A Framework for Knowledge Management System Adoption in Small to Medium Enterprises

Knowledge management is creating an appealing competitive advantage to organisations. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) form the backbone of economies worldwide, especially in South Africa as a developing economy, where they contribute to the majority of economic growth and employment. Research into KMSs for SMEs are limited and requires further investigation. Using the technology-organisation-environment (TOE) framework, this paper identifies eight factors of KMS in SMEs from the information technology (IT)/information system (IS) adoption literature. Four contexts are identified within which KMS adoption in SMEs and are described as the Behavioural context, Technological context, Organizational context and the Environmental context. We explore the factors that influence KMS adoption in SMEs and define a number of propositions to inform a KMS adoption framework for SMEs. Future work in this area include the identification of additional contextual factors that influence KMS adoption in SMEs as well as factors that mediate and moderate the factors in the framework