The application of knowledge management in call centres

Purpose – The paper proposes to evaluate the need for knowledge management in a call centre for improving quality of customer services, by addressing the issues specifically relating to information and knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach – Methodology adopted in this research is qualitative, namely ethnography. After examining six models from literature review, a knowledge management model is developed for implementation to assess the required effort to compare against the expected benefits. Findings – Knowledge management could be achieved by effectively managing the five roles of knowledge, namely knowledge acquisition, utilisation, adaptation, distribution, and generation. Comparison of the benefits against the efforts has clearly justified the knowledge management efforts in the case study. Research limitations/implications – The knowledge management model could be adapted in other service sectors with similar characteristics to a call centre. Practical implications – The paper provides details of solutions to call centres on the approach to making knowledge management work in practice. Originality/value – A new knowledge management model was developed for applying the knowledge management concept in call centres. The approaches to managing knowledge in the model have yielded a number of benefits as demonstrated by a case study. This work will be beneficial to researchers and practitioners who are interested in applying knowledge management in call centres and/or service sectors with similar characteristics.