Becoming knowledge focused : towards a conceptual definition of knowledge management in international organizations

This paper proposes a conceptual definition that can used as a starting point to contextualize knowledge initiatives in international organizations and other types of non-profit organizations interested in knowledge management. Organizational leaders, knowledge managers and consultants involved in creating and implementing knowledge management initiatives aimed at process improvements in international organizations context could benefit from the reflections and learning insights from this paper. This paper does not address efficiency matters from the political or governing sphere, nor does it propose specific programmatic changes to work of international organizations; rather it presents a pragmatic “bottom-up” approach, based on case studies and interviews conducted at eight different international organizations, including the European Union (EU), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and were classified according to their functional orientation. Over 40 interviews have been conducted, with organizational leaders, knowledge managers, IT managers and human resources managers. The grounded theory methodology as described by Strauss and Corbin [Strauss and Corbin, 1990, Strauss and Corbin, 1994], using interviews and document studies for data collection, combined with findings from literature, helped identify processes involved in managing knowledge in international organizations. -- Knowledge management ; intellectual capital ; international organizations