Emergent Knowledge Management in SMEs: a case study

The body of research about knowledge management in SMEs is rather scarce. Nevertheless, scholars that have investigated the peculiarities of KM processes in SMEs have found that SMEs do not manage knowledge the same way as large firms. Particularly, even though SMEs seem to be aware of the value of their knowledge assets, they generally have an unplanned and unsystematic approach to KM. In light of this, the paper intends to deepen our understanding about the way SMEs plan, implement and use KM. Specifically, it aims at identifying the nature (deliberate or emergent) of this process, the involved actors, and the relevant influencing factors. The paper examines the KM experience of Infonet Solutions, a small Italian ICT services company. It adopts the case study approach, given the descriptive and exploratory nature of the research. The unit of analysis is represented by the KM system implemented by the company in the last decade. The background conditions, the history of the system, its features and drawbacks are deeply analysed. The company was selected for two main reasons. First, it is a typical Knowledge-Intensive Business Service company, where knowledge is the key competitive resource. The second is a question of opportunity: it was possible to have direct access to relevant information thanks to the participation of a company executive to the research.