Navigating the initial stages of the pandemic using knowledge management: an integrated framework

Knowledge management is a key driver of competitive advantage at all times. This paper explores the different knowledge management measures taken by organizations during the initial stages of the pandemic and the various knowledge resources leveraged for the same. The scope of the study is limited to the initial stages of the pandemic, when things were uncertain and most organizations were going through such a crisis for the first time. The methodology used in this paper combines three-stage thematic coding and a topic modelling algorithm. The data consist of interviews of human resource leaders and articles published in globally renowned sources. The data was collected during the initial stages of the pandemic and it reflects the thorough process during the initial stages of the pandemic. The findings indicate that firms take various short-term and long-term knowledge management measures by leveraging on several internal and external knowledge resources. The findings were analytically clustered and theoretically aggregated to develop an integrated framework for organizational navigation during the initial stages of the pandemic. The paper contributes to the literature by making a novel attempt to study the measures taken in the very early stages of the pandemic and some findings are new to the literature. Also, this paper integrates two different methodologies, which is unique to research. The integrated framework could be used by practitioners for developing a resilient knowledge management system.

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Elembilassery, V., Chakraborty, S., & Chandrasekaran, S. (2022). Navigating the initial stages of the pandemic using knowledge management: An integrated framework. Knowledge and Process Management, 29(4), 383–394. https://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1730, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1730. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.