KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECTOR IN INDIA: A STUDY

During the last century, the world has undergone a change from an agriculture society, where natural labour was the critical factor, to an industrial society where the management of technology, capital and labour provided the competitive advantage. In the 21st century, a new society is emerging where knowledge is the primary production resource instead of capital and labour. Effective utilization of this existing knowledge can create comprehensive wealth for the nation in the form of better health, education, infrastructure and other social indicators. Today business view is shifting from a product-centric to a knowledge-centric view. Companies cannot afford to under invest in using, reusing and losing knowledge that they already have. In this rapidly changing business environment, intellectual capital has become a key asset of the enterprise. The ability of companies to exploit their intangible assets has become far more decisive than their ability to invest and manage their physical assets (Davenport & Prusak, 1998). By managing its knowledge assets, an enterprise can improve its competitiveness and adaptability and increase its chances of success. The Information Technology (IT) industry is having a major contribution to service sector and GDP in general. In this context, an attempt is made to study knowledge management practices in IT industry. In the first part of the article the significance of knowledge in Indian economy, the fundamental concepts of knowledge, knowledge management have been discussed elaborately. The significance of managing organisational knowledge and steps of knowledge management process and reasons and need for the companies to go for knowledge management has been discussed. Subsequently various knowledge management practices adapted and successfully executed by the companies discussed in detail.