Building benchmarking competence through knowledge management capability ‐ An empirical study of the Kuwaiti context

This paper is based on a study which examined the availability of knowledge management Systems in the Kuwaiti private and public sectors. The paper examines the actual situation, and how it could be improved to achieve organisational and national objectives through more effective training methods and more investment in human resources, geared towards enhancing and achieving effectiveness and efficiency. The study sample was five UK organisations (recognised as best practice organisations in their knowledge management systems) and 77 Kuwaiti organisations (40 government and 37 private ones). Interviews and questionnaires were used. The study reveals that the majority of respondents in both government and private sectors believe that their knowledge management system was very important to the development of their organisations, and that the most important sources of ideas come from employees’ and organisations’ existing knowledge. The most important method used by Kuwaiti organisations to facilitate the sharing of knowledge between employees, was found to include internal journals.