Globally government institutions are faced with demands to change and modernise their operations so as to facilitate development in the new ‘knowledge’ economy. Failure by Government Institutions to adopt knowledge management practices poses challenges in preservation of institutional memory due to frequent transfer of knowledge workers. Ineffective implementation of knowledge management practices leads to inadequate capacity to sustain Government projects which impacts negatively on the economic growth of the country. The study investigated the factors affecting implementation of Knowledge Management Practices. The objectives of the study included Organisational Structure, Organisational Culture, Information Technologies and Human Resource Capabilities. A census survey of middle level managers from Human Resource and Technical operations department based in Nairobi was conducted, using a structured self administered questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS. The findings revealed that organisational structures in Government organisations are hierarchical which hindered sharing of information, the existing organisational culture does not support and encourage creation and sharing of knowledge amongst employees, inadequate skills in information technology and computer networks to facilitate sharing of knowledge hindered knowledge management practices efforts and lack of defined responsibilities for knowledge management (KM) initiatives affected execution of KM in organisations. Recommendations included flexible organisational structures to support distribution of knowledge, a strong culture that values trust, openness and sociability to stimulate knowledge sharing, investing in information infrastructure to support distribution of knowledge and acquisition of requisite competencies and skills on effective implementation of knowledge management to ensure sustainability.
Keywords: Knowledge Economy, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Sharing, Knowledge Workers
