17. Enhancing Knowledge Management (KM) in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Era: The Role of Human Resource Systems

As organisations encounter an era of rapid technological change and intensifying competition, this chapter unpacks the notion of organisational knowledge and how it remains a crucial resource enabling organisations to establish a competitive advantage. In doing so, the concept of knowledge management is explored to identify the main repositories of knowledge within an organisation and how the human resource (HR) function can access and coordinate the flow of genuine ‘know-how’ required for innovation. This chapter offers a conceptual frame that identifies a series of organisational enablers that the HR function needs to coordinate, develop and promote effectively in order for organisations to share and generate new knowledge.

In developing this frame, this chapter argues that external changes to labour markets and modern economies, which include the emergence of the gig economy, are real and present threats which could challenge the pivotal role that HR and organisations play in the creation of new innovations. In conclusion, this chapter argues that instead of the HR function attempting to control knowledge, it should nurture it by utilising HR systems that create an organisational architecture that promotes, rewards and disseminates new knowledge, enabling organisations to respond to the hyper-competitive environments in which they operate.