Conceptual Model for Examining Knowledge Maps Adoption in Software Development Organizations

A knowledge map has emerged, as a powerful source of competitive advantage, and plays an important role in managing an organizational knowledge. The definition, purposes, benefits, types and principles of knowledge map have been already provided and well explored by many scholars and researchers. However, predictors for a knowledge map adoption have seldom been addressed. Hence, how to facilitate a successful adopting of a knowledge map becomes important. To address this gap this study develops a conceptual model to investigate diverse factors influencing the adoption of knowledge map in software development organizations context. The research proposed model is established on the Technological-Organizational-Environmental (TOE) framework. The model identifies thirteen variables, covering five broad categories (Technological, Organizational, Environmental, Task, and Individual) that could potentially influence knowledge map adoption. A complete analysis of the possible aspects to be considered for adopting of knowledge map in software development organizations is provided by the proposed model.