Research DP

THE USE OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT & KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES
IN SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICES (SAPS)
By
DONALD PITSO MOHLALA

99093862
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
BACCALAREUS –TECHNOLOGIEAE
In the
FACULTY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

(DEPARTMENT OF: BUSINESS INFORMATICS)
At the
TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
Study leader:
(MEV, ML VAN DER LINDE)
Date of submission
26 October 2006
D.P MOHLALA PROJECT IV 99093862
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………....iv
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………….v
List of figures……………………………………………………………………………vi
Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………...vii
CHAPTER 1: ORIENTATION TO THE STUDY
1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….1
1.2 Problem Statement………………………………………………………………….2
1.3 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………….3
1.4 Importance/ Benefits of the study…………………………………………………...5
1.5 Research Methodology………………………………………………………………6
1.6 Data Gathering……………………………………………………………………….7
1.7 Chapter Outline……………………………………………………………………….8
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….10
2.2 Document Management……………………………………………………………10
2.3 Information Management…………………………………………………………..12
2.4 Knowledge Management…………………………………………………………...13
2.4.1 Internet………………………………………………………………………….
….18
2.4.1.1 Reasons for using internet……………………………………………………...19
2.4.1.2 Intranet…………………………………………………………………………..20
2.4.1.3 Kinds of intranet…………………………………………………………………20
2.4.2 Virtual Community………………………………………………………………...22
2.4.2.1 Characteristics of Virtual Communities………………………………………...22
2.4.2.2 Benefits of Virtual Communities……………………………………………….25
2.4.3 Communities of Practices………………………………………………………..27
2.4.3.1 Ten Factors in Building a
Community………………………………………….30
i
2.4.3.2 The value of Communities of Practices………………………………………..31

2.5 Networks…………………………………………………………………………….32
2.5.1 Peer-to-Peer Computing…………………………………………………………33
2.5.1.1 Characteristics of P2P………………………………………………………….34
2.5.1.2 P2P Models…………………………………………………………………….34
2.5.1.3 Pure P2P………………………………………………………………………..35
2.5.1.4 P2P with Discovery Server……………………………………………………..35
2.5.1.5 P2P with Discover and lookup Server…………………………………………36
2.5.1.6 P2P with lookup Server and Content Server………………………………….36
2.5.1.7 P2P File Sharing………………………………………………………………..37
2.5.1.8 P2P Communication…………………………………………………………....37
2.6 Benefits of P2P to Virtual Investigators …………………………………………...38
2.7 Client-Server Computing…………………………………………………………...38
2.7.1 Characteristics of Client-Server…………………………………………………..40
2.7.2 Advantages of Client-Server……………………………………………………..40
2.8 Summary……………………………………………………………………………41
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………43
3.2 Research methodology..…………………………………………………………...43
3.3 Case Study as research method………………………………………………….45
3.4 Advantages of Case Study………………………………………………………...45
3.5 Disadvantages of Case Study……………………………………………………..46
3.6 Data Collection Methods…………………………………………………………...47
3.6.1 Literature…………………………………………………………………………..47
3.6.2 Questionnaire……………………………………………………………………..47
3.6.3 Interview…………………………………………………………………………...48
3.7 Participants……………………………………………………………………….….48
3.7.1 The Researcher…………………………………………………………………...48
3.7.2 The Organization…………………………………………………………………49
3.7.2.1 South African Police Services (SAPS)…………………………………………
49
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3.8
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...49
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………..51
4.2 Analyses and interpretation of data……………………………………………....51
4.3 Research Questions………………………………………………………………51
4.3.1 The usage of information technology and Knowledge management………...52
4.4 Problems identified within SAPS…………………………………………………56
4.5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………57
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………58
5.2 Responding to research questions………………………………………………..58
5..2.1 What technologies do they currently use?.…………………………………….58
5.2.2 How can the use of knowledge technologies help in case investigations?.….59
5.3 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………61
5.4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….62
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….63
Appendixes
Appendix A: Questionnaire
Appendix B: Article
iii
iv
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The research paper is examines the current SAPS systems and ultimately
define information and knowledge technologies such as intranet/internet,
virtual communities, communities of practice, peer-to-peer and client-server
computing that can be of help in sharing and transferring knowledge within
this organization .
The investigation began with an enquiry into the area of document

management and identified the problems that above mentioned technologies
can resolve within SAPS. Literature study was conducted regarding document
management, information and knowledge management technologies from
various articles.
The research used qualitative case study and has used individual based
interviews, questionnaires, literature and observation in collecting data. The
current system was analyzed and questioned. Intranets are enablers of
knowledge sharing.
It was found that there is a need within SAPS to implement these information and
knowledge technologies in helping them with their investigation. Finally it was
concluded the SAPS as an organization should convert into ‘learning organization’.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I can do everything through him (Christ) who strengthens me. I would like to
take this opportunity to thank the most highly Father (God), for fulfilling his
promises, he never slept nor slumbered thanking him for enabling me to
complete this paper.
Thanking Him for the support system of the loving and courageous people he
supplied particularly the following:
My study leader Mev, Ml Van Der Linde for her motivation, encourangement,
guidance, positive critisism, her opennes and believe that i will complete this
assignment .
Dr Coetzee who introduced me to my study topic or fileld and Mr Pretorius for

encouragement and constant contact regarding due dates.
All the participants in this study especially members of Daveyton & Germiston Police
Stations for sharing their honesty views and experinces.
To all my families, friends and love for reminding me of my potential. Without your
input this work was not going to be possible.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Conceptual framework: knowledge management processes..…....15

Figure 2 Concepts & framework for knowledge management.......................16
Figure 3 Stages of Development…………………………………………..…….28
Figure 4 Local Area Network scheme……………………………………...……32
Figure 5 Client-Server and P2P models…………………………………………33
Figure 6 Computer systems models…………………………………………......35
Figure 7 Client-server Definition……………………………………………...…..39
Figure 8 Client-Server processing………………………………………………..40
vii
ABBREVIATIONS
BBN - Bolt, Beranek & Newman

CAS – Crime Administration System
COP’S – Communities Of Practice
CMC - Computer Mediated Communication
DARPA - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
EIES - Electronic Information Exchange System
FTP – File Transfer Protocol
IM – Information Management
GUI – Graphic User Interface
LAN – Local Area Network
P2P – Peer-To- Peer
SAPS – South African Police Services
SIO – Senior Investigating Officer
TCP/IP – Transfer Control Protocol / Internet Protocol
UCLA - University Of California At Los Angeles
UCSB - University California Santa Barbara
WAN – Wide Area Network
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CHAPTER 1
ORIENTATION TO THE STUDY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The use of knowledge, networking and internet technologies has become the vital
part of our daily lives, whether as individuals, companies or governments. South Africa
is the richest country in the continent Africa economically, according to Mitchell
(1998:15), therefore much is expected from it, in terms how it combat its crime. The
South African Police Services (SAPS) under the supervision of Safety and Security is
responsible for preventing, combating and investigating; maintaining public order;
protecting and securing the inhabitants of South Africa and their property and uphold
law enforcement in all nine provinces.
Investigation is the police activity concerned with (1) the apprehension of criminals by
gathering the evidence leading to their arrest and (2) the collection and presentation of
evidence and testimony for the purpose of obtaining conviction. These investigations
are normally divided into two major areas of activity (1) the preliminary investigation
carried out by officers in uniform called detectives. (2) The follow-up investigation
carried out by trained investigators.
In South Africa a Senior Investigation Officer (SIO) plays a pivotal role with all serious
crime investigations. There is concern, however that there is a shortage of
investigators with appropriate qualities to perform this role effectively, as most of them
have retired or resigned without transferring knowledge to the new force according to
Van Wyk (2006:02). The consequences of such deficit could be severe, it will affect
the effective workings of the judicial process, and it can also waste resources,
undermine integrity and reduce public confidence in the police services.
According to Van Wyk (2006:2), Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula want
to lure back retired police officer to help fight crime, from this we can assume that
there was never enough time for knowledge transfer process between the retired and
our current police force.
1
These investigators are dispersed geographically thus leading to investigators in

these nine provinces difficulty in sharing relevant information and knowledge.
Currently, disparate systems, databases and data models are in use in these nine
provinces of South Africa this is according Barnard et al (2004). This creates a
situation where the existing data is underutilized and / or the utility value of the data is
diminished. The non-standard data models used by the sites also hinder sharing of
data among the sites.
‘’We can be sure that South Africa’s murder rate are far higher than those of the
industrial world” Altbeker (2005:2), hence there is a need for SAPS investigators to
make use of knowledge technologies. The administration of cases is done manually
(paperwork); hence lots dockets get lost, leading to delay in investigations in some
cases, cases are thrown out of court because of lack of sufficient evidence.
The use of internet/intranet and knowledge technologies like centralized systems,

virtual communities and communities of practice will offer the solution to these
difficulties through Collaboration, Learning, Innovation and Sense-Making. What this
mean is information will be stored on the centralized database system which supports
GUI and can be accessed everywhere in the world via the use of internet/intranet and
other related technologies.
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
The purpose of this research is to find out whether SAPS investigators are
using knowledge technologies such as internet, centralized database, e-
learning, virtual communities, community of practice and how.
According to Barnard et al (2004) SAPS current system has the following

loopholes:
 investigation case docket management is poor,
2
 there is no interoperability within police investigators in these nine

provinces,
 Departmental incapacity investigators are computer illiterate,
 LAN/WAN networks are not up-to standard,
 Currently, disparate systems, databases and data models are in use in
these nine provinces in South Africa. This creates a situation where the
existing data is underutilized and / or the utility value of the data is
diminished. The non-standard data models used by the provinces also
hinder sharing of data among the investigators.
At the end of the research we should be able to answer the following

questions:
 What technologies do they currently use?

 How can the use of knowledge technologies help in case investigations?
1.1. LITERATURE REVIEW
According to the research done by Barnard et al (2004), the current networks for
SAPS (investigators) are not functioning accordingly referring to LANs/WANs. This
leads to hindrance of knowledge or information sharing or knowledge transfer
amongst the investigators who are dealing with similar cases. Virtual Communities do
not exist. As defined by Kardaras (2003) he described virtual community as a
group of people who communicate with each other via electronic media such
as internet, they share common interest, and their geographical location,
physical location, physical interaction or ethnic origin does not impose any
constraints for the formation of community.
Barnard et al (2004) stated that with the current system document management is
done manually; hence there is a need for management of document to be done
electronically. Due to manual management of case dockets, this leads to
disappearance of valuable information within the dockets e.g. According to One in
Nine (2006:1-4) website (www.oneinnine.org.za), on the 2nd October 2006, a year will
3
have passed since Busisiwe was raped. She has yet to give evidence in court. On
the 12th of June 2006 the matter was struck out of Tembisa Magistrate court’s roll due
to certain key evidence being missing from the docket. This was never going to
happen if centralized systems and electronic document management where in use.
According to this organization sexual violence is endemic to South Africa.

 Police reported an increase of 4% in rape statistics in 2005
 Less than one in nine cases of rape are reported,
 Only 7% of the case are successfully prosecuted.
These reports leave much to be desired with our current SAPS force and their
systems.
According to Wingate and Wingate (2004:552). ‘’Document management refer to

procedures or systems designed to exert intelligent control over creation,
management and distribution of documents. Electronic document management
systems may include the following features : controlled document authoring; electronic
storage of document or data either scanned in or created electronically; controlled
distribution of documents to, retrieved by multiple users; review and approval of
documents; publishing of approved documents; archiving of documents for completed
projects’’.
To reduce the physical and temporal distance between police investigators of these
dispersed provinces, there is a need for virtual organizations as defined by Coll, et al
(2004) “is technologically centered, involves electronic telecommunication links to
exchange information or knowledge and removes many of the limitations inherent in
hierarchical organizations”, it hold new possibilities for virtual society, enables
individuals, groups, communities, organizations and societies, among other, to
exchange information, conduct business, participate in newsgroup discussions and
publish information electronically.
To unravel the mystery of our past, we need to look to the future. Hofstede (2001)
argue that the development of personal relationships between employees is
an important factor in enhancing effective working relationships in employee-
4
mediated teams. Simply stated, a positive working relationship should lead to

positive and effective knowledge transfer between team members.
According to Van Wyk (2006:2) Safety and Security Minister Charles

Nqakula’s plan to lure back mainly white retired policemen and judicial officers
seems doomed to fail, according to survey conducted by City Press. The
question we are asking ourselves is why would our minister wants the retired
force back? The answer is simple there was no enough knowledge transfer
and sharing amongst the investigators.
However, according to Pauleen and Yoong (2001:191), little has been written
on how on-line relationships among employees influence business values
and, subsequently, communication among employees. Komito (2001:116)
indicates that a person’s relationship with another person influences his or her
communication content and, consequently, it may be deduced that it would
also influence communication’s knowledge sharing function.
1.4 IMPORTANCE / BENEFITS OF THE STUDY/VALUE
The core importance and benefit of this study is to develop an understanding

of knowledge technologies and promote the use of knowledge technologies
such as virtual teams, communities of practice and internet/intranet in our
SAPS structures. Through the use of knowledge technologies, the communities are
going to enjoy their lives and their confidence in police service will be restored. These
are some of the fact that communities and our police force will realize.
 Minimization of the loss of case dockets, by using electronic case dockets to

reduce paper work.
 Improved information integrity,
 Better police service and simpler work for police officers in solving cases.
 Electronic transfer of case document to the centralized database portal and
other relevant departments.
5
 The need for postponement or reminders of cases for further

investigations will be eliminated Improved management information on
status of case being investigated.
 Easy sharing or transferring of knowledge amongst the investigators
1. 5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
According to Leedy and Ormrod (2002: 2) research is defines as a systematic

process of collecting and analyzing information (data) in order to increase our
understanding of the phenomenon with which we are concerned or interested.
Research can either be qualitative research or quantitative research as highlighted

below:
Qualitative research also called interpretative, constructivist, post positivist approach

is the approach to which research takes as its departure point the insider perspective,
its primary goal is describing and understanding rather than explaining, it uses
qualitative methods of gaining access to research subjects ( e.g. theoretical selection
of cases); qualitative method of data collection (participation observation, semi-
structured interviewing, the use of personal document to construct life stories);
qualitative methods of analysis( e.g. narrative analysis, grounded theory approach)
that’s according to Babbie and Mouton ( 2001 : 270)
Quantitative research also called traditional, experimental or positivist approach is

used to answer questions about relationships among measured variables with the
purpose of explaining, predicting, experimental and controlling phenomena. That’s
according to Leedy and Ormord ( 2001: 94)
For the purpose of this research, the qualitative research has been chosen, because it
allows the researcher to research on the subject more deeply using data collection
methods like interviews, questionnaires that’s according to Babbie and Mouton
(2001:270).
6
Case Study research design is the method to be used for this research paper. Case
Study is the chosen methodology, because it is suitable for holistic and in depth
investigation. According to Leedy and Ormord (2001:135) with this method the
researcher can collect extensive data on the individual (s), program(s), or event(s) on
which investigation is focused. These data often include observation, interviews,
documents (e.g. newspaper articles), past records, audiovisual materials. Reason
behind choosing this research design is this method is not aimed at describing only,
but also to improve the state of the situation.
Case Study can either be single or multiple / collective design. Single cases are to
promote understanding or inform practice or represent unique or exceptional case.
While multiple/collective often for cases that are different in key ways to make
comparisons, build theory, or propose generalizations.
1.6 DATA GATHERING
The data gathering research phase is where the researcher compile information
needed to answer research questions that have been identified in the problem
statement section. In the problem statement section, researcher reviewed questions
noting what data will be collected to answer those questions.
There are many ways to collect data, such as surveys, documents analysis,
observation, interviews, questionnaires etc. it is up to the researcher to choose the
best approach or combination thereof to answer the research questions.
The choice of data collection method will depend on research type and methodology
chosen. For the purpose of this research paper interview, questionnaires and
research literature review
Interview – this is data collection method that involves an interaction between an

interviewer and a respondent in which the interviewer has a general plan of inquiry but
not specific set of questions that must be asked in particular words and in particular
order (Babbie and Mouton, 2001: 288).
7
Questionnaire – it is a method of elicitation, recording and collection of information.

Questionnaires are made up of items, and users supply answer, or reaction to it
(Denscombe, 2003: 31)
Literature - is a body of written works of language or written work by researchers
period or culture, it must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the finding in
a unity e.g. research articles, publications and internet (Babbie and Mouton, 2001:
289).
Observation – this is a technique that involves systematically selecting, watching and
recording behavior and characteristics of a living being, object or phenomenon
(Denscombe, 2003: 31)
1.2. CHAPTER OUTLINE
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE STUDY
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Aims at exploring the use of internet and knowledge technologies such as
Communities of Practice,Virtual Communities, Information and Document
Management available to make knowledge transfer and sharing amongst the
investigator much easier and networks (Client/Server and Peer-to-Peer). The
benefits of using these technologies and how they interrelate.
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Exploration of Methodologies used to gather information from relevant
sources interviews, observation feedback and questionnaires samples would
be part of the methodology used.
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS

Based on interview and questionnaires formulated, we will be able to present
the findings from data collected. The answers will help us in making our
recommendations in the next chapter.
8
CHAPTER 5
5.1 RECOMENDATIONS
In conclusion we will give summary overview and recommend the suitable
technologies and have overview of future research.
9
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous chapter we were introduced to the research problem, the

significance of the study, the methodology and the objectives of the study.
In this chapter we will describe, Document Management, Information

Management, Knowledge Management, Communities of Practices, Virtual
Communities and Internet the networks including Local Area Network (LAN)
and Wide Area Network (WAN) the focus will be on Peer-to-Peer Networking
and Client-Server Networking. We will also look at different services that are
provided by internet to support the virtual communities’ functionalities.
2.2 DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
According to AbuSafiya and Mazumdar (2004), efficient document

management is crucial to the success of every business. Every organization
in the world be it private or public it produces documents or internal or
external use e.g. document received from suppliers such as invoice for credit
purchase, it is of outmost important that these kind of documents be kept in a
safe place for audit purpose. Documents are the natural activities of any
organization e.g. paper-based filling system in our courts and charge offices.
When managing documents it vital that one understand issues of information
and knowledge management within an organization.
’Document management refer to procedures or systems designed to exert intelligent

control over creation, management and distribution of documents. Electronic
document management systems may include the following features : controlled
document authoring; electronic storage of document or data either scanned in or
created electronically; controlled distribution of documents to, retrieved by multiple
users; review and approval of documents; publishing of approved documents;
10
archiving of documents for completed projects’’, this is according to Wingate and

Wingate(2004:552).
Barnard et al (2004) stated that with the SAPS current system, document
management is done manually; hence there is a need for management of document
to be done electronically. Due to manual management of case dockets, this leads to
disappearance of dockets e.g. According to One in Nine website (2006:1-4)
(www.oneinnine.org.za), on the 2nd October 2006, a year will have passed since
Busisiwe was raped.
She has yet to give evidence in court. On the 12 th of June 2006 the matter was struck
out of Tembisa Magistrate court’s roll due to certain key evidence being missing from
the docket. This was never going to happen if centralized electronic document
management systems where in use. See the picture below :
www.oneinnine.org.za
According to this organization sexual violence is endemic to South Africa.

 Police reported an increase of 4% in rape statistics in 2005
 Less than one in nine cases of rape are reported,
 Only 7% of the cases are successfully prosecuted.
These reports leave much to be desired with our current SAPS force and their
systems.
11
2.3 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
The amount of information obtained on daily basis within an organization is

uncountable and for organizations the volume is becoming unbearable and
superfluous, especially in SAPS. There is a need for conscious information
management for determining what information is of value and how to manage
it effectively. The overseeing of the computer-based and paper-based
integration, internally and external, from wide range of sources for the support
of business functions is the task of information management.
Modern information management uses information technology, concepts of

information, system engineering, management information systems, business
and management principles to plan, manage, control information for an
organization. Choo (2004) said the idea underlying information management
is that just as an organization purposefully and systematically manages
information similar assets.
Choo (2004)’s definition of information management is, it involves a few

different subject fields such as information system, information science,
computer science/informatics and management. It builds on the knowledge of
these fields and addresses the problem of information as an essential
resource.
It uses technology and techniques to effectively manage internal and external

information resources throughout the information life cycle. According to
Choo, Information Management is key for sustaining knowledge creation and
application in organizations and should lead to the ‘intelligent organization’.
Choo proposed a process model of IM. Presented as a cycle, Choo’s model of

Information Management entails 5 basic steps: identification of information
needs, information acquisition, information organization and storage,
information distribution and information use. Each step requires the planning,
12
the organization, the coordination and the control of a number of activities

supported by information technology.
2.4 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Business and academic communities believe that an organization can sustain

its long-term competitive advantage by leveraging knowledge. Its intention is
to manage knowledge practically and effectively to reach strategic and
operational objectives.
According to Standard Australia (2003:5) knowledge management involves

variety of disciplines, it is often integrated with a range of business and
academic disciplines including human resource management, organizational
learning, strategic planning, communications, business management, change
management, information management, document management, information
technology, philosophy and sociology.
Knowledge management is a multi-disciplined approach to accomplishing

organizational objectives by making knowledge accessible to the people in the
organization through the structuring of people, technology and knowledge
content. It encompasses both the management of information (explicit
knowledge) and management of individuals with specific abilities (people with
tacit knowledge) that’s according to Polines and Fairer-Wessels (1998).
Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) described four knowledge conversion

processes: socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization.
Each process involves converting one form of knowledge (tacit or explicit) to
another form of knowledge (tacit or explicit). This model focuses on the
important issue of how knowledge may be created through organizational
sharing and is useful for identifying and evaluating certain key activities in the
management of knowledge.
13
Oluic-Vukovic (2001) outlines 5 steps in the knowledge processing chain:

gathering; organizing; refining; representing; and disseminating.
Bouthillier and Shearer (2002), support Oluic-Vukovic (2001) though they

altered some of his steps. Firstly, their "gathering" step has been separated
into three different processes, each of which is distinct from the other:
discovery, acquisition, and creation of knowledge.
Secondly, they left out refining and representing processes, because they
believe that refining is not a major enough process in the knowledge flow, but
merely one aspect of the knowledge creation step and knowledge
representation generally falls within the scope of the storage and organization
process. Thirdly they added a separate process of knowledge sharing, they
replaced knowledge dissemination from Oluic-Vukovic (2001). They believe
knowledge sharing seem to be terminology commonly used in the knowledge
management field.
Discovery involves locating internal knowledge within the organization.

Geographically dispersed organizations like SAPS will find this knowledge
gathering process especially helpful as one part of the organization may not
be aware of the knowledge existing in its other parts. Acquisition involves
bringing knowledge into an organization from external sources. The creation
of new knowledge can accomplished by information analysis to create new
knowledge. According Oluic-Vukovic (2001), Technologies are useful at this
stage because they can facilitate the creation of new knowledge through the
synthesis of data and information captured from diverse sources. After
knowledge has been gathered, it must be stored and shared. Knowledge
sharing involves the transfer of knowledge from one (or more) person to
another one (or more).
According to Bouthillier and Shearer (2002) knowledge can be acquired at the

individual level, to be useful it must be shared by a community, often
described as a community of practice (CoP’s). Knowledge sharing is then
crucial when new employees arrive and others quit.
14
According to Van Wyk (2006:2) Safety and Security Minister Charles

Nqakula’s plan to lure back mainly white retired policemen and judicial officers
seems doomed to fail, according to survey conducted by City Press. The
question we are asking ourselves is why would our minister wants the retired
force back? The answer is simple there was no enough knowledge transfer
and sharing amongst the investigators.
Figure 1 Conceptual framework: knowledge management processes (Bouthillier and Shearer: 2002)
According to Lin et al (2006) their model compliments Bouthillier and

Shearer(2002) model . Their model consist of five phases namely acquisition,
extraction, storage and update phases.
15
Figure 2 Concepts & framework for knowledge management (Lin et al: 2006)
Based on the above definitions of document management, information

management and knowledge management. The following similarities can be
identified:
 They all contribute to business efficiency and effectiveness. Document
management contributes to business efficiency and effectiveness
through organizing business information properly to promote faster and
more effective retrieval of information and documents. Information
management contributes to business to business efficiency and
effectiveness by cost-effectively managing and using information
resources and technologies. Knowledge management improves
16
business efficiency and effectiveness through sharing of the best

practice and successful innovation
 They all consider processing of information in some ways. Document
management provides a means to integrate information holding media
and information systems to help potential users effectively retrieve the
information. Information management centers on recording and
processing information. Knowledge management encompasses both
the management of information(explicit knowledge) and management
of individuals with specific abilities (tacit knowledge)
 They all use information technologies as enabler. Document
management involves the integration of new and existing information
technologies to enable the potential users to achieve business
objectives. Here again the prime focus of information management is to
cost-effectively manage and use information resources and
technologies. Knowledge management involves information
technologies and knowledge-based or information systems to enable
people to capture, share and distribute their knowledge.
 They all require skilled, knowledgeable workers. Information
technologies are just tools to enable people to manage their tasks
more effectively. People are in charge of managing document,
information and knowledge. To manage documents, information and
knowledge effectively and properly, knowledgeable workers are
required. Knowledgeable workers must have strong critical thinking
skills; in particular, they must have a well developed ability to evaluate
the validity and reliability of information obtained from unfamiliar
sources.
Ponelis and Fairer-Wessels (1998) indicated that is seen as a subdivision of

knowledge management. They see knowledge creation as a process of
adding value information. The activities for information and knowledge
management can be expected to correlate. The absence of proper information
management programmes and procedures will ensure the failure of
knowledge management. Knowledge management is an added dimension,
17
intensifying the need for the integration and management of all three
(document, information and knowledge) within an organization.
According to Stoddart (2001), Knowledge Management, information
technology (IT) and information management are intricately linked. According
to her information management involves the categorization, organization and
access to information and data in computer applications, databases and
archives, while technology provides the tools to facilitate information flow and
knowledge sharing.
2.4.1 INTERNET
Sir Isaac Newton once said “If I have been able to see farther than
others, it was because I stood on the shoulders of giants.”
What is internet? Brief history of internet.
Invented in the 1840s. Signals sent over wires that were established over vast
distances. Used extensively by the U.S. Government during the American
Civil War, 1861 – 1865. Their goal was to build a network that would allow
scientist from different locations to communicate sharing information and
collaborate on military and scientific projects. Their second goal was to make
network this network to be built to function even if part of the network were
destroyed or disabled.
In 1968 DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) contracted

with BBN (Bolt, Beranek and Newman) to create Arpanet. In 1970 it had First
five nodes: University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA); Stanford;
University California Santa Barbara (UCSB); University of Utah, and BBN.
Each of the computers served as network which connects host nodes. In 1974
TCP specification was introduced by Vint Cerf.
In 1984 on January 1, the Internet with its 1000 hosts converts en masse to
using TCP/IP for its messaging and in 2002: over 200 million hosts, by 2010 it
is estimated that over 80% of the whole universe will be on internet
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According to William F. Slater, III (1996) internet is:

A network of networks, joining many government, university and private
computers together and providing an infrastructure for the use of E-mail,
bulletin boards, file archives, hypertext documents, databases and other
computational resources as Griffin (1999) says internet is an information
system composed of a massive network of computers around the world.
According to William F. Slater, III (1996) it is a vast collection of computer

networks which form and act as a single huge network for transport of data
and messages across distances which can be anywhere from the same office
to anywhere in the world. According Cothrel (2000:21) The internet makes it
possible to bring together people with common interest and ideas in a virtual
community without ever having ever having to meet face-to-face.
2.4.1.1 REASON FOR USING INTERNET
Griffin (1999) outlined the following as reasons for using the internet.
 Global: information is available from computers located in virtually
every country of the world;
 Interactive: the user of the Net can search for more information in
countless ways;
 Dynamic: the information presented on the web is always changing,
because it is constantly being updated and new information is being
added;
 Cross platform: the information available is not dependent upon the
type of computer used;
 Distributed: it is impossible to store all of the information available on
the web in one location – the information is spread over thousands of
computers that are hooked up to the web and;
 A hypertext information system: information is not presented in a linear
fashion, instead you can move from topic to topic at random with this
method of cross-referencing.
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Through the use of internet investigating officers all over the world from
different police agencies can form virtual communities, sharing and
transferring knowledge on how to speedy their investigations
2.4.1.2 INTRANET
According to Reisman (1997), the concept of an ‘intranet’ took off when

organizations realized they could take this easy-to-use open and well-
supported vehicle and apply it, essentially as is, to their internal groupware
needs. Reisman (1997), defined an intranet as a private application of the
same Internetworking technology, software and applications within a private
network, for use within an enterprise.
According to Brown (1998), he defines intranet as ‘nothing more than your

existing corporate local-wide are network using internet infrastructure ‘ – any
site, there fore based on internet technology that is placed on private servers
within the organization. According to Gundry and Mete (1996) Intranets aid
knowledge sharing, they can help to capture, organize, store and transmit
source material from which an individual may acquire knowledge.
2.4.1.3 KIND OF INTRANETS
It is always important for any organization to know what it expects to

accomplish with the intranet before embarking on the installation or setup.
According to Barnes (2001), to figure out how to get the ‘quick hits’ in terms of
usability and ROI, he said it is the matter of looking from the outside in to
further determine what content and functionality will benefit users most, how
this information will further help the organization’s operational efficiency.
 Communication tool
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According to Barnes (2001), if the purpose of the intranet is to communicate

and update (provide the latest) information to the company employees. The
intention of this type is one way communication.
 Application enabler
If the purpose of the intranet is to enable two way communication, such as

logging help desk request or enrolling for benefits, transactional content can
be added to the intranet, for e.g. personnel administration. The intention
behind this type should be interaction and, to extent, involvement of
employees.
 Collaboration facilitator
This type of intranet is a very dynamic tool that can be not only to educate and
inform employees, but increase corporate communication and establish and
maintain a corporate culture the organization wants to nurture. Stoddart
(2001), says an intranet useful for sharing knowledge will certainly fall into this
category as ‘those intranet which are static and non-collaborative do not
stimulate knowledge sharing.
Barr (1998), says the idea of intranet is a technology that permits the
organization to define itself as an entity, a group, a family, where everyone
knows their role and everyone works on improvement and health of the
organization. He says that if there is a collective will that need to be
communicated to all employees, it become easier to achieve.
Based on the above mentioned definitions, we can say that this a suitable tool
for virtual communities.
2.4.2 VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
Let’s first define community before focusing on virtual communities
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Tillman (2000) defined it as combination of place, content, and people, and

the interactions and relationships between them.
According to Balasubramanian and Mahajan (2000), the origins of the virtual

or on-line community can traced to the Electronic Information Exchange
System (EIES) implemented in 1976. The EIES focused on computerized
conferencing that would allow users to exercise a collective intelligence
capability according to Kitchin (1998).
According to Romm et al (1997) he defined virtual communities as a group of

people communicate with each other via electronic media.
According to Kardaras (2003) he described virtual community as a group of

people who communicate with each other via electronic media such as
internet, they share common interest, and their geographical location, physical
location, physical interaction or ethnic origin does not impose any constraints
for the formation of community.
2.4.2.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
According to Uzokwelu and Gunnardottir (2001) there are seven criteria that
characterize virtual communities: they are
 All kinds of people and all kind of interests – the concept virtual
community refers to an on-line environment where all kinds of people
come together to do, some of or all of the following activities: exchange
information and ideas, share common interests, entertain each other,
seek different kinds of help, offer support to one another, trade goods
and services, and foster relationships.
 User based – virtual communities provide an environment for users to
connect and communicate with each other. The more users the
community has, the more value is added to the community.
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 Specific – the distinctive interests of the members of virtual community

determine the scope and specific objectives of that community.
 Organized – virtual communities’ organizers and organizing bodies
who facilitate the growth and maintenance of the community.
 Integrated – virtual communities make it possible for the integration of
content with communication.
 Efficient – virtual communities help organizations save time and money
when they are used to build better and watertight business processes
and company-customer relationships.
 Interactive – this might be the best aspect of virtual communities. It is
possible for community members to communicate one to one, one to
many and many to many.
According to Agre (1998:82), the life of every community includes some form
of activity within a particular institutional logic. This includes the activity within
a particular kinds of media are used. Community-building tools or activities
may include the following according Boettcher (1999) also called internet
services to support virtual communities:
 E-mail – the e-mail can be seen as one of the simplest and widely used
computer mediated communication (CMC). Not only was e-mail one of
the first internet applications, it was also one of the reasons why many
people were attracted to internet according to Schneider (2000:49).
Within the community, an e-mail list can be seen as a tool that
connects people of the community via e-mail messages. There is one
central address to which a member of the community sends messages
for group. A person who receives mail has the choice to respond either
to the sender or to the whole list of members within the community.
According to Padula (2001), one of the best benefits of e-mail groups is
that members can send messages in asynchronous mode to other
people or programs, which means that messages received in the
electronic mailbox can be read at the later (more convenient) time.
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 Newsgroups – newsgroup are to mailing lists what bulletin boards are

to newsletters. Rather than cluttering a mailbox with messages with
messages from mailing lists, the user can follow certain at his or her
convenience. The messages are kept files that can be read using
newsreader program. According to Padula (2001) he described as a
permanent electronic conference in which people with particular
interest participate.
 Chat – chat can be defined as communication by community members
who are on-line at same time, typing messages to each other. Chat can
be performed in one of two situations, namely public rooms (open to
anyone) and private chat rooms (where only those of the community
can enter). Chat can be seen as a many to many communication tool
(there are number of people in a chat room conversing at the same
time), but it can also be used for one-on-one meetings and other work-
oriented applications.
 Message boards – the on-line version of a message board is much like
a message board in an office environment. The on-line message board
communication can be seen as asynchronous (the message board
participants do not have to be on-line at the same time). According to
Boettcher (1999), there are two ways to organize messages in a
message board system, namely threaded and linear. With a threaded
system, message are arranged into threads or topics. A message is
attached to the message to which is replying, whether or not it appears
in chronological order. The result is more like a real conversation.
Linear message boards are sometimes called conferencing.
 FTP – File Transfer Protocol is an internet standard that allows person
to exchange files with other computers on the internet. FTP uses an
FTP server that allows the download and upload of files using FTP.
 Mailing lists – is a facility where e-mail messages are sent to various
users that are subscribing to the particular mailing list. Mostly mailing
lists are run by professional people in their particular fields and mailing
lists subscribers being people with interest for particular field
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 E-forms – through the web many forms can be filled, transmitted and
processed at the same time with user receiving instance response.
This reduces printing, postage and other related costs in forms
submission process.
 Calendar – according to Kyrnin (2003), the online calendar is an often-
overlooked community builder. He defined calendar as simple as list of
events and their dates and times, or even complex, it is an invaluable
tool for building community, as they allow members to find out what’s
happening. This is where events like chat room schedule, guest
authors, or forum topics to be discussed should be listed, as well as
events outside the website.
2.4.2.2 BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
 There are no geographical barriers – according to Kimball and

Rheingold (2000) virtual communities connect people and build
relationships across boundaries of geography or discipline by creating
an online social space for people who are geographically dispersed.
According to Barnard et al (2004) our police force are using dispersed
which are not working properly.
 Cost barriers are broken down - according to Kimball and Rheingold
(2000) virtual communities bring people together in a cost-effective
manner. Instead of organizing expensive face-to-face conferences,
workshops and courses, an organization can achieve many of the
same goals by linking participants electronically to each other and to a
wealth of online resources.
 Barriers to communication are broken down – according to Kimball and
Rheingold (2000), people should be talking to one another because of
their interest intersect often do not communicate because they are in
different parts of the world, different floors, or in different departments.
they say quite people who might never have something to contribute in
a face-to-face meeting, given time to compose their thoughts with
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nobody watching them while they do it, can influence discussion they
might not have joined before.
 Knowledge sharing and learning – according to Smith (2000), virtual
communities have the ability to focus knowledge sharing and learning,
if a group have enough in common and if the topic directly relates to
their work, a level of trust is created which results in greater depth and
value of individual exchange. According to Kimball and Rheingold
(2000), virtual communities can promote knowledge sharing, learning
and innovation in the following ways:
o Virtual communities provide an ongoing context for knowledge

exchange that can be for more effective than memoranda.
o Through participation in virtual communities, organization can
multiply its intellectual capital by he power of social capital,
because virtual community can help reduce social friction and
encourage social cohesion.
o Virtual communities can promote innovation. When groups get
turned on by what they can do online, they go beyond problem-
solving and start inventing together.
o Discussion in the virtual community can lead to the creation of
community of memory for group deliberation and brainstorming
that stimulate the capture of ideas and facilities finding
information when it is needed.
o Participation in virtual community discussion can help improve
the way individuals think collectively, so that they will move from
knowledge-sharing to collective knowing.
o Virtual communities allow organizations to turn training into
continuous process, and one that is not divorced from normal
business processes.
o Through virtual communities, organizations can attract and
retain the best employees by providing access to social capital
that is only available within the organization.
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 enhance the impact of face-to-face events – according to Smith(2000)

virtual communities complement and enhance the impact of face-to-
face events and provide the backbone of more focused communities of
practice, online discussion and interactive websites are capable of
keeping participants connected and engaged on an ongoing basis,
particularly during periods of between live events.
2.4.3 COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
Community of Practice (CoP’s) is a special type of community normally

associated with work. According to Morland (2003) CoP’s are informal
networks of people engaged in a particular profession, occupation, or job
function that actively seek to work more effectively and to understand their
work more fully.
Communities of Practice are groups of people who share ideas and insight,
help each other solve problems and develop a common practice or approach
to the field as defined by McDermott (2000: 1); Wenger (1998) defined
communities of practice by three dimensions:
 What it is about – its joint enterprise as understood and continually
renegotiated by its members.
 How it functions – mutual engagement that bind members together into
a social entity.
 What capability it has produced – the shared repertoire of communal
resources (routines, sensibilities, artifacts, vocabulary, styles, etc.) that
members have developed over time.
CoP’s as widely called Communities of practice also move through various

stages of development characterized by different levels of interaction among
the members and different kinds of activities.
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Figure 3 Stages of Development (Wenger: 1998)
Communities of practice develop around things that matter to people. As a

result, their practices reflect the members' own understanding of what is
important. Obviously, outside constraints or directives can influence this
understanding, but even then, members develop practices that are their own
response to these external influences. Even when a community's actions
conform to an external mandate, it is the community–not the mandate–that
produces the practice. In this sense, communities of practice are
fundamentally self-organizing systems. Within an organization,
Communities of practice arise as people address recurring sets of problems

together. So investigators within an office form communities of practice to deal
with the crime scenes they need to investigate. By participating in such a
communal memory, they can do the job without having to remember
everything themselves.
According to Wenger (1998) Communities of practice differ from other kinds of

groups found in organizations in the way they define their enterprise, exist
over time, and set their boundaries:
 A community of practice is different from a business or functional unit in

that it defines itself in the doing, as members develop among
themselves their own understanding of what their practice is about.
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This living process results in a much richer definition than a mere

institutional charter. As a consequence, the boundaries of a community
of practice are more flexible than those of an organizational unit. The
membership involves whoever participates in and contributes to the
practice. People can participate in different ways and to different
degrees. This permeable periphery creates many opportunities for
learning, as outsiders and newcomers learn the practice in concrete
terms, and core members gain new insights from contacts with less-
engaged participants.
 A community of practice is different from a team in that the shared
learning and interest of its members are what keep it together. It is
defined by knowledge rather than by task, and exists because
participation has value to its members. A community of practice's life
cycle is determined by the value it provides to its members, not by an
institutional schedule. It does not appear the minute a project is started
and does not disappear with the end of a task. It takes a while to come
into being and may live long after a project is completed or an official
team has disbanded.
 A community of practice is different from a network in the sense that it
is "about" something; it is not just a set of relationships. It has an
identity as a community, and thus shapes the identities of its members.
A community of practice exists because it produces a shared practice
as members engage in a collective process of learning.
According to McDermott (2000), there are ten factors that will contribute to
success of CoP’s.
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2.4.3.1 TEN FACTORS IN BUILDING A COMMUNITY.
Management challenge:
 Focus on topics important to business and community members.

 Find a well-respected community member to coordinate the
community. Our case there is the need for the more experienced
investigator to be listened to.
 Make sure that people have time and encouragement to participate.
This is attested by Bryson (2000:2) organization should use motivation
and reward systems that encourage sharing of knowledge and
learning, as well as participation and contribution to the development of
new ideas and innovation. Experience investigator should be
compensated for sharing their knowledge with inexperienced
investigators.
 Build on the core values of the organization.
Community challenge:
 Get key thought leaders involved. The need for experience leaders as
attested by Van Vyk (2006:2), the our minister of Safety and Security
plans to lore back those retired investigators.
 Build personal relationships among community members.
 Develop an active passionate group. As per Bryson (2002:2), the need
for recognition and reward system should be met.
 Create forums for thinking together as well as system for sharing
information.
Technical challenge:
 Making it easy to contribute and access the community’s knowledge

and practices. Research by Barnard et al (2004), SAPS networks were
not up-to standard, therefore there is a need for improvement in these
facilities to make contribution easy.
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Personal challenges:
 Creating a real dialogue about cutting edge issues.
2.4.3.2 THE VALUE OF COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
According to Wenger (1998) they fulfill a number of functions with respect to

the creation, accumulation, and diffusion of knowledge in an organization:
 They are nodes for the exchange and interpretation of information.

Because members have a shared understanding, they know what is
relevant to communicate and how to present information in useful
ways. As a consequence, a community of practice that spreads
throughout an organization is an ideal channel for moving information,
such as best practices, tips, or feedback, across organizational
boundaries.
 They can retain knowledge in "living" ways, unlike a database or a
manual. Even when they reutilize certain tasks and processes, they
can do so in a manner that responds to local circumstances and thus is
useful to practitioners. Communities of practice preserve the tacit
aspects of knowledge that formal systems cannot capture. For this
reason, they are ideal for initiating newcomers into a practice.
 They can steward competencies to keep the organization at the cutting
edge. Members of these groups discuss novel ideas, work together on
problems, and keep up with developments inside and outside a firm.
When a community commits to being on the forefront of a field,
members distribute responsibility for keeping up with or pushing new
developments. This collaborative inquiry makes membership valuable,
because people invest their professional identities in being part of a
dynamic, forward-looking community.
 They provide homes for identities. They are not as temporary as
teams, and unlike business units, they are organized around what
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matters to their members. Identity is important because, in a sea of

information, it helps us sort out what we pay attention to, what we
participate in, and what we stay away from. Having a sense of identity
is a crucial aspect of learning in organizations. If companies want to
benefit from people's creativity, they must support communities as a
way to help them develop their identities.
2.5 NETWORK
Client-server technologies became the base platform for internet’s new applications,
but for the ever expanding use of on-line applications (Virtual Teams) the option
available is Peer-to-Peer (P2P). This in return will be of more help because with an
on-line applications file sharing is of most important. In this section we are going to
describe Peer-to-Peer (P2P). According to the research done by Barnard, Turner and
Van Rensburg (2004), the current networks for SAPS (investigators) are not
functioning accordingly referring to LANs and WANs.
Firstly let’s us describe LANs and WANs are. Local Area Network also known as LAN
is a computer network covering a local area, like a home, office, or group of
buildings. The characteristics of LANs in contrast to WANs (wide area
networks) are: their much higher data rates; smaller geographic range; and
that they do not require leased telecommunication lines that’s according to
Wikipedia website.
Figure 4 local area network scheme (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lan)
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Whereas WANs is defined as network is a computer network covering a broad

geographical area. Contrast with personal area networks (PANs),
metropolitan area networks (MANs) or local area networks (LANs) that are
usually limited to a room, building or campus. The largest and most well-
known example of a WAN is the Internet.
WANs are used to connect local area networks (LANs) together, so that users
and computers in one location can communicate with users and computers in
other locations. Many WANs are built for one particular organization and are
private. Others, built by Internet service providers, provide connections from
an organization's LAN to the Internet.
2.5.1 P2P COMPUTING
Miller (2001:19) defined P2P as the topology and architecture of the computer
in a system in which each computer has equivalent capabilities and
responsibilities. P2P is a complete contrast to the traditional client-server
network architecture, for each participating computer or node in a P2P system
is called a “peer” meaning that the participants interact as equal that’s
according to Kubiatowicsz (2003:33). Participants act as a client and server
figure 5 will distinguish P2P and Client-Server network.
Figure 5 Client-Server and P2P models (Miller: 2001)
With P2P computers share data and resources, such as spare computing
cycles and storage capacity through internet or private network, computers
can also communicate directly and manage computing tasks without using
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servers, P2P attributes will definitely come handy to Virtual Communities and
Communities of Practice.
2.5.1.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF P2P IDENTIFIED BY MILLER

(2001:19)
 The network facilitates real-time transmission of data or messages

between the peers.
 Peers can function as both client and server.
 The primary content of the network is provided by peers.
 The network gives control and autonomy to the peer.
 The network accommodates peers who are not always connected and
who may not have permanent internet protocol (IP) addresses.
2.5.1.2 P2P MODELS
All computer storages can be classified as distributed or centralized systems.

According to Milojicic et al (2002), distributed systems can then be sub-
divided into the client–server model and the P2P model as shown in figure 6.
The categories are as follows:
 Pure P2P
 P2P with a simple discovery server
 P2P with discovery and lookup servers
 P2P with discovery, lookup and content servers
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Figure 6 computer systems models (Miller:2001)
2.5.1.3 PURE P2P
According to Milojicic et al (2002), the pure P2P model consists of and is

entirely dependent on personal computers. This architecture is different from
the traditional networking model, consisting of personal computers and
servers. After installing the P2P application on the computer, a dynamic
search for other peers is done and a connection is established. The entire
communication process occurs without any assistance from servers. In
essence, the pure P2P model allows users or clients to set up and determine
their own unique networking environment.
2.5.1.4 P2P WITH DISCOVERY SERVER
Within this environment, as the name suggests, a server provides and

functions as a basic administrator. The primary role of the server is to provide
the names of already connected peers to the new peer. A new peer notifies
the server of his or her existence by logging in and then receives a list of
names. It should, however, be noted that the server only provides the names
of peers who are connected.
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The establishment of a connection and communication remain the

responsibility of the peers. For resource sharing, a peer must approach each
peer within a specified environment until the resource is found. This is in
contrast to the traditional client–server architecture, where all content
resources are located on the server. The process of searching for resources
on the P2P with a simple discovery server is relatively time consuming.
2.5.1.5 P2P WITH DISCOVERY AND LOOKUP SERVER
Within this model, the features of the pure P2P and P2P with a simple
discovery server are enhanced with another feature of a server, namely
looking at the resources available within the P2P network. This architecture is
an enhancement in comparison to the P2P with a basic discovery server, for it
reduces the amount of time wasted by visiting each individual peer to obtain
shared resource information. In essence, the server initiates the
communication process between two peers.
2.5.1.6 P2P WITH DISCOVERY LOOKUP AND CONTENT SERVER
In typical client–server architecture, all the facets of requesting and requiring

information and resources reside with the server. Furthermore the individual
peers are not allowed to connect to each other directly. If a peer requires a
specific resource, he or she communicates with the server. In turn, the server
processes the request and displays the information.
A possible disadvantage of this architecture is slower processing of requests

by the server, as the volume of requests increases. Another is higher costs
and the possibility of single point failure, as the server is responsible for
handling all processes.
According to Miller (2001:30), there are two most important types of P2P
applications.
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2.5.1.7 P2P FILES SHARING
A file can contain any type of information, such as a research report, a case
study or a journal. Files may also contain multiple formats, for example a text
document may include embedded graphics that’s according Moore and
Hebeler (2002:37). The traditional definition of file sharing in a typical shared
distributed client–server file system is where two or more different users
access the same file at the same time.
With P2P if two computers are connected to a network, one can copy files
from one to the other. Since the Internet is nothing more than a giant global
network, there is no reason why any two computers connected to the Internet
cannot share files. The process whereby two computers share and copy files
over the Internet is what P2P file sharing is all about according to Miller
(2001:97).
According to Miller (2001) the most shortfall of P2P is that file-sharing

networks operate outside the Internet domain name server (DNS) addressing
system. This enables each peer on the network to connect regardless of
which Internet service provider (ISP) is used and, in some cases, ensures
anonymity for the individual personal computer (PC). The latter can come as
benefit to our investigators as for they don’t have internet, they can share
knowledge via P2P technology.
The commonly shared file types on P2P Internet file-sharing systems include
the following: Audio and/or video Files, for example MP3 and Audio Video
Interleaved (AVI) files, Images, Documents, Software.
2.5.1.8 P2P COMMUNICATION

According to Miller (2001:30) there are more than two million instant
messaging (IM) is by far the largest current P2P application – even if most IM
users do not realize that they are engaging in P2P computing.
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2.6 BENEFITS OF P2P TO VIRTUAL INVESTIGATORS
This system will enhance communication, collaboration, innovation and

competitiveness. It will also enhance the potential for innovation and
development by investigators. SAPS investigators will learn from each other
investigators , without ever being physically present, they can do it through
virtual communication. The cost of traveling will be minimized. The
investigators will have a broader understand of contents as it does not come
from one source. There will be knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer.
There will be various inputs from different people who are aiming for one goal.
Therefore this will speed-up the case investigation, leading to less
postponement of cases. Through the use of these technologies there will be
less dockets disappearance, as dockets will be the responsibility of a group,
this will minimize the corruption. This technology should be seen as an
enabler of knowledge transfer and sharing.
2.7 CLIENT-SERVER COMPUTING
Database technology is a key technology in most of computer systems today

and its applications range from single-user personal database to large
database systems. According to Lewandowski(1998), client-server computing
refers computing model where two or more computers interact in such a way
that one provides service to the other.
Client-server computing consist of two logical components, a client request

service of the server and a server that provide service. According to
Lewandowski(1998), the client-server computing relate to two or more threads
of execution using a consumer/producer relationship. Client serves as a
consumer in a client/server system. The server plays the role of the producer,
filing data or service request made by clients. The services might be to run an
application, query a database or printing a document. The server is the
resource that handles client’s request. He mentioned that today networks
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have computers for file serving, database serving, application serving and
communication serving
Figure 7 client-server Definition (Lewandowski: 1998)
According to Lewandowski (1998), client is a process of (program) that sends

a message to a server process (program) requesting the server perform task
(service). Client programs usually manage user-interface portion for
application, validate data entered by the user, dispatch request to the server
programs and sometimes execute business logic. The client based process is
the front-end of the application that, the user sees and interact with.
According to Lewandowski (1998), server process (program) fulfils the client

request by performing task requested. Server programs generally receives
request from client programs, execute database retrieval, and manage data
integrity, and dispatch response to client requests. Server process acts as a
software engine that manages the shared resources such database, printers
and communication links.
39
Figure 8 Client-Server processing (Lewandowski:1998)
2.7.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF CLIENT-SERVER COMPUTING
 Combination of a client or front-end portion that interact with the user

and a server or back-end portion that interacts with shared resource.
 The front-end task and back-end task have fundamentally different
requirement for computing resources such as processor speed,
memory, disk speed and capacities.
 The hardware platform and operating systems of client and server are
not usually the same.
2.7.2 ADVANTAGES/BENEFITS OF CLIENT-SERVER

COMPUTING.
According to Lewandowski (1998) Client/server is an open system. The

advantages of this environment include:
 Interoperability - key components (client/network/server) work

together.
40
 Scalability - any of the key elements may be replaced when the need to
either grow or reduce processing for that element dictates, without
major impact on the other elements.
 Adaptability - new technology (i.e., multi-media, broad band networks,
distributed database, pen computing, etc.) may be incorporated into the
system.
 Affordability - cost effectiveness is insured by using less expensive
MIPs available on each platform.
 Data Integrity - entity, domain and referential integrity are maintained
on the database server.
 Accessibility - data may be accessed from WANs and multiple client
applications.
 Performance - performance may be optimized by hardware and
process.
 Security - data security is centralized on the server.
In our case, client-server environment will benefit the victims from the society.
The police who is responsible for opening a case will use his employee
number as his primary key for the purpose of audit trail. If dockets are missing
there is data integrity within this environment. Investigation officer is the one
to request the server to save the opened the docket into the database, lost of
dockets will be minimized. Victim will receive printed docket with particulars of
investigator who handles his/her case together with his/statement. Making
easier to trace maladministration within our police force. Currently they are
using mainframe as their central system, where they store cases, which does
not support objects (GUI). This system will help our investigators for the
purpose of storing and retrieving information.
2.8 SUMMARY
In this chapter we discussed interrelationship between Document

Management, Information Management and Knowledge Management. We
also discussed various Knowledge technologies that will play crucial role in
41
the lives of investigators this included: internet, virtual communities,

Communities of Practice, Networking using Peer-to-Peer Computing and
Client-Server Computing making it easier to transfer and share knowledge.
In the next chapter we will look at different methodologies available to help us

in reach our research objectives.
42
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The previous chapter was more focused on literature study, focus was on
knowledge technologies how they can benefit the investigators. This chapter
discusses the research methodology that will be adapted in this study and the
tools which will be utilized for data collection. The emphasis of this research
paper is to gather sufficient information and do an extensive analysis on the
manner in which SAPS is using information technologies and knowledge
management within itself. For this research paper, a case study methodology
will be used in order to obtain relevant data.
3.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The use of research methods provides an individual with the knowledge and
skills needed to solve problems. According to Cooper and Schindler (2003:5),
they define research as an organized examination which aims to offer
solutions to problems. Research is a procedure used to find out more
knowledge about an incident by looking carefully at its characteristics and
activities. Its intention is to provide answers to identified problems.
According to Leedy and Ormrod (2002: 2) research is defines as a systematic

process of collecting and analyzing information (data) in order to increase our
understanding of the phenomenon with which we are concerned or interested.
For the purpose of this research, the qualitative research has been chosen, because it
allows the researcher to research on the subject more deeply using data collection
methods like interviews, questionnaires and literature that’s according to Babbie and
Mouton (2001:270).
43
According to Putney and Green (1999), the following are the key points of
qualitative research:
 Qualitative approaches have provided ways of transcribing and

analyzing the discursive construction of everyday events, of examining
the consequential nature of learning within and across events, and of
exploring the historical nature of life within a social group or local
setting.
 Qualitative research has also provided insights into the emic, or insider,
knowledge needed by members of a group (especially outsiders) to
participate in socially and academically appropriate ways.
 Qualitative research provide(s) information about why and how
miscommunication among actors occurs, particularly when such actors
are members of different groups.
 Qualitative approaches and the theories guiding them have also made
us aware of different voices and the need to consider whose voice will
be represented, how, in what ways, and for what purposes qualitative
research has provided ways for understanding the local and situated
nature of everyday life; how this life is consequential for those who are
members, as well as those seeking membership; and for exploring how
equity of access to academic knowledge and societal resources are
locally constructed in and through the actions of people in local
settings.
The methodology that will be applied in the research paper is a case study. A
case study is applicable to this research paper because the sample is small
and is only limited to two companies. A semi-structured questionnaire was
selected by the researcher and the participators. The semi-structured
questionnaire was selected because the participators had stated that they did
not have the time to be interviewed in person.
44
3.3 CASE STUDY AS A RESEARCH METHOD
Cooper and Schindler (2003:150) contend that case studies places more
emphasis on a full contextual analysis of fewer events or conditions and their
interrelations.
A case study research excels at bringing us to an understanding of a complex

issue and can extend experience or add strength to what is already known
through previous researches. A key strength of a case study methodology is
its ability to be able to use multiple sources and techniques in the data
gathering process. Data gathering is normally qualitative, but it may also be
quantitative. There are different tools to use in the process of data gathering.
These tools are mainly: surveying, interviewing, documentation review,
observation and questionnaires.
The case study methodology is relevant to this research paper, because the
information about the companies that will participate in this research paper will
be systematically gathered and used to answer the semi-structured interview
questions. The case study methodology has many advantages. It will enable
the researcher to gain an in-depth view of how the two selected South African
companies are working with knowledge management and knowledge transfer
in practice.
3.4 ADVANTAGES OF CASE STUDY
Denscombe (2001:39) identifies the following advantages applying a case

study in a research paper:
 It has the ability to focus on one or a few instances allowing the researcher
to deal with the subtleties and intricacies of complex situations. In a way it
makes it possible for the researcher to grapple relationships and social
processes that cannot be treated in this manner with other approaches.
45
 They allow the people to use a variety of research methods for capturing
the complex reality under scrutiny.
 It can fit well with the need of small-scale research through a concentrated
effort on one research site.
 Theory building and theory testing research can both use the case study
approach to good effects.
3.5 DISADVANTAGE OF A CASE STUDY
The disadvantages of a case study are as follows as per Denscombe

(2001:39):
 The credibility of generalizations made from case study findings is

questionable. The case study research must be particularly careful to ally
suspicious and to demonstrate the extent to which his case is similar to or
contrasts with or other of its type.
 It is hard for case study researcher to achieve their aim of investigations
situations as natural as they occur without any effect of their presence.
Because case study tends to involve protracted involvement over period of
time, there is a possibility that the present of research can lead to observer
effect.
 Its boundaries can be difficult to define in an absolute and clear-cut
fashion. This poses difficulties in terms of deciding what sources of data to
incorporate in case study and which to exclude.
 Negotiating access to case study setting can be a demanding part of a
research process. Research can flounder if permission is withdrawn.
 Unwarranted though it may be, case studies are often perceived as
producing soft data. The approach is accused of lacking the degree of
vigour expected of social research.
For the purpose of this research paper, the case study methodology will be
appropriate and relevant. The case study method engages a wide range of
audiences in data gathering and findings.
46
3.6 DATA COLLECTION METHODS
The methods which will be utilized for data collection are: literature and
questionnaires. The data collection methods are explained:
3.6.1 LITERATURE
The researcher will use previous articles that look at knowledge management
and ways of handling knowledge transfer in an organization. The collection
and studying of these articles will be used to acquire a clear understanding
and knowledge as to how organizations handle knowledge transfer and
knowledge management. Information will be collected from the following
sources:
 Publications
 Articles
 Internet
3.6.2 QUESTIONNAIRE
A questionnaire will be used for the collection of data that applies to how
organization SAPS Knowledge transfer and knowledge management. The
questionnaire will be given to SAPS to see if they are value knowledge
management. The aim is to get their ideas, views, advantages and problems
on how knowledge transfer and knowledge management has been
conducted.
The questionnaire will try to gather relevant data on how the selected
organization namely SAPS are working with knowledge management and
how knowledge is been transferred within the organization. The collected data
will be compared with the data collected from the literature.
47
3.6.3 INTERVIEW
This is data collection method that involves an interaction between an interviewer and
a respondent in which the interviewer has a general plan of inquiry but not specific set
of questions that must be asked in particular words and in particular order ( Babbie
and Mouton, 2001: 288).
According to Demscombe (2001), qualitative interview is essentially a

conversation in which n interviewer establishes a general direction for the
conversation and peruses certain topics raised by the respondent. Ideally the
respondent does most of the talking, these interviews are semi-structured
open-ended, allowing the informant to speak, instead of responding to set of
predetermined questions. This is where the research is going to face-to-face or
telephonic interactions with the SAPS.
3.7 PARTICIPANTS
The participants were selected on the basis that they returned the
questionnaires sent to them. The following will be the participants of this
research paper:
3.7.1 THE RESEARCHER

 Acting as a selector to select people to be interviewed;
 Acting as an interviewer to interview the selected participant investigating
officers.
 Acting an observant to observe the people in charge performing their task
at this case looking the investigating officer recording the case in CAS
(Criminal Administration System) to the retrieving of case from centralized
system mainframe.
48
3.7.2 ORAGANIZATION
The following organization will be the participant in this research paper:
 SAPS South African Police Service:
o Branch: Daveyton
o Branch: Germiston
3.7.2.1 SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE (SAPS)
BACKGROUND
SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICES (SAPS)
The South African Police Service is the principal Law Enforcement Agency in
South Africa, and is committed to the creation of safe and secure environment
for all citizens of our country.
The main mission of South African Police Service is to:
 prevent, combat and investigate crime;

 maintain public order;
 protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property;
and
 Uphold and enforce the law.
 Create a safe and secure environment for all people in South Africa.
 prevent anything that may threaten the safety or security of any

community
 investigate any crimes that threaten the safety or security of any

community
 ensure criminals are brought to justice; and
 participation in efforts to address the causes of crime.
49
3.8 CONCLUSION
A case study is a very useful research method when it comes to the down-
sizing investigation. It gives the researcher the chance to focus on what is
necessary and important in order to acquire detailed and clear facts about a
trend. But, because of its limitations; case studies has many criticism and this
forces the researchers to be more cautious when making their judgements.
The organization that will be participating in this research is all involved in

investigations.
The next chapter analyzes the results of the semi-structured interview and
questionnaire and makes a summary.
50
CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this chapter is to present and analyze the research data
obtained through the use of the semi-structured interviews. All the data
collected was analyzed and interpreted to determine how the selected
organization SAPS work with knowledge management and knowledge
transfer.
The analyses and interpretation of the research data will be divided into
sections namely: information technology usage and knowledge management.
4.2 ANALYSES AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Cooper and Schindler (2003:87) describe data analysis as a process of

dismantling data into a manageable size, patterns and summaries. While,
interpretation is described as a way of testing the results obtained with
relevant literature.
Not all the SAPS departments which were handed questionnaires to complete
did returned. Investigators provided this research paper with answers.
4.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In the following section the questions will be posed. It will be followed by the
responses from all the participants. A semi-structured interview questionnaire
was sent to all the participants. The questionnaire was used as a
measurement tool to evaluate whether SAPS uses its intranet/internet as a
possible knowledge sharing tool. The questionnaire brought together the
51
concept of information technology, knowledge management, knowledge-

sharing cultures and intranet functionalities
The questions are based on the usage of Information Technology and other
knowledge management and knowledge transfer activities within SAPS. The
questions were focused was on knowledge sharing and transfer enabler
intranet.
4.3.1 USAGE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND KNOWLEDGE

MANAGEMENT
Which information and communication tools do you currently use?
 Response: They are using Fixed line telephone, Mobile telephones, fax
machine and computers.
Where do you usually access your e-mails or the internet?
 Response: at their homes they don’t have access to internet at work.
Since approximately which year is your organization making use of internet or

e-mail?
 Response: we are not given access to an internet/intranet.
Which methods do you use to access the internet or send e-mails?
 Response: those have access are using fixed telephone network and
mobile telephone network.
Do you use a completely paper based system or do you also make use of
computer software for internal administration and program management?
52
 Response: they use both paper based and computer software called
CAS (Crime Administration System)
You indicated that to some extent you use computer software for
administrative and managerial tasks. Please provide us with some more
detail.
 Response : they are using CAS (Crime Administration System) , this is

where all cases get stored.
Which software do you use for administrative and managerial tasks?
 Response: CAS
Within your organization which methods do you use for communicating?
 Response: they are using face-to face, paper based documents (e.g.
memos, letters, posters), fixed line telephone, fax machine, mobile
telephone, radio handsets such as Walky Talky.
How easy is it for your organization to access information relevant for your
work?
 Response: they believe there is good access to information, using their

CAS system
How often do you share your experience of knowing where to find with other
members of staff via the intranet/internet?
 Response: they don’t have internet access, they are using their CAS
system to access cases from mainframe, not necessary sharing but
retrieving cases by their case numbers after all they are not using
internet/intranet.
53
How frequently do you use intranet/internet for work related task?
 Response: Again they are using their computers which have CAS
system within to view and retrieve cases assigned to them,
internet/intranet not utilised.
How do you share your experience of knowing whom to ask for help with
other member of staff via intranet/internet?
 Response : they do this via face-to-face interactions not through the

intranet and they ask the most experience investigators for help.
How often do you share your experience of knowing how to resolve a problem
with other staff members via internet/intranet?
 Response: Not through the internet, via face-to-face the most

experienced investigator is consulted.
What improvements could be made to the internet/intranet to make

knowledge sharing easier for information?
 After explain what virtual communities are they realised that

internet/intranet will help them in sharing and transferring of
knowledge.
What improvements could be made to the intranet/internet to make

knowledge sharing easier for investigations?
54
 Response: more members should be trained in using CAS system

effectively before moving to intranet/internet.
How easily do you locate information on the intranet/internet to your work?
 Response: easily, they locate their information on the mainframe not on

intranet/internet.
Do you ever published on the intranet/internet?
 Response: No
What type of information do you publish?
 Response: Nothing
Please briefly state why you are not publishing on the intranet/internet?
 Response: we were never trained on how to use intranet/internet at

work.
To what extent does using the intranet/internet help improve productivity?
 Response: It does not, maybe if we were using it.
How often do you use communities of practice?
 Response: they consult experience investigators if there is any need,

often.
55
Did you receive the right level of training to participate effectively in

knowledge-sharing initiatives on the intranet/internet?
 Response: yes, we were trained on how to use CAS system not

internet/intranet.
Do new investigators attend an induction session on how to use the intranet?
 Response: Yes on how to use CAS system not intranet/internet.
Any barriers you might have recognized to knowledge sharing on the

internet/intranet?
 Response: No
To what extent does sharing your knowledge via intranet/internet strengthen

the relationship between staff?
 Response: moderately, they use of CAS system because it has

templates for cases.
Do you have any other comments you would like to make about sharing
knowledge over the intranet/internet?
 Response: If they we can get trained on how to use these

technologies, is then we can comment.
4.4 PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED WITHIN SAPS
 Investigators do not have access to the internet/intranet.

 Intranet is not part of their daily routine tasks.
 Poor sharing of knowledge.
56
 Virtual communities do not exist.

 Key learnings are not captured after completion.
 Leadership team does not encourage employees to share knowledge
through internet.
 Employees do not receive incentives or rewards for participating in
knowledge sharing.
 Insufficient resources committed to knowledge management initiatives.
 Staff do not know how to use system effectively CAS
4.5 CONCLUSION
In this chapter, the definition of analyses and interpretation were given. The
methods that were used in the collection of data were also mentioned.
The questions were combined into information technology usage and
knowledge management (knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer). The
questions looked at the activities affecting IT usage and knowledge
management within SAPS.
Interviewees were concern that the government was not prepared to invest in
training them on the use of IT and knowledge technologies. Some of the
investigators do not have computers in their offices. The fact that investigators
do not have internet/intranet show that the management do not see intranet
as knowledge sharing or transfer enabler. A blank questionnaire is attached in
appendix A for future use and answered questionnaire is available from
research on request. In the next chapter, the research paper will present the
summaries, conclusions and recommendations.
57
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
This study sought to unveil how the use information technology and
knowledge management (sharing and transferring) can benefit SAPS in their
investigations. The research was conducted with the view of identifying
problems with the current systems in place and to make the SAPS aware of
available technologies that can help to eradicate or eliminate these problems.
This chapter present the conclusions of study and makes recommendations

based on the evidence received throughout the data collection methods
namely: interview, observation, literature and questionnaires. We mentioned
problems which were identified in the previous chapter.
5.2 RESPONDING TO RESEARCH QUESTIONS
5.2.1 What technologies do they currently use?
The study found that SAPS is using both manual and electronic filling system.
They are using physical paper to open the docket and CAS system to register
case into their database in this case is mainframe. The problem is what is
recorded on CAS system is not exactly what is written on the docket.
The information on the CAS system contains details of responsible

investigator, case number, complainant particulars, nature of the
crime/complaint. There is lot of information from the original docket missing.
The written statement on the docket is not included, so if the dockets get lost,
this will lead the case being thrown out of court for lack of sufficient evidence.
58
This is attested by an article from One in Nine website dated 09/10/2006

(www.oneinnine.org.za), on the 2nd October 2006, a year will have passed since
Busisiwe was raped. She has yet to give evidence in court. On the 12 th of June 2006
the matter was struck out of Tembisa Magistrate court’s roll due to certain key
evidence being missing from the docket. The current database doe not support
graphic user interface (GUI), hence it is difficult to safe the whole docket, the CAS is
object oriented its database is not. There is a need for Client-Server computing or
even P2P
5.2.2 How can the use of knowledge technologies help in case investigations?
Firstly let discuss how the use of Client-Sever technology can help. In our
case, client-server environment will benefit both victims and investigators. The
police who is responsible for opening a case will use his employee number as
his primary key for the purpose of audit trail in case, if docket is missing there
is data integrity within this environment.
Investigation officer is the one to request the server to save the opened the
docket into the database, lost of dockets will be minimized. This environment
support GUI, therefore complainant will have copy of his/her docket instead of
only case number and investigators will have theirs. According to
Lewandowski (1998), there is communication software (support protocol)
between the server and client making conversion easier. System with graphic
user interface are easy to unlike mainframe programmes which are command
driven.
Victim will receive printed docket with particulars of investigator who handles
his/her case together with his/statement. Making easier to trace
maladministration within our police force. Currently they are using mainframe
as their central system, where they store cases, which does not objects (GUI).
Currently when the user opens the case he/she is only given case number as
a proof, whereas with Client-Server which supports GUI administrator can
scan the docket information into the computer.
59
Secondly focus is on how the P2P technology can help in investigation. With
P2P, the system will enhance communication, collaboration, innovation and
competitiveness. It will also enhance the potential for innovation and
development by investigators. SAPS investigators will learn from each other
investigators , without ever being physically present, they can do it through
virtual communication. The cost of traveling will be minimized. The
investigators will have a broader understand of contents as it does not come
from one source. There will be knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer.
The investigators can share and transfer knowledge without being logged on
to the intranet or internet that’s according to Miller (2001)
There will be various inputs from different people who are aiming for one goal.
Therefore this will speed-up the case investigation, leading to less
postponement of cases. Through the use of these technologies there will be
less dockets disappearance, as dockets will be the responsibility of a group,
this will minimize the corruption. With P2P communication is possible without
being connected to intranet or internet.
Thirdly the focus is on how virtual communities and CoP’s can help with
investigation. According Kimball and Rheingold (2000), virtual communities
can promote knowledge sharing, learning and innovation because: Virtual
communities provide an ongoing context for knowledge exchange that can be
for more effective than memoranda. Virtual communities can promote
innovation. When groups get turned on by what they can do online, they go
beyond problem-solving and start inventing together. Discussion in the virtual
community can lead to the creation of community of memory for group
deliberation and brainstorming that stimulate the capture of ideas and facilities
finding information when it is needed. According to Pauleen and Yoong
(2001:191), little has been written on how on-line relationships among
employees influence business values and, subsequently, communication
among employees
Participation in virtual community discussion can help improve the way

individuals think collectively, so that they will move from knowledge-sharing to
60
collective knowing. According to Bryson (2000:2) organization should use

motivation and reward systems that encourage sharing of knowledge and
learning, as well as participation and contribution to the development of new
ideas and innovation. An open sharing culture should promote the success of
the knowledge management programme and incentives could in turn help to
make this culture possible, this is the opposite with SAPS. We should bear in
mind that virtual communities do not exist without intranet/internet or P2P
whereas CoP’s can exist.
On how can the use of the intranet/internet help in investigation. Intranets

themselves do not create and share knowledge, human being are. Intranet aid
knowledge sharing, they can help to capture, organize, store and transmit
source material from which an individual may acquire knowledge that
according Gundry and Metes (1996).
From the previous chapter, the interviewees mentioned that there was a need
for more training regarding to how to use their CAS system for most of
Investigators. Out of the analysis chapter it was found that the SAPS do not
necessarily use intranet to share and transfer knowledge. The management
should see intranet as enabler of knowledge management and knowledge
sharing culture.
5.3 RECOMMENDATION
Based on the findings of the study, the researcher makes the following
recommendations.
Based on the findings it is important that SAPS becomes a learning
organization. According to Easterby-Smith et al ‘learning organizations’
are organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the
results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are
nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are
continually learning how to learn together.
61
The SAPS management should invest in technology to resolve the current

situation, they should see intranet and related technologies as knowledge
management and sharing enabler. Intranet should form part of their daily
routine, daily tasks.
Investigators should trained on how to use available technologies and
showing them the benefits of using intranet. The leadership should identify
and implement system that will recognize and reward for knowledge sharing.
5.4 CONCLUSION
The purpose of this research was to find out what technologies are currently
being used by SAPS and how can the use of knowledge technologies can
benefit the investigators with their investigations. Investigators are not using
intranet to share their experiences. It is high time that SAPS management see
intranet as knowledge sharing enabler. For SAPS to be learning organization
it needs to train its staff on available technologies.
The management should communicate the knowledge management plan and
massage that support and enhance commitment to a knowledge sharing
culture. After implementing these knowledge management technologies, it
should be compulsory to capture key learnings as part of investigation. The
investigators should be able to publish their knowledge on the SAPS intranet,
so that others can learn from their experiences.
Should these technologies implemented the following will be the benefits: (1)
Minimization of the loss of case dockets, by using electronic case dockets to reduce
paper work. (2) Improved information integrity, (3) Better police service and simpler
work for police officers in solving cases, (4) The need for postponement or
reminders of cases for further investigations will be eliminated Improved
management information on status of case being investigated, (5) Easy
sharing or transferring of knowledge amongst the investigators.
62
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69
APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE
1
Which of the following information and communication tools do you currently

use? Please answer with yes or no. (Answer required, multiple selections
possible)
 Radio
 Television
 Fixed line telephone
 Mobile telephone
 Fax machine
 Computer
 Email (continue with questions 6.1, 6.2, 6.3)
 Internet (continue with questions 6.1, 6.2, 6.3)
 Radio Handset (Walky Talky, CB radio)
 None of the above
 Don’t know
 Other (please specify)
In which of the following places do you usually access your e-mails or the
internet? Please answer with yes or no. (Multiple selections possible).
 In my office
 At home
 At a public provider (e.g. internet shop, telecenter)
Since approximately which year is your organization making use of internet or

e-mail? (Enter ?, if respondent doesn’t know)
Which of the following methods do you use to access the internet or send e-
mails? Please answer with yes or no.
(Multiple selections possible)
2
 Fixed telephone network

 Mobile telephone network
 Don’t know
 Other access methods (please specify)
Do you use a completely paper based system or do you also make use of
computer software for internal administration and program management?
 Completely paper based

 Also make use of computer software (continue with question 8.1, 8.2)
 Don’t know
You indicated that to some extent you use computer software for
administrative and managerial tasks. Please provide us with some more
detail.
Which of the following do you use for administrative and managerial tasks?
Please answer with yes or no. (Multiple selections possible)
 Standard office tools (e.g. MS Word, Open Office, spreadsheets, email

programs)
 Specialized software programs (e.g. software for accounting, project
management, personnel management)
 Don’t know
Irrespective of your current use, how do you rate the importance of the
following software for the administration and management of organizations
like yours?
Use a scale of 1 – 5, where 1=”not important” and 5 = “extremely important”
1 2 3 4 5 Don’t know
3
Standard office tools (e.g. MS Word,

Open Office, spreadsheets, email      
programs)
Specialized software programs (e.g.
software for accounting, project      
management, personnel
management)
Consider all staff IN YOUR ENTIRE organization. How important are the
following methods for communicating with them?
Use a scale of 1 – 5, where 1=”not important” and 5 = “extremely important”
1 2 3 4 5 Don’t Not
know Applicable
Face-to face dialogue       
Paper based documents
(e.g. memos, letters,       
posters)
Fixed line telephone       
Fax machine       
Mobile telephone       
Radio handsets (e.g. Walky       
Talky or CB radio)
Email       
Intranet       
Internet tools for instant
messaging and telephony       
(e.g. ICQ, MSN Messenger,
Skype, Yahoo Messenger)
How easy is it for your organization to access information relevant for your
work?
Of the following phrases, pick the one that is most applicable to you:
 There is no access to information

 There is limited access to information
 There is average access to information
 There is good access to information
 There is very good access to information
4
 Don’t know
 Not applicable
How often do you share your experience of knowing where to find with other
members of staff via the intranet/internet?
Never Seldom Often Always
How frequently do you use intranet/internet for work related task?
Daily Weekly Monthly Seldomly
How do you share your experience of knowing whom to ask for help with
other member of staff via intranet/internet?
How often do you share your experience of knowing how to resolve a problem
with other staff members via internet/intranet?
What improvements could be made to the internet/intranet to make

knowledge sharing easier for departmental information?
What improvements could be made to the intranet/internet to make

knowledge sharing easier for investigations?
How easily do you locate information on the intranet/internet to your work?
Very easy Easily With some With great

difficulty difficulty
Have you published on the intranet/internet previous year?
Yes No
5
If yes how easy is it to publish on the intranet/internet?
Very easy Easy With some Very difficult

difficult
How do you publish items on the intranet (mark one)
Directly Via Webmaster Both Ways
What type of information do you publish?
Please briefly state why you are not publishing on the intranet/internet?
To what extent does using the intranet/internet help improve productivity?
To no extent To a small extent To a moderate To a large extent

extent
How often do you use communities of practice?
Daily Weekly Monthly Seldom
Did you receive the right level of training to participate effectively in

knowledge-sharing initiatives on the intranet/internet?
Yes No
Do new investigators attend an induction session on how to use the intranet?
Yes No
6
Any barriers you might have recognized to knowledge sharing on the

internet/intranet?
To what extent does sharing your knowledge via intranet/internet strengthen

the relationship between staff?
To no extent To small extent Moderately To a large extent
Do you have any other comments you would like to make about sharing
knowledge over the intranet/internet?
7
D.P MOHLALA PROJECT IV (ARTICLE) 99093862
APPENDIX B ARTICLE
1
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE

MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES
Donald Mohlala
Tshwane University of Technology
Private Bag x 680
Pretoria
0001
donaldmohlala@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
According to Cothrel (2000), internet makes it possible to bring together

people with common interest and ideas in a virtual way without them ever
having to meet face-to-face. Internet has really changed the way we work and
interact it has changed the way we are living our lives. In today’s life having
computer without internet be it individual or corporate you will fall behind. In
most of the cases Client-Server technology has been the main technology
used by most corporate. Peer-to-Peer technology is the most suitable for
virtual communities in transferring and sharing knowledge. This article
summarizes the relationship between knowledge management and
information technologies
Key words: knowledge management, intranet/intranet, virtual communities,

P2P computing, client-server computing
1 INTRODUCTION
We are living in the ever changing environment. For individuals or corporate

to survive they need to gain new knowledge, disseminate this knowledge
throughout the organization and embody such knowledge into knowledge
enabling technologies for future reuse. In this article we will look at different
2
information technologies that can be considered knowledge transfer and

sharing possible or enablers.
2 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
According to Polines and Fairer-Wessels (1998). Knowledge management is

a multi-disciplined approach to accomplishing organizational objectives by
making knowledge accessible to the people in the organization through the
structuring of people, technology and knowledge content. It encompasses
both the management of information (explicit knowledge) and management of
individuals with specific abilities (people with tacit knowledge)
According to Standard Australia (2003:5) knowledge management involves

variety of disciplines, it is often integrated with a range of business and
academic disciplines including human resource management, organizational
learning, strategic planning, communications, business management, change
management, information management, document management, information
technology, philosophy and sociology.
Oluic-Vukovic (2001) outlines 5 steps in the knowledge processing chain:

gathering; organizing; refining; representing; and disseminating.
Bouthillier and Shearer (2002), support Oluic-Vukovic (2001) though they

altered some of his steps. Firstly, their "gathering" step has been separated
into three different processes, each of which is distinct from the other:
discovery, acquisition, and creation of knowledge.
Secondly, they left out refining and representing processes, because they
believe that refining is not a major enough process in the knowledge flow, but
merely one aspect of the knowledge creation step and knowledge
representation generally falls within the scope of the storage and organization
process. Thirdly they added a separate process of knowledge sharing, they
replaced knowledge dissemination from Oluic-Vukovic (2001). According to
3
them knowledge sharing seem to be terminology commonly used in the

knowledge management field.
Discovery involves locating internal knowledge within the organization.

Acquisition involves bringing knowledge into an organization from external
sources. The creation of new knowledge can accomplished by information
analysis to create new knowledge.
Figure 2 Conceptual framework: knowledge management processes (Bouthillier and Shearer: 2002)
According to Lin et al (2006) their model compliments Bouthillier and

Shearer(2002) model . Their model consist of five phases namely acquisition,
extraction, storage and update phases.
According Oluic-Vukovic (2001), Technologies are useful at this stage

because they can facilitate the creation of new knowledge through the
synthesis of data and information captured from diverse sources. After
knowledge has been gathered, it must be stored and shared. Knowledge
sharing involves the transfer of knowledge from one (or more) person to
4
another one (or more). This is where the relationship the two comes into
place.
Figure 3 Concepts and framework for knowledge management (Lin et al: 2006)
3 VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
According to Romm et al (1997) he defined virtual communities as a group of

people communicate with each other via electronic media.
According to Kardaras (2003) he described virtual community as a group of

people who communicate with each other via electronic media such as
internet, they share common interest, and their geographical location, physical
location, physical interaction or ethnic origin does not impose any constraints
for the formation of community.
5
3.1 BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
1. There are no geographical barriers – according to Kimball and

Rheingold (2000) virtual communities connect people and build
relationships across boundaries of geography or discipline by creating
an online social space for people who are geographically dispersed.
According to Barnard et al (2004) our police force are using dispersed
which are not working properly.
2. Cost barriers are broken down - according to Kimball and Rheingold
(2000) virtual communities bring people together in a cost-effective
manner. Instead of organizing expensive face-to-face conferences,
workshops and courses, an organization can achieve many of the
same goals by linking participants electronically to each other and to a
wealth of online resources.
3. Barriers to communication are broken down – according to Kimball and
Rheingold (2000), people should be talking to one another because of
their interest intersect often do not communicate because they are in
different parts of the world, different floors, or in different departments.
they say quite people who might never have something to contribute in
a face-to-face meeting, given time to compose their thoughts with
nobody watching them while they do it, can influence discussion they
might not have joined before.
4. Knowledge sharing and learning – according to Smith (2000), virtual
communities have the ability to focus knowledge sharing and learning,
if a group have enough in common and if the topic directly relates to
their work, a level of trust is created which results in greater depth and
value of individual exchange. According to Kimball and Rheingold
(2000), virtual communities can promote knowledge sharing, learning
and innovation in the following ways:
o Virtual communities provide an ongoing context for knowledge

exchange that can be for more effective than memoranda.
6
o Through participation in virtual communities, organization can

multiply its intellectual capital by he power of social capital,
because virtual community can help reduce social friction and
encourage social cohesion.
o Virtual communities can promote innovation. When groups get
turned on by what they can do online, they go beyond problem-
solving and start inventing together.
o Discussion in the virtual community can lead to the creation of
community of memory for group deliberation and brainstorming
that stimulate the capture of ideas and facilities finding
information when it is needed.
o Participation in virtual community discussion can help improve
the way individuals think collectively, so that they will move from
knowledge-sharing to collective knowing.
o Virtual communities allow organizations to turn training into
continuous process, and one that is not divorced from normal
business processes.
o Through virtual communities, organizations can attract and
retain the best employees by providing access to social capital
that is only available within the organization.
5. Enhance the impact of face-to-face events – according to Smith(2000)
virtual communities complement and enhance the impact of face-to-
face events and provide the backbone of more focused communities of
practice, online discussion and interactive websites are capable of
keeping participants connected and engaged on an ongoing basis,
particularly during periods of between live events.
4 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES (IT)
According to Stoddart (2001), Organizational learning, information technology

(IT) and information management are intricately linked. According to her
information management involves the categorization, organization and access
to information and data in computer applications, databases and archives,
7
while technology provides the tools to facilitate information flow and

knowledge sharing.
4.1 INTERNET
According to William F. Slater, III (1996), internet is a network of networks,

joining many government, university and private computers together and
providing an infrastructure for the use of E-mail, bulletin boards, file archives,
hypertext documents, databases and other computational resources.
According to him it is vast collection of computer networks which form and act
as a single huge network for transport of data and messages across distances
which can be anywhere from the same office to anywhere in the world, as
Griffin (1999) says internet is an information system composed of a massive
network of computers around the world.
4.1.1 REASONS FOR USING INTERNET
Griffin (1999) outlined the following as reasons for using the internet.
 Global: information is available from computers located in virtually evry
country of the world;
 Interactive: the user of the Net can search for more information in
countless ways;
 Dynamic: the information presented on the web is always changing,
because it is constantly being updated and new information is being
added;
 Cross platform: the information available is not dependent upon the
type of computer used;
 Distributed: it is impossible to store all of the information available on
the web in one location – the information is spread over thousands of
computers that are hooked up to the web and;
8
 A hypertext information system: information is not presented in a linear

fashion, instead you can move from topic to topic at random with this
method of cross-referencing.
Through the use of internet investigating officers all over the world from
different police agencies can form virtual communities, sharing and
transferring knowledge on how to speedy their investigations.
4.2 INTRANET
According to Reisman (1997), the concept of an ‘intranet’ took off when

organizations realized they could take this easy-to-use open and well-
supported vehicle and apply it, essentially as is, to their internal groupware
needs. Reisman (1997), defined an intranet as a private application of the
same Internetworking technology, software and applications within a private
network, for use within an enterprise.
According to Brown (1998), he defines intranet as ‘nothing more than your

existing corporate local-wide are network using internet infrastructure ‘ – any
site, there fore based on internet technology that is placed on private servers
within the organization. According to Gundry and Mete (1996) Intranets aid
knowledge sharing, they can help to capture, organise, store and transmit
source material from which an individual may acquire knowledge.
4.3 KIND OF INTRANETS
It is always important for any organization to know what it expects to

accomplish with the intranet before embarking on the installation or setup.
According to Barnes (2001), to figure out how to get the ‘quick hits’ in terms of
usability and ROI, he said it is the matter of looking from the outside in to
further determine what content and functionality will benefit users most, how
this information will further help the organization’s operational efficiency.
4.3.1 Communication tool
9
According to Barnes (2001), if the purpose of the intranet is to communicate

and update (provide the latest) information to the company employees. The
intention of this type is one way communication.
4.3.2 Application enabler
If the purpose of the intranet is to enable two way communication, such as

logging help desk request or enrolling for benefits, transactional content can
be added to the intranet, for e.g. personnel administration. The intention
behind this type should be interaction and, to extent, involvement of
employees.
4.3.3 Collaboration facilitator
This type of intranet is a very dynamic tool that can be not only to educate and
inform employees, but increase corporate communication and establish and
maintain a corporate culture the organization wants to nurture. Stoddart
(2001), says an intranet useful for sharing knowledge will certainly fall into this
category as ‘those intranet which are static and non-collaborative do not
stimulate knowledge sharing.
Barr (1998), says the idea of intranet is a technology that permits the
organization to define itself as an entity, a group, a family, where everyone
knows their role and everyone works on improvement and health of the
organization. He says that if there is a collective will that need to be
communicated to all employees, it become easier to achieve.
Based on the above mentioned definitions, we can say that this a suitable tool
for virtual communities.
4.4 PEER-TO-PEER COMPUTING
Miller (2001:19) defined P2P as the topology and architecture of the computer
in a system in which each computer has equivalent capabilities and
10
responsibilities. P2P is a complete contrast to the traditional client-server

network architecture, for each participating computer or node in a P2P system
is called a “peer” meaning that the participants interact as equal that’s
according to Kubiatowicsz (2003:33). Participants act as a client and server
figure 5 will distinguish P2P and Client-Server network.
Miller (2001) says with P2P computers share data and resources, such as
spare computing cycles and storage capacity through internet or private
network, computers can also communicate directly and manage computing
tasks without using servers, P2P attributes will definitely come handy to
Virtual Communities and Communities of Practice. This enables knowledge
transfer and sharing within the organization.
4.4.1 P2P CHARACTERISTICS
According to Miller (2001), the following are characteristics of P2P.
 The network facilitates real-time transmission of data or messages

between the peers.
 Peers can function as both client and server.
 The primary content of the network is provided by peers.
 The network gives control and autonomy to the peer.
 The network accommodates peers who are not always connected and
who may not have permanent internet protocol (IP) addresses.
4.5 CLIENT-SERVER COMPUTING
According to Lewandowski(1998), client-server computing refers computing

model where two or more computers interact in such a way that one provides
service to the other.
Client-server computing consist of two logical components, a client request

service of the server and a server that provide service. According to
11
Lewandowski(1998), the client-server computing relate to two or more threads

of execution using a consumer/producer relationship. Client serves as a
consumer in a client/server system. The server plays the role of the producer,
filing data or service request made by clients. The services might be to run an
application, query a database or printing a document. The server is the
resource that handles client’s request. He mentioned that today networks
have computers for file serving, database serving, application serving and
communication serving
According to Lewandowski (1998), client is a process of (program) that sends

a message to a server process (program) requesting the server perform task
(service). Client programs usually manage user-interface portion for
application, validate data entered by the user, dispatch request to the server
programs and sometimes execute business logic. The client based process is
the front-end of the application that, the user sees and interact with.
4.5.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF CLIENT/SERVER COMPUTING
Lewandowski (1998), identified the following as characteristics of client-server

computing:
 Combination of a client or front-end portion that interact with the user
and a server or back-end portion that interacts with shared resource.
 The front-end task and back-end task have fundamentally different
requirement for computing resources such as processor speed,
memory, disk speed and capacities.
 The hardware platform and operating systems of client and server are
not usually the same.
4.5.2 ADVANTAGES OF CLIENT-SERVER COMPUTING
According to Lewandowski (1998) Client/server is an open system. The

advantages of this environment include:
12
 Interoperability - key components (client/network/server) work together.

 Scalability - any of the key elements may be replaced when the need to
either grow or reduce processing for that element dictates, without
major impact on the other elements.
 Adaptability - new technology (i.e., multi-media, broad band networks,
distributed database, pen computing, etc.) may be incorporated into the
system.
 Affordability - cost effectiveness is insured by using less expensive
MIPs available on each platform.
 Data Integrity - entity, domain and referential integrity are maintained
on the database server.
 Accessibility - data may be accessed from WANs and multiple client
applications.
 Performance - performance may be optimized by hardware and
process.
 Security - data security is centralized on the server.
Figure 3 Client-Server processing (Lewandowski:1998)
13
According to Lewandowski (1998), server process (program) fulfils the client

request by performing task requested. Server programs generally receives
request from client programs, execute database retrieval, and manage data
integrity, and dispatch response to client requests. Server process acts as a
software engine that manages the shared resources such database, printers
and communication links. Client-server is good for storage and retrieving of
information.
4 FINDINGS
In our data analysis chapter we discovered the following loopholes, which

requires an urgent attention from SAPS leadership management committee:
 Investigators do not have access to the internet/intranet.

 Intranet is not part of their daily routine tasks.
 Poor sharing of knowledge.
 Virtual communities do not exist.
 Key learnings are not captured after completion.
 Leadership team does not encourage employees to share knowledge
through internet.
 Employees do not receive incentives or rewards for participating in
knowledge sharing.
 Insufficient resources committed to knowledge management initiatives.
 Staff do not know how to use system effectively CAS
5 CONCLUSION
The intranet and computing technologies themselves do not create

knowledge, but human being. These technologies requires skilled employees.
Interviewees were concern that the government was not prepared to invest in
training them on the use of IT and knowledge technologies. Some of the
investigators do not have computers in their offices.
14
The fact that investigators do not have internet/intranet show that the
management do not see intranet as knowledge sharing or transfer enabler.
According to Gundry and Mete (1996) Intranets aid knowledge sharing, they
can help to capture, organise, store and transmit source material from which
an individual may acquire knowledge. These information technologies should
be seen as relatives to knowledge management for they are enablers or
vehicles of knowledge transfer and sharing
15
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
BARNES, H. 2001. Best Practices for successful intranets. Available [Online]:

http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles.200104/cs_04_18_01a.html. Accessed
20/08/2006.
BARR, S.J. 1998. intranets and library applications. Available [Online]:

http://www.ualberta.co/~barr/intranet/linear.html. Accessed: 20/08/2006.
BOUTHILLIER, F & SHEARER, K.2002. Understanding knowledge

management and information management: the need for an empirical
perspective. Information Research, Vol. 8 No 1. Graduate School of Library
and Information Studies. McGill University. Montreal, Canada.
COTHREL, J.P.2000. Measuring the success of an online community.

BROWN, B.D. 1998. Planning a corporate intranet. Available [Online]:

http://www.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/98-Sep.58prob.html. Accessed:
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computer-mediated approach. Available [Online]:
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http://www.umsl.edu/~mgriffin/psy302/WWW_Defination.html. Accessed:
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KARDARAS, D. 2003. The potential of virtual communities in the insurance

industry in the UK and Greece. International Journal of Information
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organizations. Available [Online]:
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KUBIATOWICSZ, J.2003. Extracting guarantees from chaos.

Communications of the ACM 46(2):33-38.
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THE USE OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT & KNOWLEDGE

DONALD PITSO MOHLALA

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

FACULTY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

(MEV, ML VAN DER LINDE)

CHAPTER 1: ORIENTATION TO THE STUDY

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.4.3.2 The value of Communities of Practices………………………………………..31

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The investigation began with an enquiry into the area of document

Dr Coetzee who introduced me to my study topic or fileld and Mr Pretorius for

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

Figure 1 Conceptual framework: knowledge management processes..…....15

BBN - Bolt, Beranek & Newman

ORIENTATION TO THE STUDY

These investigators are dispersed geographically thus leading to investigators in

The use of internet/intranet and knowledge technologies like centralized systems,

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

According to Barnard et al (2004) SAPS current system has the following

 there is no interoperability within police investigators in these nine

At the end of the research we should be able to answer the following

 What technologies do they currently use?

1.1. LITERATURE REVIEW

According to this organization sexual violence is endemic to South Africa.

According to Wingate and Wingate (2004:552). ‘’Document management refer to

mediated teams. Simply stated, a positive working relationship should lead to

According to Van Wyk (2006:2) Safety and Security Minister Charles

1.4 IMPORTANCE / BENEFITS OF THE STUDY/VALUE

The core importance and benefit of this study is to develop an understanding

 Minimization of the loss of case dockets, by using electronic case dockets to

 The need for postponement or reminders of cases for further

According to Leedy and Ormrod (2002: 2) research is defines as a systematic

Research can either be qualitative research or quantitative research as highlighted

Qualitative research also called interpretative, constructivist, post positivist approach

Quantitative research also called traditional, experimental or positivist approach is

1.6 DATA GATHERING

Interview – this is data collection method that involves an interaction between an

Questionnaire – it is a method of elicitation, recording and collection of information.

1.2. CHAPTER OUTLINE

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE STUDY

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS

In the previous chapter we were introduced to the research problem, the

In this chapter we will describe, Document Management, Information

2.2 DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT

According to AbuSafiya and Mazumdar (2004), efficient document

’Document management refer to procedures or systems designed to exert intelligent

archiving of documents for completed projects’’, this is according to Wingate and

According to this organization sexual violence is endemic to South Africa.

2.3 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

The amount of information obtained on daily basis within an organization is

Modern information management uses information technology, concepts of

Choo (2004)’s definition of information management is, it involves a few

It uses technology and techniques to effectively manage internal and external

Choo proposed a process model of IM. Presented as a cycle, Choo’s model of

the organization, the coordination and the control of a number of activities

2.4 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Business and academic communities believe that an organization can sustain

According to Standard Australia (2003:5) knowledge management involves

Knowledge management is a multi-disciplined approach to accomplishing

Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) described four knowledge conversion