Learning Organisations and Knowledge Maps: Analysis of a Survey in Portugal

In the current competitive climate, knowledge management has moved from a utopian state of affairs to a reality. It allows for the recognition that competitiveness is based on the experience as well as motivation of employees. In this context there is a need to identify and construct tools and instruments, Knowledge Maps, which are in alignment with managing knowledge within the organizations. Other interesting instruments in knowledge management, as is the case of employees’ motivation used in interaction and exchange of information and experiences, which are favourable in intra-organisational cooperation, training, accessing information and different knowledge, namely at the technical level. The methodology of this research consists of the analysis of primary data obtained from questionnaires and interviews, during the last semester of 2006, carried out in companies in the transformation sector, based in the North of Portugal. Our aim is to characterise their attitude and behaviour in the light of the construction as well as the usage of knowledge maps, as an instrument which leads the organisation to excellence. We also endeavour is to measure the importance of tacit knowledge in company governance, in contrast to the traditional knowledge paradigm which was essentially only concerned with explicit knowledge, It is our objective therefore to ascertain, in loco, whether Peter Senge’s systemic thinking (1990) namely the Fifth Discipline, can be in any way adequate to Portuguese companies.