Knowledge Management and Dissemination in Digital Age: Situations of Private Universities Lecturers in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Knowledge is an aftermath of information rightly conceived. The process of managing and disseminating information in a digital world is a radical departure from what was obtainable in the years past before the advent of information and communication technology where almost everything done were manually handled. This study was designed to investigate the situation of private Universities in Ogun State, Nigeria in the area of knowledge management and dissemination in digital era. The population of the study comprised the academic staff and undergraduate students in the private universities. Descriptive survey design was employed for the study and three private Universities were selected for the study. A sample of 300 lecturers was drawn from the population using simple random sampling technique. A self-developed questionnaire “Knowledge Management and Dissemination Questionnaire (KMDQ)” was used for data collection with correlation coefficient (r) of 0.76. Four hypotheses were tested in this study at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed a significant relationship between knowledge generation and knowledge utilization. There is significant relationship between knowledge codification and knowledge utilization. There is significant relationship between knowledge sharing and Knowledge Ut i l izat ion. There is significant relationship between knowledge dissemination and knowledge utilization. In conclusion, the advent of digital era ushers in information explosion where unlimited information is circulating around the globe; hence there is need for proper management and dissemination of knowledge in this age. In essence, members of the academic communities require appropriate skills to be able to right information manage and disseminate knowledge properly and appropriately especially in this age of knowledge proliferation. The study therefore recommended among others that, Universities should embrace the application of knowledge management processes coupled with digital initiatives in enhancing educational activities for improved delivery. Management and teaching staff should be trained and effectively monitored in acknowledgement and application of the digital knowledge management
processes.