CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS IN IMPLEMENTING A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROJECT IN A MICRO SOFTWARE COMPANY

Abstract

Software companies are recognized as knowledge-based organizations because their employees solve creative and innovative tasks by using recent technologies. The main challenge for these companies is how to manage knowledge as the main asset in their business. This becomes even more important for micro software companies due to their recognized constraints in budget, human resources, workspace and working resources, and timelines. Critical success factors, as an indicator of management planning to achieve effective business performance, have been widely used to analyze projects' performances in software engineering. This paper presents an analysis of the critical success factors identified in implementing a knowledge identification and systematization project in a local micro software company in Serbia. After presenting a lightweight inductive method for knowledge identification and systematization that was implemented in a selected micro company, critical success factors were determined and discussed. Based on the discussion of critical success factors, lessons for further knowledge management projects are drawn. In addition, benefits for the selected company, as well as implications for the software industry and academic researchers are discussed.