Wissensmanagement in kleinen und mittelständischen Unternehmen. Systematische Gestaltung einer wissensorientierten Organisationsstruktur und -kultur (Knowledge Management in Small and medium sized enterprises - An intervention framework that takes into account the structural and cultural characteristics of small and medium-sized companies)

The growing demands on the availability competition-related knowledge is not only for large companies, but also for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) a challenge. Many SME try to bright this challenge through the use of new information and communication technologies. But this is not sufficient to promote sustainable knowledge and learning processes. Only through the establishment of an adequate structural and cultural environment in organizations the handling of knowledge can be systematically improved. This publication will show a scientifically substantiated way to develop an organizational structure and culture that promotes the knowledge processes in an organization and scopes also the characteristics of SME. To reach this goal the present work analyses in detail the influence of the structure and culture on the knowledge flows in an organizations. On this basis the author develops an SME oriented framework for the design of an organizational structure and culture that is adequate to the growing importance of knowledge. The usability of the developed approach has been tested at three manufacturing SME.