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Enhancing Knowledge Management (KM) in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Era: The Role of Human Resource Systems

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The Palgrave Handbook of Knowledge Management

Abstract

As organisations encounter an era of rapid technological change and intensifying competition, this chapter unpacks the notion of organisational knowledge and how it remains a crucial resource enabling organisations to establish a competitive advantage. In doing so, the concept of knowledge management is explored to identify the main repositories of knowledge within an organisation and how the human resource (HR) function can access and coordinate the flow of genuine ‘know-how’ required for innovation. This chapter offers a conceptual frame that identifies a series of organisational enablers that the HR function needs to coordinate, develop and promote effectively in order for organisations to share and generate new knowledge.

In developing this frame, this chapter argues that external changes to labour markets and modern economies, which include the emergence of the gig economy, are real and present threats which could challenge the pivotal role that HR and organisations play in the creation of new innovations. In conclusion, this chapter argues that instead of the HR function attempting to control knowledge, it should nurture it by utilising HR systems that create an organisational architecture that promotes, rewards and disseminates new knowledge, enabling organisations to respond to the hyper-competitive environments in which they operate.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing and Management, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Troy Sarina

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  1. Troy Sarina
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

    Jawad Syed

  2. School of Management and Enterprise, Faculty of Business, Education, Law and the Arts, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

    Peter A. Murray

  3. School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom

    Donald Hislop

  4. Muscat University, St Helens, Merseyside, United Kingdom

    Yusra Mouzughi

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Sarina, T. (2018). Enhancing Knowledge Management (KM) in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Era: The Role of Human Resource Systems. In: Syed, J., Murray, P., Hislop, D., Mouzughi, Y. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Knowledge Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71434-9_17

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