2009年12月10日 星期四

COMPETENCIES SOUGHT BY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

COMPETENCIES SOUGHT BY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT EMPLOYERS: CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ONLINE JOB ADVERTISEMENTS


Shaheen Majid
School of Communication & Information,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
asmajid@ntu.edu.sg

Rianto Mulia
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
riantomulia@gmail.com

Content analysis of job advertisements is considered a reliable method for determining the demands of job market. The aim of this study was to identify competencies required by knowledge management (KM) employers through analyzing job advertisements appeared in selected job portals. The study used 110 English language job advertisements from China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. It was found that a majority of the advertisements did not ask for knowledge management qualifications rather a general degree or a qualification in computing, business or library and information studies was preferred. It was also noted that almost all job advertisements put more emphasis on personality traits than other competencies, namely KM core processes, KM technologies, and human capital management. The highly sought after personality-related competencies were communication skills, analytical thinking skills, and leadership skills. The top three competencies related to KM core processes were knowledge transfer and sharing, knowledge discovery and acquisition, and knowledge organization. The top three IT and infrastructure related competencies were familiarity with content management systems, knowledge portals, and development and maintenance of knowledge repositories. This paper suggests that KM academic programs should regularly review their curricula to incorporate new trends and competencies required by the KM job market.

1. Introduction
Organizations need well-educated and competent knowledge professionals for successfully implementing their knowledge management (KM) initiatives and strategies. Inadvertently, it is causing an upsurge in demand for knowledge professionals possessing a desired set of knowledge, skills and attitudes. As knowledge management is an emerging discipline, currently no standard and widely accepted competency framework for KM professionals is available (Luthra, 2008). However, KM academic programs have been trying to design such curricula which can provide a wide range of desired competencies to their graduates. Some KM professional associations, such as Information and Knowledge Management Society (iKMS), have proposed a competency framework for knowledge professionals (iKMS, 2008). Based on two web surveys, Hazeri, Sarrafzadeh and Martin (2007) reported that communication and networking skills were the most desired competencies for information and knowledge professionals, closely followed by teamwork skills, creative thinking skills, decision-making skills, and document management skills.
Gutsche (2009) argued that across industries, competencies provide a foundation for building coherent efforts to improve knowledge, skills and attitudes of employees. Recently, WebJunction (http://www.webjunction.org/1) with help from OCLC (http://www.oclc.org/asiapacific/en/ global/default.htm) have compiled a competency index for library and information professionals. In this index competencies are presented in three broad categories of library and information management, information technology, and personal/interpersonal competencies.
Due to multi-disciplinarily nature and diversity in knowledge management activities, recruitment of KM professionals with an appropriate set of competencies is becoming a challenge for employers. They use a variety of techniques such as job application forms, curricula vitae, individual and panel interviews, psychometric testing, assessment centres, motivation testing, job trials, graphology, job-specific aptitude tests, group-based activities and references for selecting suitable individuals (El-Kot and Leat, 2008). Each of these methods tries to measure different aspects of applicants to ensure that the selected individuals possess appropriate qualifications, personality traits, and professional competencies. That is why, nowadays the competency-based approach to recruitment is considered crucial in achieving organizational excellence (Hogg, 2008).
Various techniques, such as questionnaires, observations, case studies, interviews, job analysis, and competency profiling can be used to understand the needs of job market. The content analysis of job advertisements is considered part of the competency profiling technique and has been used by many studies. Majid and Bee (2003) noted that job advertisements can be used to identify gaps between knowledge and skills provided by academic programs and the competencies sought by potential employers. Thompson, Martens & Hawamdeh (2008) studied the roles and responsibilities of knowledge management professionals outlined by hiring organizations through content analysis of their job advertisements. The data was collected from 1200 job postings containing information about the recruiting organizations, the location of position, the main requirements and skills desired in the applicant, the qualifications needed, and the offered salary. The content analysis of the job postings were used to identify major areas and trends in the information and knowledge profession.
Kennan, et al. (2007) used job advertisements to compare market expectations of information professionals in Australia and the USA. They found a higher emphasis on behavioural and interpersonal skills in both countries. Promis (2008) used job advertisements to study soft skills sought by library and information employers and concluded that creative thinking, critical and analytical thinking, data manipulation skills and decision-making skills were required by all levels of professionals. Ferguson, Hider, and Lloyd (2008) analyzed KM job advertisements and found some overlap between competencies required by KM and Library and Information Studies (LIS) employers.
Several recent studies have used online job portals for profiling competencies sought by employers from different industries. Online job advertisements are becoming popular as many employers feel advertising through such portals is more effective, economical, and less time consuming, with the additional advantage of reaching out to a higher number of potential applicants. This approach was proven effective for Dell which recruited 50 per cent of its employees through online applications (Ismail, 2008). The popularity of online job portals can be seen from a substantial increase in the number of visitors to these websites (Pathak, 2005). As a result, job portals are becoming more efficient, using sophisticated recruitment systems.
As it is obvious from the above discussion that knowledge management is an emerging discipline, it is desirable to identify a standard competency set for KM professionals. Different methods can be used to identify competencies sought by employers and content analysis of job advertisements is one of the reliable techniques for this purpose. Although this method has been widely used in other disciplines, it is not extensively used in knowledge management sector. The purpose of this study was to identify competencies sought by employers through analyzing KM job advertisements, appearing in different job websites. The findings of this study will help understand demands of the KM job market and academic programs can utilize this knowledge to reorient their curricula for meeting the needs of KM employers.

2. Method
For this study job advertisements appearing in different online job websites were identified, collected and analyzed. As knowledge management is a multi-disciplinary domain, its professionals are expected to performance a wide range of tasks. Certain common tasks undertaken in many organizations, such as developing organizational repositories, the Internet applications and technologies, content management, infra-structure development and maintenance, and human resource management might be performed by other individuals not directly involved in knowledge management activities. It was, therefore, decided to only include those English language advertisements that exclusively deal with knowledge management operations. The criterion used for the selection of online advertisements was that either the word ‘knowledge management’ should appear in the job title or at least one of the job descriptions should mention it. In addition, those job advertisements which listed ‘knowledge management’ as one of the desired qualifications were also included in this analysis. In total, 110 job advertisements from China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, were retrieved from 20 job portals (Table 1). The data was collected during the first half of the year 2008.


Table 1. List of Online Job Portals (N=110)
Job Portal No. of Advertisements %
Naukri.com 31 28.2%
JobStreet.com 26 23.6%
51Job.com 8 7.3%
Recruit.net 7 6.4%
Monster.com 6 5.5%
ChinaHR.com 5 4.6%
JobsDB.com 4 3.6%
ZhaoPin.com 4 3.6%
JobsAhead.com 3 2.7%
FundooDataJobs.com 2 1.8%
JobsViewer.com 2 1.8%
KMTalk.net 2 1.8%
Other job portals 10 9.1%

Data cleaning was considered desirable as some job advertisements appeared on multiple job portals or advertised through independent job recruitment agencies which may hide the identity of the advertising company. Advertisements with similar job titles, job descriptions, qualifications and work experiences were identified and carefully examined to remove duplication. Job advertisements with very brief job descriptions were removed as it was difficult to determine their suitability for this analysis.
The collected job advertisements were analysed to derive a list of required competencies as well as other job requirements. The collected data was grouped under four major categories: Core KM processes – 22 competencies were identified related to certain specific KM operations and processes; ICT applications and infrastructure – 21 ICT related competencies were identified; Personality traits - 65 qualities related to behaviour, attitude and personality traits were collected; and finally Qualification – academic and professional qualifications mentioned in job advertisements.

3. Findings
3.1 Job Advertisements from Different Countries
It was found that India had the highest number of job advertisements posted on online job portals compared to rest of the countries in Asia (Table 2). Since the job advertisements were extracted from those online job portals which only supported the English language, this could be one of the reasons why China, Malaysia and Hong Kong - which have a fairly vibrant knowledge management sectors - did not appear to post many knowledge management jobs. These countries might have posted more advertisements in non-English job portals or preferred advertising in local newspapers and magazines.

Table 2: Job Advertisements by Country

Country No. of Jobs %
India 46 41.8
Singapore 22 20.0
China 16 14.6
Malaysia 12 10.9
Hong Kong 9 8.2
Philippines 5 4.5
Total 110 100

3.2 Number of Positions by Job Level
The collected job advertisements, based on the length of required work expereince, were grouped under entry-, middle- and senior-level positions. Jobs requiring up to two years’ of work experience were categorized as entry-level jobs, jobs requiring 2 to 5 years’ of experience as middle-level positions while advertisements asking for more than 5 years’ of experience were categorized as senior-level positions. Many of the entry-level positions, using different job titles, were lumped together under the title Executive or Knowledge Officer. Moreover, in order to avoid redundancy, the word knowledge management was removed from all job titles. For example, the job title ‘Manager (Knowledge Management)’ was replaced with ‘Manager’.
It was found that one-half of the advertised jobs were for entry-level positions (Table 3). Forty-one (37.3%) of the advertisements were for middle-level positions while only 14 (12.7%) were for senior-level knowledge management positions.

Table 3: Breakdown of Advertisements by Job Positions
Job Level Job Titles No. of Jobs %
Entry-level Positions Executive/ Knowledge Officer 50 45.5%
Assistant Manager 5 4.5%
Middle-level Positions Manager 24 21.8%
Assistant Director 8 7.3%
Senior Manager 8 7.3%
Assistant Vice President 1 0.9%
Senior-level Positions Head 5 4.5%
Chief 2 1.8%
Director 2 1.8%
General Manager 1 0.9%
Team Leader 3 2.7%
Vice President 1 0.9%

Further data analysis revealed that out of 46 advertisements from India, 63.1% were for the entry-level jobs, 23.9% for middle-level and 13% for senior-level positions (Table 4). A majority (54.6%) of the KM job advertisements from Singapore was for middle-level positions, followed by entry-level positions (40.9%). A somewhat similar pattern was observed for China and Hong Kong where a majority of the KM advertisements was for middle- and entry-level positions. It was, however, interesting to note that one-third of the advertisements from Malaysia and 60% from the Philippines were for senior-level positions.

Table 4: Level of KM Job Advertisements form Different Countries

Job Level
India Singapore China Malaysia Hong Kong Philippines
Entry level 29
(63.1%) 9
(40.9%) 5
(31.3%) 6
(50.0%) 4
(44.4%) 2
(40.0%)
Middle level 11
(23.9%) 12
(54.6%) 11
(68.7%) 2
(16.7%) 5
(55.6%) -
Senior level 6
(13.0% 1
(4.5%) - 4
(33.3%) - 3
(60.0%)
Total 46
(100%) 22
(100%) 16
(100%) 12
(100%) 9
(100%) 5
(100%)

3.3 Competencies Sought by Employers
For the purpose of data analysis, the competencies desired by KM employers were divided into three major categories: KM core processes, KM technologies, and personality-related competencies. The KM core processes included those competencies that were required for identifying, capturing, organizing, disseminating and using knowledge in an organization. The technology competencies included those KM technologies and tools that could help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of KM operations and processes. Finally, the personality competencies included personality-related skills, attitudes, traits, and other characteristics of potential KM professionals.

3.3.1 KM Core Processes Competencies
Competencies related to KM core processes were edited and categorized under 22 broad categories, with some degree of overlap. The top five competencies in this group (Table 5) were knowledge transfer, dissemination and sharing (40.9% advertisements); knowledge creation, sourcing and discovery (37.3%); knowledge organization and classification (25.5%); knowledge access and retrieval (23.6%); and knowledge capturing and retention (21.8%). The most frequently mentioned KM core competency from India, Hong Kong and China was knowledge transfer, dissemination and sharing. The competency related to knowledge creation, sourcing and discovery was most frequently sought by employers from Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. The ability to champion, drive and manage knowledge management initiatives was indicated by a majority of advertisements from the Philippines.

Table 5: Top Five Competencies Related to KM Core Processes
(Multiple responses)


Rank Competency

Understanding of: No. of Advertisements
(N=110)
1 Knowledge transfer, dissemination and sharing 45 (40.9%)
2 Knowledge creation, sourcing and discovery 41 (37.3%)
3 Knowledge organization and classification, including metadata and taxonomies 28 (25.5%)
4 Knowledge access and retrieval 26 (23.6%)
5 Knowledge capturing and retention (i.e. codification) 24 (21.8%)

It was worth noting that certain other important KM competencies such as understanding of Return-on-Investment (ROI), knowledge measurement, and knowledge audit were not mentioned by many advertisements.

3.3.2 KM Technologies Competencies
The KM technologies related competencies were also edited and categorized under 21 broad categories. The top ICT related competencies (Table 6) included: the knowledge of content and document management systems (25.5%), and knowledge portal and knowledge flow systems (18.2%). The next top three technology-related competencies, mentioned by 13.6% of the advertisements each, were development and/or maintenance of KM infrastructure and applications; development and/or maintenance of knowledge-bases and KM repositories; and the knowledge of Microsoft Office application suite.









Table 6: Top Five KM Technologies Related Competencies
(Multiple responses)
Rank Competency

Knowledge of: No. of Advertisements
(N=110)
1 Content and document management systems 28 (25.5%)
2 Knowledge portal and knowledge flow systems 20 (18.2%)
3 Development and/ or maintenance of KM infrastructure and applications 15 (13.6%)
4 Knowledge-base and KM repositories 15 (13.6%)
5 Microsoft Office application suite 15 (13.6%)


3.3.2 Personality-related Competencies
A big diversity was observed for personality-related competencies. Altogether 65 such competencies were sought by KM employers. These competencies were edited and grouped under their broader categories. Among the top five personality-related competencies were (Table 7): ability to communicate effectively (63.9%); analytical and decision-making ability (47.2%); writing skills (38.0%); leadership skills (30.6%); and instructional skills (27.8%).

Table 7: Top Five Personality Related Competencies
(Multiple responses)
Rank Competency
Percentage of Advertisements
(N=110)
1 Ability to communicate effectively 63.9%
2 Analytical and decision-making ability 47.2%
3 Effective writing skills 38.0%
4 Leadership skills 30.6%
5 Training and presentation skills 27.8%

3.4 Qualifications Sought by Employers
Once again a considerable diversity was observed in the type of qualifications sought by knowledge management employers. As shown in Table 8, a general bachelor’s degree was the most frequently sought after qualification (38.0% advertisements). A bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in computing was the next most frequently required qualification (26.9% advertisements), while a bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in information management was the third most frequently mentioned qualification (14.8%).
Altogether 95 (86.4%) advertisements asked for a bachelor’s degree, 41 (37.3%) a master’s degree, 11 (10.0%) a diploma or a higher diploma, and 5 (4.5%) of the job advertisements asked for a professional certificate in knowledge management.

Table 8: Top Five Qualification Sought by Employers
(Multiple responses)
Rank Qualification Percentage of Advertisements
(N=110)
1 General bachelor’s degree 38.0%
2 Bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in computing 26.9%
3 Bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in information management 14.8%
4 Bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in business and commerce 11.1%
5 Bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in library 9.3%

Some variations were also observed for the types of quantifications preferred by employers from different countries. Over two-thirds of the advertisements from India asked for a general degree, whereas 50% of the advertisements from Singapore and China preferred a degree in computing. Similarly, 60% of the job advertisements from the Philippines asked for a degree in business and commerce. It was, however, interesting to note that only job advertisements from Singapore (32% advertisements), Malaysia (25%) and Hong Kong (22%) asked for qualifications in knowledge management.

4. Conclusion
Knowledge management is still an evolving discipline and efforts are being made to understand the types of competencies required by its professionals. In recent years many academic programs have emerged, preparing KM professionals at different levels. However, gap between the academic curricula and the skill-set required by employers has always been one of the hot topics of discussion. One way to overcome this problem is to understand KM job market as well as the types of competencies sought by potential employers. The KM academic programs can use this knowledge to re-align their curricula to effectively meet expectations of the job market.
A noteworthy pattern observed in this study was that only a few advertisements asked for Knowledge management qualifications. One possible reason could be that in some of the surveyed countries the Knowledge Management discipline is still in its infancy and qualified KM professionals are not readily available. Another possible explanation could be that as knowledge management is a multi-disciplinary subject, many employers might be looking for those individuals who possess more generic qualifications. Nevertheless, the KM academic programs need to closely watch developments in this discipline and continue evolving their curricula.

References
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