INFLUENCE OF THE HIERARCHICAL LEVEL ON KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TOOLS AND PRACTICES: A STUDY ON MANAGERS AND TECHNICIANS

Abstract

Company employees have always joined efforts to create, capture, organize, share, disseminate and use knowledge for organizational excellence. The objective of this work is to verify the influence of the hierarchical level of employees in relation to the knowledge management applied in the organizations. This descriptive-quantitative study had as research method the gathering of information through a structured questionnaire that was responded by 319 managers and technicians of fifteen large and medium-sized companies operating in the software industry in Brazil. The results indicated significant differences on knowledge management practiced by managers and technicians. Specifically, in relation to knowledge management practices, it was verified that from every three practices, two presented a higher degree of utilization by the surveyed managers than by the surveyed technicians. Regarding information technology tools for knowledge management, the surveyed managers identified three out of four tools as the most intensely used. As conclusion, there is adherence to practices and tools aimed at knowledge management with strategic management logic, emphasizing different roles, but somehow integrated, between managers and technicians.