Knowledge Management Practices and Performance of Kenya Revenue Authority Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

Organizations both in the public sector as well as the private sector have adopted the implementation of knowledge management practices in an effort to improve their operational efficiencies and performance of their organizations. Many governmental agencies and departments have kept to the old age bureaucratic system of using information resulting in poor performance. The case of KRA has recorded short-falls in attaining its revenue collection targets which negatively affects government operations. Some efforts and investments have been made to improve the performance but the deficits still persist, hence the need to look to KM practices to change the trend. The focus of this study was to investigate how knowledge management practices affect performance of the Kenya Revenue Authority. The specific variables of KM practices covered knowledge capturing, sharing, storage and application. The theories anchoring the study included knowledge based-view, organizational knowledge conversion theory, knowledge spiral theory and resource based-view theory. The study adopted descriptive research design targeting 671 employees at KRA and stratified random sampling was used to select 224 respondents. Primary data was gathered with aid of the questionnaire using drop and pick later method and some got physical questionnaires and others received soft copies through email. The questionnaire was piloted to determine reliability through Cronbach Alpha. Content validity was determined through supervisor review of the questionnaire. The analysis of the descriptive nature involved percentages, frequencies, means and standard deviations. Inferential statistics used included multiple regression analysis. The results of the study were presented in form of tables and figures. Diagnostic test that will be conducted include multicollinearity test, normality tests and Heteroscedasticity. The study established that respondents agreed that knowledge captured was to be shared among staff besides being stored for future application so as to enhance performance. Information captured at KRA was shared among staff to enhance their competence and skills as they carry out their daily duties. Knowledge that had been captured and shared was stored at KRA for retrieval by staff as they carry out their daily activities thus performance. The captured, shared and stored knowledge at KRA was applied by staff on their daily activities which probably contributed towards performance. The study concludes that although KRA had embraced knowledge capturing, it did not significantly contribute towards its performance. Knowledge capturing and sharing are none core activities in any knowledge management practice of an organization. Knowledge storage was practiced at KRA and it significantly contributed towards its overall performance. Both knowledge storage and application are key drivers of any knowledge management endeavor in an organization. This study recommends that the human resource managers at KRA should on the available recruitment practices for new employees. The heads of departments at KRA should organize for more seminars to share knowledge among staff so as to contribute towards performance. Information and communication managers at KRA should work to improve on the existing repositories for storing knowledge. departmental heads at KRA should encourage staff across all functions to apply knowledge in decision making, problem solving and development of new products.