Student Acceptance of Knowledge Management Systems: Evidence from a Canadian Business School

Abstract

This study investigates the factors affecting the perceived usefulness of and the intention to use knowledgemanagement (KM) systems by students. The research model posits that the intention to use KM systems inhigher education depends on perceived usefulness, perceived user-friendliness, organizational rewards, andcommunity of practice. A survey method was used to collect the data for the study. We used a conveniencesample consisting of undergraduate students enrolled in various business courses in a Canadian University. Thedata obtained from a sample of 120 students were initially factor analyzed to identify the relevant factors.Separate factor analysis was conducted for each of three types of measures – the independent measures, theintermediate measures, and the dependent measure. In order to test the proposed hypotheses, we employed themethod of multiple regression analysis. The findings suggest that organizational rewards and KM systemcharacteristics positively impact perceived usefulness, and that user-friendliness, usefulness, organizationalrewards, and community of practice are significant predictors of intention to use KM system. This analysisreveals that business schools need to focus on usefulness and practical relevance of knowledge captured inknowledge management systems. This is in line with the current debate in management education regarding theappropriateness of methods employed to teach business knowledge. Organizational rewards being a significantpredictor of intention to use KM systems corroborate the expectancy theory. Therefore, it is important forbusiness schools to communicate on the usefulness of their KM systems but also to encourage its usage throughdifferent incentives.

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