Barriers Impeding Knowledge Management Practices in the Public Sector

Abstract

The 2017-2022 Kenya's Council of Governors strategic plan indicates that there is lack of a structured mechanism for systematic knowledge sharing and organizational learning among the county governments despite the council's effort to share information through statutory annual reports, devolution conferences, and quarterly committee meetings. The intention of this chapter is to assess the challenges faced by the Kenyan county governments in their quest to institutionalize knowledge management practices and to conceptualize a framework that can support continuous sharing of experiences, lessons, and innovations within and among the county governments in Kenya. Theoretical frameworks and models of knowledge management in governance, governments, and e-governments were considered and a novel theoretical framework for successful knowledge management initiatives among regional governments was formulated. The chapter provides recommendations for the council and other policy makers on how to manage knowledge management initiatives, while suggestions for future research directions are given.