Exploring Configurations of Knowledge Management Strategy in Information and Communication Technology Firms: A Qualitative Comparative Approach

Abstract Project-based organizations (PBOs) in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry have experienced increasing competition. Engineering projects are conducted by firms to deliver customized products and services to clients. Effective knowledge management (KM) in the engineering project context is important for the sustainable growth of companies. At a practical level, engineering managers recognize two types of KM strategy, namely, personalization (person-to-person) and codification (person-to-system). A continuous debate, however, exists between dominant and balanced approaches of this strategy. This exploratory study extends the existing literature by incorporating multiple predictors of KM strategy (i.e., “personalization” and “codification”), two attributes of project complexity (“uncertainty in goals” and “structural complexity”), and an environmental context of “business strategy.” For the conceptual part, a mix–contingent configurational perspective was applied to represent the causal complexity among multiple predictors and its associated outcome. An empirical study was performed by inviting PBO/ICT companies in Indonesia. Out of the total 440 firms, 87 provided useful cases, accounting for a 20% response rate. Crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis was conducted to identify multiple case configurations. This study offers new, more comprehensive insights for engineering managers of successful and less successful ICT firms when implementing knowledge strategy in a highly nuanced manner. This study also identifies multiple successful configurations of knowledge strategy, project complexity, and business strategy.