An interpretive structural modeling of knowledge management in engineering industries

In this age of globalization, to survive, organizations need a good capacity to retain, develop, organize and utilize their knowledge assets. The knowledge of an organization comprises of professional intellect, such as know‐how, know‐why, and self‐motivated creativity; as also the experience, concepts, values, beliefs and ways of working that can be shared and communicated. Knowledge Management (KM) is described as the management of an organization’s knowledge through the processes of creating, sustaining, applying, sharing and renewing knowledge to enhance organizational performance and create value. Interpretive Structual Modeling (ISM) is a methodology for identifying and summarizing relationships among specific elements, which define an issue or problem. It provides a means by which order can be imposed on the complexity of such elements. In the present paper the important elements (also referred to as variables) for the implementation of KM in engineering industries have been analyzed to obtain an ISM, which shows the inter‐relationships of the variables and their levels. These variables have also been categorized depending on their driving power and dependence.