Identification and Ranking the Factors Affecting the Knowledge Management Implementation Using Metasynthesis Method

 Organizations require knowledge management (KM) in order to continue their activities and sustainability in their competitive cycles. One of the problems of organizations and managers is the implementation of KM, considering the factors affecting the implementation of KM plays an important role in the success and development of the organization. Meanwhile, the factors affecting the implementation of KM, determining the importance of each of the factors and providing an appropriate framework for their application in KM implementation process play a fundamental role in advancing the organization's goals. The purpose of this research is to identify and rank the factors affecting the implementation of KM by reviewing the past studies.

 Meta-synthesis attempts to integrate results from a number of different but inter-related qualitative studies. In order to identify the factors, all dimensions of KM implementation have been identified through Meta-Synthesis using 335 papers were published in Sciencedirect, SID, Magiran and ElmNet from 2010 to 2018. Then, the importance and priority of each proposed dimension was determined using Shannon quantitative method based on content analysis.

The results of the research in the extension method showed 3 categories (organizational, personal, and environmental), 8 concepts (KM process, organization structure, technology, management, individual, trust, competitive and culture) and 52 codes (knowledge creation (0.016), knowledge identification (0.026), knowledge leadership (0.00), knowledge planning (0.01), knowledge effectiveness (0.024), knowledge sharing (0.039), knowledge evaluation (0.01), knowledge storage (0.02), knowledge learning (0.00), knowledge transparency (0.00), knowledge implementation (0.024), knowledge quality (0.024), KM alignment (0.02), organization strategy (0.016), KM strategies (0.039), employees enrichment (0.01), organizational enrichment (0.00), organizational sources (0.02), financial sources (0.016), organizational environment (0.00), the number of employees (0.016), recruitment (0.00), organizational size (0.016), performance evaluation (0.026), KM system selecting (0.026), employees training (0.031), reverse engineering (0.00), fast upgrade (0.024), flexability (0.032), confidence (0.032), easy implementation (0.026), technological tools(0.01), storage capacity (0.024), information technology infrastructure (0.035), management support (0.035), human resource management (0.039), team working (0.031), participation (0.00), motivation (0.034), justice(0.00), readiness(0.00), concentration (0.00), communication (0.031), employees trust and managers(0.031), employees trust (0.024), competition force (0.016), benchmarking (0.016), world services availability (0.02), best practices (0.01), knowledge base culture (0.01), innovation culture (0.032) and organizational culture (0.044) in KM implementation.

 A successful KM program will consider more than just technology. An organization should also consider organization culture, leadership, strategic alignment, managers' support, information technology and motivation were identified as the most important factors for success of KM implementation.