Leading knowledge management strategies in Australia and New Zealand: a comparative study of public and private sector organisations Frada Burstein, Suzanne Zyngier 1 Gerry McCullough, Gillian Oliver 2 Judith Symonds, Martyn Brown 2 1 School of Information Management & Systems (SIMS) Monash University, Melbourne e-mail: Frada.Burstein@sims.monash.edu.au 2 School of Information Science and Humanities, The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand e-mail: Gerry.McCullough@openpolytechnic.ac.nz Abstract This paper draws on preliminary empirical quantitative research into an understanding of the status of knowledge management in the Australian and New Zealand environments. The relevant literature is surveyed on the role of leadership in knowledge management strategies and techniques. This is set against research findings on the roles allocated to lead the knowledge management task. In particular findings within the government sector and the non-government sectors are compared. The paper concludes by presenting a preliminary evaluation of the role of knowledge management leadership within the organisation and suggests that the external influences also play a role Keywords Australia, New Zealand, Knowledge Management, Chief Knowledge Officer, Leadership INTRODUCTION The need for knowledge management (KM) leadership has been identified as one of the critical success factors for a KM programme (Skyrme and Amidon, p.33). However, the need for a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) has been questioned (Earl and Scott, 1999, Herschel and Nemati, 2000). A contrasting view was documented by TFPL in 2001. TFPL is a United Kingdom corporate information consultancy agency that has conducted CKO summits annually from 1999 onwards. In 2001 they note that in contrast to previous years CKOs no longer see their role as a transient one, but as a key player in the strategic leadership of an organization. Similarly, the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and need for that position have also been debated (Stephens et al., 1992, Earl and Feeny, 1994, Maruca, 2000). Recently the CIO has been urged to move beyond the traditional boundaries of information systems and technology and become involved in information management from a much broader perspective (Doesburg, 2002). This paper considers comparative analysis of findings of the role of leadership in KM strategies. These findings are derived from a survey of public and private sector organizations in Australia and New Zealand. We believe that this study provides useful data about the situation in KM in the developed countries of the Asia-Pacific region. In light of the increased current focus on utilisation of intellectual assets for sustainable development of organisations, consideration of the results is essential for information systems research and practice. WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Knowledge management is a business-focused approach to the processes that govern the creation, dissemination, and utilisation of knowledge to fulfil organisational objectives thereby adding value to and increasing the productivity of the organisation (Murray et al, 1998). Information systems research seeks to establish the development of methods, tools and applications of systems processes that govern the creation, dissemination, and utilisation of information in its explicit form. Knowledge management is therefore a distinct and separate facet of information systems research. KM is a tool to facilitate the sustainable transfer of knowledge and its flow in explicit, implicit and tacit forms. The understanding of the flow of knowledge, the capacity to manage the flow and leverage the capacity of the organisation to create and innovate and the place of technology in this schema is an essential focus in the exploding information age. KM issues include the development, implementation and maintenance of appropriate organisational and technical infrastructures to Burstein, Zyngier, McCullough, Oliver, Symonds, Brown (Paper #244) 14th Australasian Conference on Information Systems Page 1 26-28 November 2003, Perth, Western Australia