Knowledge Management for NFP: It's about People First and Foremost

Abstract

Claims that Knowledge Management (KM) is fundamental to the effective performance of organisations and that it is increasingly critical to business performance are widespread in the KM literature (Hall, 2003; Binney, 2000; Senge, 1990, 1994). KM practices and "the bottom line" financial performance of an organisation have been found to be strongly correlated (Binney, 2000; Senge, 1990, 1994) positioning this field as a valuable area of academic research. However, researchers and practitioners are yet to explore the inter-relationships of internal operations, KM, internal marketing (IM), employee satisfaction and overall client/customer satisfaction as a collective value chain. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current KM literature in the context of not-for-profits (NFPs) and to identify issues for consideration in a future research agenda in the NFP and services context. This approach to the conceptualisation of KM and internal marketing in NFPs is founded in a services marketing perspective. The paper proceeds with an examination of a critical set of KM lessons experienced in the introductory phase of knowledge capture and diffusion in a for-profit context and proposes a set of issues worth considering for future research in the non-profit sector.