Organizational conditions for 'new knowledge management' application

Recently, a new theory emerged in the field of Knowledge Management. This theory is referred to as 'New Knowledge Management' and was introduced by McElroy. The theory is new to the extent that it brings together several known knowledge management concepts in a unique combination. In its essence, it consists of 14 policies that an organization should apply to improve its sustainable and innovative edge. This paper describes a scientifically validated assessment method that we developed to measure the level of New Knowledge Management application in an organization. The goal of developing this assessment method was twofold. First of all, organizations can use the method to determine to what extent they apply the principles of New Knowledge Management. Consequently, organizations can use the method to improve their knowledge management practices. Secondly, we used the assessment to conduct a survey under 30 Dutch companies to study the adoption of the New Knowledge Management principles in these companies. The results have been used as a benchmark for the organizations that participated in the research. Furthermore, we statistically analyzed to what extent adoption is influenced by organizational characteristics, such as size and structure of the organization. In the paper, we present the results of the survey and our analysis. The results show that an average organization applies about 60% of the principles. Moreover, analysis reveals that hierarchical structure, B2B/B2C orientation, and KM system usage tend to significantly relate to the level of New Knowledge Management application.