Assessing the Knowledge Management Capability of the Ghanaian Public Sector through the "BCPI" Matrix: A Casestudy of the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service

Edwin Asiamah Acheampong, University of Bolton, Greater Manchester
Kondal Reddy Kandadi, University of Bolton

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents the findings of a study which aims to assess the readiness of public sector organisations in Ghana to adopt and practice Knowledge Management (KM) in the face of various exigencies – political, economic and social- that are inherent in such establishments. The study is based on the BCPI Matrix (Kandadi, 2006), a meta-level framework for practicing KM in large and distributed organisations. The readiness for KM is explored across the four key dimensions of the BCPI Matrix: Business Focus, Culture, Process and Infrastructure. The research methodology is based on a case study with the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service – a revenue institution that typifies Ghana’s public sector organisations. Self-administered and semi-structured interview questionnaires were employed in the data collection. The self-administered questionnaires were used to elicit quantifiable responses from the employees of the VAT Service which constituted the sampling frame. In addition, a set of interviews with senior officers of the organisation and a Specialist in charge of the country’s ongoing public sector reform yielded qualitative data that provided insights to the statistics obtained from the quantitative data. The results of this study show that the public sector organisations in Ghana exhibit tendencies that can be receptive towards the implementation of Knowledge Management programmes. Employees in the public sector generally display a positive knowledge culture which, may be improved through enhanced working conditions and infrastructure. Ongoing reforms in the Ghanaian public sector promises government support to public sector organisations in the area of Knowledge Management which can promote KM practice. . Perhaps, the major limitation of this study is the use of a single case organisation, VAT Service, to depict the overall view of KM in the Ghanaian Public Sector organisations. However, the authors intend to use this as a preliminary research and extend it towards a more comprehensive study that will attempt to develop a KM strategy as part of an overall ICT framework for Ghana’s public sector organisations.