The 6 th International Research Conference on Quality, Innovation and Knowledge Management Knowledge Management in Thai Academic Research Institutes Somchai Numprasertchai, Barbara Igel School of Management Asian Institute of Technology Pratumthani, THAILAND 12120 (snp@ku.ac.th , igel@ait.ac.th ) Abstract For a learning organization, the most important aspect of its operation is Knowledge Management (KM). The most important concepts of any knowledge management system, in turn, are the ability to retain, retrieve and use the knowledge. Universities are widely regarded not only as teaching establishments but also as organizations that foster research, creation of new body of knowledge, and innovation, the perfect examples of learning organizations. As such, knowledge management must plays a significant role in improving and sustaining research and innovative activities of universities. Already, successful academic research units within Thai government universities have extensively implemented their own KM schemes in order to overcome barriers such as limited infrastructure, budget and even organizational policy. This paper presents a survey of KM schemes currently in use at various academic research units of three leading Thai government universities. In addition, we intend to identify the current status and effectiveness of each of the KM schemes, as well as implementation issues related to the deployment of such schemes. The survey focus is on knowledge goals as well as core KM processes: knowledge identification, knowledge acquisition, knowledge development, knowledge sharing/distribution, knowledge utilization and knowledge retention. Information was gained through in-depth interviews with researchers of the three Thai universities. Management schemes were then categorized based on similarity and disparity of concepts and operation details. Common success factors have been highlighted. Initial findings from this survey indicate that (1) the successful researchers usually have their own competencies, (2) they prefer collaborating with other organizations for funding, knowledge sharing and several purposes, and (3) they have a clear knowledge goal. Keyword: Knowledge Management, Thai Academic Research, Learning Organization 1) Introduction Knowledge management (KM) is the management of information within both private and public sectors. Its major focus is the steering of strategy, identifying and communicating explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge, that reside in processes, people, products and services to support collaboration and integration as well as productivity and efficiency [Duffy, 2000; De Gooijer, 2000; Matensson, 2000; Bollinger and Smith, 2001; Bailey and Clarke, 2001]. Integrating the key features of KM identified in previous research, we define Knowledge Management as the processes of managing knowledge for the purpose of achieving individual and organizational goals, especially in academic research. Dawson [2000] concluded that the functions of knowledge organizations are based on knowledge processes, many of which are fundamentally similar across organizations and even across various industries. The success of knowledge organizations depends largely on how effectively and efficiently they can perform such processes. - 683 -