Knowledge Management for Small and Medium Enterprises in Developing Countries - Uganda: A Studio Based Approach

In developing countries, many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) collapse at start-up, due to complex factors. Knowledge shortage and incomplete information are their key challenges as a result of obsolete technology and exposure. However, the Government of Uganda plans to establish nationwide knowledge service centres to serve as one-stop-shops in its Vision 2035 (CWS, 2007). These are meant to provide entrepreneurs with complete information with an aim of increasing survival rates and improving knowledge circulation. Viable solutions are at stake for developing countries due to their level of infrastructural development. However, to enable them to leap frog into the future, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can facilitate their knowledge sharing. SMEs survival is determined by the amount of knowledge they have and how they manage it in decision making. This paper promotes the studio based approach as a practical solution to enable SMEs bridge knowledge asymmetric problems. This paper will benefit local communities in developing countries and the academic field. The studio will provide service sharing and decision enhancement to SME stakeholders and supplement techno-centric, social-cultural centric and access-centric Knowledge Management (KM) approaches. The problem this paper aims to answer is "What are the KM approaches available that can provide effective support to facilitate national and regional ICT-enabled knowledge service centres to act as one-stop-shops for improved knowledge sharing in the context of a developing country like Uganda?" The scope of this paper will entail a literature review of KM approaches. This will be achieved by exploration of existing information in key KM journals. This paper aims at providing a theoretical backup for the use of KM studio in Uganda's knowledge service centers. As a result the KM studio will be a viable solution to SMEs in other developing countries.