor encouraging KM in the libraries of Bangladesh thatinclude organizational culture (second lowest mean score4.17), IT (mean score 4.50), staff (mean score 4.37),organizational administration (lowest mean score 4.13), KMadministration structure (highest mean score 4.80),administrators (mean score 4.32), KM process (mean score4.20), KM measure (second lowest mean score 4.17) as wellas KM strategy (the second highest mean score 4.57). TheseCSFs were also investigated and measured with the agree-ment of the respondents, and explained how the CSFs helpto implement KM in the libraries and information institu-tions of Bangladesh. Finally, we suggest that the Depart-ment of Information Science and Library Management ofDhaka University and Rajshahi University should introduceKM course(s) either in the graduate level or in the Post-graduate level. There is a limited opportunity at this timefor the information professionals of Bangladesh to learnabout KM and implement those CSFs in the Libraries andinformation Institutions of Bangladesh.

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