Knowledge management as a mechanism for technological and organizational change management in Israeli universities

During the last decade, the higher education sector has experienced many pressures and changes (Hanna, Educause Review, 38(4), 25-34, 2003; Scott, Educause Review, 38, 64-80, 2003; Waterhouse, The power of e-learning: The essential guide for teaching in the digital age, 2005). Universities around the world are facing the need to adapt to a rapidly changing educational and social landscape, in which technology is both the main cause of change and a tool for dealing with the change. This study examines the organization-wide technological changes that have infiltrated every aspects of life at all universities that are part of the higher education system in Israel during the last 7 years: the introduction of on-line instruction, e-learning and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technology for university work processes The research findings show that there is a mechanism for managing organization-wide technological changes at Israeli universities but it is not a rational one. This study proposes a model for managing organization-wide technological changes in universities on the basis of the existing mechanism, using knowledge management strategies for the purpose of change management: KM-M-CM (Knowledge Management as a Mechanism for Change Management) Implementation of this model will make it possible to realize the challenge of transforming the university from a "knowledge institution" to a "learning institution." It will come life to the extent that the higher education system in Israel, its leaders and decision-makers understand the need for a permanent mechanism to manage change and adopt this rational model in order to establish it.