From Crisis to Strategy and Action: A Qualitative Study to Understand the Impact of COVID-19 on Implementing Knowledge Management in Organizations

As Knowledge Management (KM) offers significant benefits for organizations, its implementation is crucial for them to make sure they take advantage of those benefits. However, risks and uncertainties are undeniable when working towards a goal on almost every project. As a result, when approached as a project, Knowledge Management Implementation (KMI) would require taking Risk Management (RM) into account. With the changes that organizations underwent during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic (CP), it is clear that managing risks when it comes to such a situation is exceptionally important. To address this issue, the paper utilizes an RM approach for KMI projects within organizations, with special attention to the risks particularly caused by the CP. More specifically, according to the RM standard by Project Management Institute (PMI), to address each identified risk of the project, this paper suggests possible effective strategies and actions to deal with it. As a result, organizations will have a better understanding of how CP can affect KMI in their organizations and what strategies and actions would be helpful in dealing with them. Doing so can help organizations ensure that they can implement KM in their organizations more smoothly and use the KM benefits provided for them. Accordingly, it has been concluded that under the CP environment, KMI project managers should embrace a proactive approach to RM. To accomplish this, they should strive to minimize the negative repercussions of the threats they face and maximize the benefits of the opportunities they are provided.