Decision making methodology to support the project implementation of knowledge management in business

Abstract

Normally the decision to implement investment projects in companies has an orientation toward a goal: prioritization of technical/financial (profit maximization or cost minimization), although there are other important objectives for the company. In this case, it is assumed that the other objectives are implied in the central objective. Because of this, objectives leading to non-profitable goals are often underestimated (such as managerial, coordinating, organizational, human, cultural, among others), which often leads to mistakes in the implementation stage of projects. In Knowledge Management (KM) Projects something similar can occur since important aspects can be ignored and this can help avoiding mistakes in their execution. Thus, some authors believe that when it comes to decision-making processes with different objectives, centralized tools or techniques on a single target are not the most relevant. Because of this, since the nineteen seventies, decision-making tools under multi objective or multi criteria approach have been developed. These tools allow a broader and comprehensive decision-making process in companies. In this sense, this paper proposes a methodology for guiding multi criteria decision-making processes to support the implementation of KM projects in companies. The method considers the stages of a decision-making process, besides the usage of multi objective analysis techniques. The proposed methodology gives a comprehensive view of decision-making, using qualitative and quantitative tools to support the implementation of KM projects in companies. The proposal stems from a reflexive qualitative research on the processes of implementation of KM in Colombian companies.