Final Report

of

Review of Knowledge Management Practice in Oxfam in Ethiopia

SUBMITTED TO :

Oxfam in Ethiopia (OiE) GB Program Office

By:

Bright Research Consultancy P.L.C.

Tel: Mobile: 0911676186/ 0964424532

E-mail: abiyseyoum76@gmail.com
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

June 25 , 2022 Addis Ababa , Ethiopia

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Content Page

Executive Summary 4
I) Introduction 5
1.1.Background Information 5
1.2.Objectives 5
II) Research Methodology 6
2.1.Research Design 6
2.2. Primary and Secondary Data Collection 6
III) Findings of the Desk Review on Reports and Assessments of OiE 6
3.1. Knowledge Sharing Practices by Oxfam in Ethiopia 6
3.1.1. Management 7
3.1.2.Team Structure 7
3.1.3.Work Process /Practices 9
3.1.4.Team Cognition 10
3.1.5.Social Attributes 10
3.1.6.Tools and Techniques 10
3.2.Knowledge Management Challenges observed in OiE 11
3.2.1. Work Process 11
3.2.2.Team Cognition 12
3.2.3.Social Attributes 13
3.2.4.Technological Issues 14
IV) Primary Data Analysis and Discussions 15
4.1. Quantitative Data Analysis and Findings 15
4.1.1.Demographic Profile of Respondents 15
4.1.2. Knowledge Acquisition 15
4.1.3. Knowledge Sharing 16
4.1.4. Knowledge Application Practices 16
4.2. Qualitative Data Analysis and Findings 18
4.2.1. Knowledge Acquisition Practices 18
4.2.2. Knowledge sharing practices 19`
4.2.3. Knowledge Application Practices 20
Conclusions 21
Recommendations 22
References 23

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List of Acronyms

CAMSA Common Approach to Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Social

COVID-19 Accountability
Corona Virus Disease-19
Corona
FGD Focus Group Discussion
Virus
FTC Farmer Training Center
Disease-19
HPA Humanitarian Partnership Agreement
ICT Information communication technology
NGO Non-Government Organization
KII Key Informant Interviews
KM Knowledge Management
OCS Oxfam Country Strategies
OL Organization Learning
OPA One program Approach
OXFAM Oxford Committee for Famine Relief
MEAL Monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning
OiE Oxfam in Ethiopia
SLR Systematic Literature Review

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Executive Summary
In today’s knowledge based working system, organizations are expected to manage
their knowledge in scientific and well organized way in order to sustain their
competitive advantages since knowledge based view theory has identified knowledge
as what organizations dominate in their efficient performance. Learning Review of
OiE programs/projects was conducted in four main stages: inception; desk review,
data collection, analysis and writing of the Knowledge Management Practice
report. The desk review covered all the annual and semi-annual reports and
assessment papers that we obtained from OiE.

To achieve the purpose, the study employed primary and secondary data analysis
research design. We mainly used secondary data analysis method-Systematic
Literature Review (SLR) -for reviewing annual reports, assessments, policy
guidance and manuals that were selected after studying documents of Oxfam in
Ethiopia published over the couple of few years . Primary quantitative and
qualitative data were collected using structured questionnaire and interviews and
the gathered were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to
triangulate the findings of the desk review task.

Based on our findings we got from the systematic desk review, we have made the
following summarized conclusions: a) researchers have higher tendency to report
practices than challenges. b) Given our analysis, the reported knowledge sharing
challenges and practices are categorized under the six themes: Management, Team
structure, Work Processes/practices, Team Cognition, Social Attributes and Tools
and Techniques. The findings of the primary data analysis discloses that there is
an encouraging performance of KM practices though there is still a gap. Eventually,
the findings of the overall study were used as pertinent source of information to
prepare guidelines that help to establish knowledge Management and
Organizational Learning Center.

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 SECTION I. Introduction

1.1. Background Information

The purpose of CAMSA is to promote collaborative , effective , results-focused , and accountable MEL
practice and social accountability practices in Oxfam. The Oxfam international in Ethiopia (OiE) country
program follows CAMSA MEL minimum program Quality requirements to inform its approach to
program work both for staff and partner organization at country level. Since CAMSA has emphasized on
knowledge management and learning, Oxfam country strategies (OCS) has also given big focus for the
same to be implemented in the coming periods. In its OCS, it is planned to continuously improve its
programs and manifest its commitment to learning since learning is not a one-incidence task or episodic
processes, rather it is a continuous process.

The Oxfam program standards are made up of 11 standards representing the benchmark for Oxfam
programs to deliver high quality program and project cycle management and it is one of the program
quality standards among the eleven explicitly stated evidence-based learning. In its COP 2021/22, it has
explicitly mentioned that it will integrate continuous learning and improvement of its work with its
partners. Oxfam has planned to use One Program as part of its overarching approach for an ongoing
organizational learning and change, and commitment at all levels to develop and embed joined-up ways
of working.

In spite of the fact that Oxfam International in Ethiopia (OiE) has the above ambitions, there is a belief
that the actual implementation of the learning and knowledge management is so less that it is not
stipulated by the different documents mentioned above. And this is due to the different challenges it has
been facing.. There is a need to identify problems, analyze and retain the lessons learned from past
experience and make them available to all the teams so that they will utilize for future program
improvements and designing. The absence of focal point for knowledge management and learning
position is one of the challenges OiE is having. Hence, there is strong desire to resolve this challenge
before the upcoming March, 2022. OiE has the desire to harmonize its aspirations to become a learning
organization and the real practice it has at hand is also the drive that triggered the organization to pursue
and secure resources to ground contextualized learning processes.

1.2. Objectives

a. General Objectives:
 To analyze the connection, complementary and linkages among programs and realize the
One Program Approach (OPA)

 To become a better learning organization that effectively improve learning that impact
quality of services positively

b. Specific Objectives:
 To identify the organization‟s weakness and strengths in learning ( capturing, storing,
utilization)

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  To identify and explore the resources of OiE including staffs, budget, and partner
organizations‟

 To show the way to establish a strong knowledge Management center; to identify the
major components that are needed for the country office to establish knowledge
Management Center under the Program Quality and Learning unit

 To get inputs for establishing Learning and knowledge Management guideline

SEXTION II. Research Methodology

2.1. Research Design

This study used the Desk Review Research Design. A desk review was appropriate for this work because
data was collected from Oxfam in Ethiopia because desk review helps to capture reality in detail. Desk
Review not only helps to give details on real data but also helps to explicate the complexities in realistic
situations which may not be effectively captured through survey research.

2.2. Primary and Secondary Data Collection

This study will entirely focus on Oxfam in Ethiopia. Though the organization follows its own trend of
experience sharing activities through various trainings, workshops, symposiums and other organizational
events, , implementing scientific knowledge management and organizational learning system is quite
minimal. Hence, a need to investigate its past experience with desk review and primary data assessment
and establishing knowledge management center has risen.

There were two types of data used in this study i.e. Primary data which was collected using in- depth
interviews with open ended questions, surveys with structured questions and secondary data which
consisted of systematically reviewing the organization‟s experience of knowledge sharing practices and
its challenges. The desk review was done based on the reports and assessments of OiE.

SECTION III. Findings of the Desk Review on Reports and Assessments of OiE

3.1. Knowledge Sharing Practices by the communities of Oxfam in Ethiopia

Knowledge sharing is an organizational belief, behavior, culture or network, that shows the exchange of
knowledge, skills and experience among staffs and departments of the organization. It can also be defined
as an instrument that facilitates dissemination of knowledge within the organization

Knowledge management is the planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling of people, processes and
systems in the organization to ensure that its knowledge-related assets are improved and effectively
employed. For the first objective of the study which was to identify the organization‟s weakness and
strengths in learning ( capturing, storing, utilization), there is a need to scrutinize what the knowledge
sharing practices and challenges look like by the communities of OiE. A successful knowledge
management program needs to consider five areas: People, process, technology, structure and culture. In
order to get credible information on this, the areas of the desk review analysis focuses on six thematic
areas: Management, Team structure, work process/practices, Team cognition, Social attributes and
technology. These breakdown helps to see the status of OiE in knowledge management in a more

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elaborative and detailed presentation.

3.1.1. Management
Temporary Collocation

Organizing remote site visits vary in terms of duration, frequency and the stage that it takes place in
offshoring collaboration . Educative conferences with a bit longer duration create a situation of
experience sharing among the participants. This report (R1) stated , “ exchange visits might allow farmers
to get important information about their business, creating relationship and network as well as inspiring
them to invest more and expand business relationship and network as well as inspiring them to invest
more and expand business” . It is also reported in R11 that due to the training on SRHR influencing and
advocacy, partners project staffs‟ skills and knowledge increased as they developed relevant action plans.
In addition to this, they reflected their views on the evaluation forms. For instance, one participant
expressed about the vitality of an experience sharing forum saying “…previously I didn‟t clearly
understand about methods, tools and strategies of advocacy and policy influencing but now I understand
clearly what influencing and advocacy is about, and how I will do it ;and what my role and responsibility
are ,as well”. Hence, we understand that OiE uses knowledge sharing workshops to enhance individuals‟
understandings.

Sometimes the visits may last for longer periods of time, using the system of “rotating members between
sites” . Rotating roles between sites found to be helpful to promote domain knowledge in remote
location, as onsite members usually possess higher domain knowledge due to face-to-face interaction
with others (R1).In the context of active development, workshops with participation of stakeholders and
key development team members were crucial to build shared vision on project goals and management
aspects such as tasks, technology assumption and rules of engagement (R1, R2).

Incentives and Motivation

The reviewed documents reported that management‟s strategies could be very important for promoting
knowledge sharing and motivating people (R8,R2). This report (R8) has conclusions by the writer that
rewarding team members for sharing knowledge by using beekeepers award has motivated beneficiaries
to engage to the beekeeping sector and compute for better achievement .

These documents (R2,R8) contain suggestions about the importance of knowledge sharing transparency
by strategies such as identifying participants and estimating required time (e.g., for answering questions).
Transparency and planning could motivate team members allocating time to knowledge transfer activities
and deal with priorities (R8).

3.1.2.Team Structure
Flexible Communication Structure

Flexibility in communication structure facilitates knowledge sharing. Removing hierarchical hurdles

and enabling flat communication pattern can ease the flow of information at different levels. It assists
one-to-one communication between dispersed members and provides more opportunities to share tacit
knowledge through informal chats. This report (R6) underlined the benefit of having flexible

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communication saying, “ participants were asked to distill the learning from their groups into a priority
message in the form of a single paragraph , a tweet and a hash tag from offshore in order to deal with
difficulties of sharing and understanding requirement specifications”. In the manual (M1), emphasis is
given as it says higher understanding of requirements are practiced as follows: “due to access to
customer from offshore throughout the training, facilitators can print and/or write out on flipcharts and
paste around the training room to facilitate discussion around”. Hence, OiE has, somehow a good trend
of practicing this flexible communication structure though the frequency is lesser.

Clarifying Work Structure

Good clarification of the work structure could help smooth the flow of information between distributed
team members. In a study report (P11) it is clearly reported in a question form: “Who is doing what ?”
This results in that distributed teams with clearly defined roles and responsibilities experienced better
exchange of knowledge during project lifecycle and developed higher understanding of requirements

Defining work process helps the use of workflows to develop and distribute information in the form of
individual and team tasks. In the study report (P14), it is explained that “that involved proper
introduction of data collector, explaining the purpose of the baseline survey, how the information would
be used, the participant‟s voluntary participation and freedom to exit/refuse participation at any stage
without consequences”. Hence, one can easily understand that obtaining clear task responsibilities helps
to make decisions.

Using Boundary Spanning Roles

In this reviewed documents (R7,R6,R8) it is reported that a situation where an individual or an

organization crosses the boundaries of a social group in order to transfer the sharing knowledge bridging
communication gap by mediating language / culture. For instance, it is stated in a report (R7)that it is
very important to consider their daily calendar to identify the most convenient time and place while
organizing training for the farmer. This can be facilitating communication with the society through
creating an opportunity for farmers to share experiences from other trained farmers. It is one of the best
ways to transfer knowledge and skills(R7) . It is clearly stated in R7 as follows:

“ During community‟s perception - men are the ones who attend the training than women. (provoking
questions were also asked for men about their willingness and interest to send their wives when there is
training opportunities even specifically targeted for women; they innocently responded that they will not
send their wives). Community facilitator also ascertained that even though the project gives priority for
women, in most cases, women are not coming to meetings, training sessions, and sometimes in any
project activities, rather their husbands are represented. When we asked the men why they didn‟t send
their wives, they mentioned various reasons, like she is sick, she has delivered recently, and the like).”

Forming Virtual Communities of Practice

Forming virtual communities is another notable method for facilitating knowledge sharing among
scattered team members. (R6, R10, R11). It has been noted that such virtual communities are beneficial in
ensuring proper communication. In a report (R11), it states “Oxfam Ethiopia SRHR coordination unit
has facilitated a virtual meeting with the partner on year 3 annual work plan priority areas and planned
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activities; approach and budget related issues. Following this, the partner field team facilitated
sensitization workshop with project staff and community volunteers at the district level. ”

In addition to this, in order to share knowledge on specialized area , it is stated in R11 ” The knowledge
of SRHR among AGYW has been increasing as the project raised awareness on SRHR through peer to
peer education in and out of schools and radio programs during the reporting period”.

3.1.3. Work Process /Practices

Frequent Communication between Sites

Consolidating frequent interaction between distributed teams is a well-known practice to enable

knowledge sharing (R11,R9,M1,R8). According to these documents, the more communication individuals
have with remote members, the more knowledge they transmit to a remote site. A report (R11) raises
ideas that daily interactions in distant teams around functional and technical challenges be maintained.
They underlined the importance of ongoing communication and collaboration between different project
sites. It is stated in R11 clearly as :

“ The purpose of the workshop was to equip project partners and key stakeholders basic SRHR advocacy
and influencing skills and knowledge. The workshop was started with opening remark by Dr Gezehagne
Kebede, who is Oxfam Ethiopia Country Director. ”The purpose of this workshop was to promote
learning for partners and stakeholders on the tools and application of influencing and advocacy strategies
and success and challenges in advocacy initiatives in order to fully comprehend standards.

Joint Work between Sites

Regular joint meetings help circulate knowledge within a distributed team and maintain group awareness
on different aspects of projects. A report(R11) gives more emphasis on this mentioning “Oxfam HFHC
Project coordination unit also facilitated a series of joint project review meeting with the staff of PIE
and WE-Action on regular basis to discuss on issues including project revised reporting template;
CAT; midterm review and survey process and inter-webinar learning event etc. Following the review
meetings, action points were also drawn and follow up and support were also provided as well.”
These reports (R11,R9,M1,R8) have witnesses showing the vitality of organizing regular scrum
meetings with remote members help to synchronize tasks in distributed settings.

Our desk reviews (R10,R1,P2,P12) have evidences that Oxfam in Ethiopia uses techniques that promote
knowledge co-creation by focusing on tight collaboration between sites. In this regard, it was discovered
that involving scattered team members in all phases of a project improved learning by doing in the group.
In addition, we discovered a number of strategies, such as question-driven knowledge transfer, that allow
distant team members to work closely together and participate in knowledge co-creation.
Documentation
These reviewed studies (P11, P14) reported that there is implementation of codification practices for
explicit sharing of knowledge in Oxfam in Ethiopia . It has been reported in a study report (P14) that
systematic review and revision of specification had taken place in Oxfam in Ethiopia. These reviews
were eventually documented. It stated in P14, ” The systematic review was done to find out project
information and important project documents, relevant past reports and important secondary data that

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were made available and others that were accessible online.” These and all other reports that have been
prepared are documented at Oxfam in Ethiopia so that anybody interested to refer to them can have access
to them.

3.1.4. Team Cognition

Improving Team Qualification and Expertise

Our review has identified the practices that aim at raising team qualification to fill knowledge gaps
between dispersed team members and facilitate knowledge sharing. We found information in documents
(R10, P14) that emphasize formal training arrangements by organizations. For instance, it is stated in
(R10) , “training of relevant stakeholders on protection, GBV, humanitarian principles and women
rights in crisis” in order to have full awareness about their work. In a study conducted for Oxfam in
Ethiopia (P14), it is stated, “prior to field data collection, all the field teams (data collectors) were
trained on the basics of baseline survey” to emphasize utilizing highly qualified members in distributed
teams. ”. This shows that Oxfam in Ethiopia gives emphasis on improving team qualification and
expertise as part of practicing knowledge sharing.

3.1.5. Social Attributes

Social Ties (Trust and Rapport)

The reviewed papers emphasize a significant role for trust and reputation to facilitate knowledge sharing
(P12, R11, P13). Stronger social relationships, as opposed to documentation , enable faster information
flow, and individuals with higher credibility can convey a greater volume of knowledge to their trusted
network (P12, R11, P13).In a study report (R11) it is revealed that “An attitude of men and influencers
towards SRH is being positively changed as they are becoming supportive for the development of bylaws
that addresses SRHR issues” This report (P12) argued that trust (affective and cognitive) social ties
improve ability and willingness to share knowledge.

Team Cohesion

Team cohesion is crucial for collaborative and successful work. It is mentioned in two assessment papers
(P10, P12) as “ cohesion allows employees to work well together and feel they contribute to the overall
success of the group. Members of a scattered team can more successfully transfer bigger volumes of
knowledge and attain a better degree of comprehension with a shared identity (P10).

3.1.6. Tools and Techniques

Providing Groupware

While almost all the reviewed studies reported the use of different types of tools for supporting
knowledge sharing, we consider those studies that particularly referred to tools as knowledge sharing
practice. It is mentioned in some documents (P12, R8) that providing knowledge repositories was
beneficial in codifying and centralizing organizational knowledge so that it could be accessed by
distributed group members.

In a report (R8), it is expressed as “ the provision of technologies simplified DAs work, assisted them to
easily communicate farmers about improved agriculture practices and technologies that contributed to
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improved adoption rate”. Hence, we can understand that there is a practical knowledge that this
technology has a great potential for increased coverage and intensity of learning throughout the group.

Novel Techniques and Solutions

A few of the reviewed documents propose novel techniques and solutions to facilitate knowledge
sharing in Oxfam in Ethiopia(P11, R11,).This report ,(P11) proposes a framework for capturing and
sharing experiences of distributed team members. This emphasis was explained in this report (P11)
directly as “The applicant, represented by the undersigned, being the authorized signatory of the
applicant, and in the context of the present application, representing any co-applicant(s), members in the
proposed.”

The above trends are found to be practiced by OiE despite the fact that the frequency and extent of the
applications are lower in their regularity. There are no systems that are managed by separate group of
human resources where organizational learning can sustainably be going.

3.2. Knowledge Management Challenges observed in OiE

3.2.1. Work Process

Documentation Problems

In two of the reports and one assessment paper (R10, R11,P1) the negative impact of the lack of proper
documentation on sharing knowledge is highlighted. The use of Agile approaches and emphasis on tacit
communication could negatively impact producing and maintaining explicit knowledge. It is also
reported in R11 , “All the partner field staffs left their laptops and desk tops; hard and softcopy records
at the field office. Consequently, documentation and Compilation of field level project records including
change stories, reports, photos and etc. were quite being difficult”. This report emphasizes that
documents were inconsistent with fluid information, which caused misunderstanding for distributed
development teams locating accurate source of knowledge and poor information handling and
documentation was observed.

Shortcomings in Maintaining Group Awareness

Lack of awareness indicates breakdowns in sharing relevant knowledge between distributed team
members. Lack of awareness may stem from different reasons such as different organizational cultures
and shortcomings in communication and coordination mechanisms between sites . It can cause gaps in the
understanding of distributed team members from aspects such as changes during development,
dependencies of tasks and progress status . Even if this shortcoming among the staffs of OiE has not
been reported by any one of the reports and assessments, OiE has observed this problem among its
beneficiaries where it is working to alleviate poverty and injustice. It is reported in P13 as follows: “Low
mobility, time poverty, and weak social networks all contribute to women's relative lack of or reduced
access to information”. Hence, there is a need to investigate the occurrence of this challenge among its
staffs and stakeholders, too.

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Communication Challenges due to Distance

Knowledge sharing is challenging in due to well-known fact of “distance” . It is known that Oxfam
provided emergency food assistance for IDPs in Afar region. In a study that was conducted to assess
satisfaction of targeted beneficiaries on information access and food distribution process. It is reported
that about 93% of the respondent travelled at least for one hour to reach at the distribution site. Similarly,
about 79% of the beneficiaries got information about the distribution day from local leaders. Hence, it
clearly implied that distance is a big challenge for communication. If this fact exists out there in OiE
project sites, there should be a mechanism to resolve this gap between OiE and its project beneficiaries.
Due to distance, Oxfam project teams experience a limited time window to synchronously communicate
and collaborate with remote beneficiaries and filed workers (R10). Absence of means of communication
as a challenge is reported as follows: “Absence of means communication and independent radio
broadcasting throughout Tigray was a big challenge for information sharing on available services referral
pathway. Oxfam has focused on Printable IEC materials.” that distance does impact frequency and ease of
communication between remote colleagues to share knowledge about requirements .

3.2.2. Team Cognition

Knowledge gaps between sites are challenging to deal with. When the knowledge gap is significant , it
could impact effectiveness of knowledge sharing in terms of comprehensiveness and understandability.
We elaborate one of the challenges categorized under this theme.

Different Education and Level of Technical Skills

Knowledge gaps could be caused by technical knowledge imbalance between dispersed teams due to
different experiences and educational backgrounds . We found a report prepared by SIDA and Oxfam
itself (R10) being stated as follows: “There are few and partly functional health facilities giving GBV
services due to lack of trained professionals and medical supplies and equipment‟s “.Technical knowledge
imbalance could hamper quality of knowledge sharing due to the limited absorptive capacity of
knowledge recipients and lacking common ground to encode and decode exchanged messages .

3.2.3. Social Attributes

Fear
Social interactions play an important role in knowledge sharing. Lack of trust and rapport prohibit the
emergence of social networks and informal communication channels that are necessary for supporting
knowledge sharing. It has been clear that management‟s emphasis on globalization could have a negative
impact on the motivation and cooperation of local team members to share their skills with new comers, as
they felt unsecure because of Covid 19. Oxfam in Ethiopia poses difficulties during covid-19 prevalence
due to people‟s fear of getting sick and the adverse consequences of lockdowns (R10). There have been
many tangible changes in work arrangements. The number of employees working from home has
increased drastically, potentially counted as millions of workers globally who at least temporarily have
been working from home. This made the situation hard to transfer the knowledge.

Security problem and conflict were also barriers for proper knowledge sharing(R10, R11). It is
expressed in a report (R11) , “FAL centers were strengthened as different scholastic and stationary
materials such as chalk, duster, marker, flipchart, pen, pencil, and computer paper were procured for FAL

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participants at the centers. Due to the current conflict in the area, materials were not distributed in the
reporting period. Moreover, the project has been procuring field bags for the CV and project staff.”
Armed conflict often not only creates communication gaps but also leads to forced migration, long-term
refugee problems, and the destruction of infrastructure. Social, political, and economic institutions can be
permanently damaged.

Lack of Openness One of significant impacts of social issues on knowledge sharing can be lack of
openness and clarity of interactions between sites . That can be interpreted as feeling embarrassed to seek
inputs or share ideas that may reveal lack of skills (R1, R10)). Lack of openness inhibits the provision of
feedbacks and clarification of expectations between dispersed teams and can lead to misunderstandings
from requirement specifications . Lack of openness among the OiE beneficiaries is also reported in the
reports (R1, R10) as follows : “The number of GBV survivors is higher than expected as there are many
left in their homes facing various health and psychological problems without receiving basic services
due to fear of disclosing.” If this issue is given recognition, it should also be investigated among all other
stakeholders and staffs of OiE as it can happen everywhere.

3.2.4. Technological Issues

Some of the reviewed studies also reported knowledge sharing challenges caused by technological
problems. Two studies described the technological limitations inhibitors to knowledge sharing in Oxfam
in Ethiopia(P10, P13). In (P10), it highlighted the difficulties in sharing spatial knowledge in distributed
settings due to a lack of suitable tools for visualization and synchronous collaboration. Also, difficulty to
effectively use search functions for retrieving information from knowledge repositories for sharing
knowledge was also reported in (P13). Lack of infrastructure and technology is another challenge. This
study report ( P13) stated “A lack of adequate technology and infrastructure is another root cause of
unequal heavy UCDW load on women” which hinder the knowledge transferring techniques.

SECTION IV. Primary Data Analysis and Discussions

4.1. Quantitative Data Analysis for Knowledge Acquisition, Sharing and applicability practices of
Oxfam in Ethiopia

The following text presents the findings on the first objective of the study which was to identify the
organization‟s weakness and strengths in learning ( capturing, storing, utilization).The findings on the
practices, challenges and applicability of knowledge management at OiE community level are discussed.
In order to get these outputs, the opinions of the beneficiaries were gathered , analyzed and presented as
follows.

4.1.1.Demographic Profile of Respondents

Under this particular section of the study, background information of sampled respondents who are OiE
beneficiaries in terms of their sex, age, educational qualification and work experience has been analyzed
and interpreted.

As indicated in table 1 above, the demographic profile of respondents showed that, the proportion of male
was 31 (75.60%) which is greater than females respondents 10(24.390%). Concerning the educational

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status, more than three-fourth (80.5%) of the respondents are from grade one to twelve complete , 6 of
them (14.6%)are bachelor degree holders, and two of them (4.8% ) of them are second degree or MA
holders . Regarding their work experience, two (4.85%) of the participants have 8-11years of experience,
some 7 of them (17%) have 5-7years of experience , 6 of them ( 14.63%) have 12-16years , 21 of them
(51.32%) of them have 2-4 years of experience and 5 of them (12.2% ) have one year exposure to
Oxfam in Ethiopia.

4.1.2. Knowledge Acquisition

Knowledge acquisition is the process of extracting, structuring, and organizing knowledge from one or
more sources, and its transfer to the knowledge base and sometimes to the inference engine. Acquisition
is actually done throughout the entire development process. Thus, organizations can acquire knowledge
internally by tapping into the knowledge of its staff, learning from experiences and implementing
continuous process improvements (Nemani 2010) and in universities, trust, willingness, openness,
communication and collaboration predict successful knowledge acquisition (Dei Johnson2017).

With the conceptual and practical perspective mentioned above, major questions were forwarded for
study participants on Knowledge Acquisition Practices in Oxfam in Ethiopia. The table below shows
summarized opinions of the beneficiaries on Knowledge acquisition practices of Oxfam in Ethiopia.

As you can see in the table below, when the respondents were asked to give their opinions on the
statements if Oxfam uses its external knowledge in knowledge acquisition process, facilitates the
exchange of ideas and knowledge among its members, establishes mechanisms for acquiring of
knowledge from different sources of knowledge, its KM policy promotes KM practices, and it creates a
conducive environment for conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge, majorities of the
respondents ( 73%, 71%, 66%, 68%, 83%) agreed to the idea ; whereas 12%, 20%, 20%, 27%, 5% of the
respondents were neutral and 15%,10%, 15%,5% and 12% of them disagreed on the same issues,
respectively.

With regard to the statements raised to them if Oxfam uses its own mechanisms for conversion of tacit
knowledge to explicit knowledge; it has an open communication system that facilitates knowledge
acquisition; it has a cooperative culture that supports knowledge acquisition; it benchmarks other
organizations in its knowledge acquisition activity; and it rewards its employees who contribute in
knowledge acquisition, majorities of the respondents ( 78%, 76%, 80%, 66%, 76%) agreed while 17%,
20%, 17%, 29%, 20% remained neutral and 5%, 5%, 2%, 5%, 5% of them disagreed on the same
statements. Thus, as seen from the result above , Oxfam has initiated to acquire knowledge from its
employees and from its external sources by establishing different mechanisms and policies or procedures
as it is supported with aggregate mean score of 4.22 and 0.97standard deviation.

4.1.3. Knowledge Sharing

The respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed on the following statements about Oxfam:
Oxfam uses different mechanisms of Knowledge Sharing like internet technologies, teamwork, etc.; it
makes knowledge easily accessible to all levels of employees; it has various publications to display the
captured knowledge; it has a regular meeting for the purpose of knowledge sharing among its academic

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staffs; and it uses techniques like apprenticeship, mentoring and coaching in knowledge sharing process.
Majorities of the respondents (83%, 83%, 73%, 85%, 85%) agreed to the ideas of the statements; whereas
17%, 17%, 27%,15%,15% of the respondents were neutral and no respondent disagreed to the same
issues, respectively.

With regard to the statements raised to them whether Oxfam publicizes the works of innovative staffs via
internet, electronic magazines, etc. ; whether it has knowledge sharing policy and procedures that
promotes knowledge sharing activities ; whether it uses the existing virtual space like website-mail, etc.
to share knowledge among its employees; it uses open communication system; whether it has
standardized process in knowledge sharing . Majorities of the respondents (80%,98%,83%, 88%, 85%,)
agreed while 20%,2%,17%, 12%,15% remained neutral and no one disagreed to the ideas of the same
statements presented to them. Thus, as seen from the result below , the overall mean value of 4.54 and
0.740337929 standard deviation responses reveal that there is knowledge sharing practice as the Oxfam
encourages knowledge sharing processes and able to establish mechanism and knowledge sharing policies
and procedures that facilitates exchanging of skills and experiences throughout the Oxfam .

4.1.4. Knowledge Application Practices

Knowledge application is based on the ability of users to be aware of the value of new knowledge and use
it since effective utilization of knowledge will result in competitive advantage, improve efficiency and
reduce costs by promoting organizational innovation.

In view of the conceptual and practical view above and in connection, the researcher aimed to know the
practices of knowledge application of members of Oxfam communities . As a result, the beneficiaries of
OiE were asked to show their agreement or disagreement to the following statements with regard to
knowledge applications: 1)Oxfam uses its employee„s knowledge, skills, abilities in doing things their
regular activities ; 2)Oxfam apply the existing knowledge to ensure critical competitive needs ;3)Oxfam
used new created ideas in organizational process ; 4)Oxfam has different methods for development of
knowledge and its application ;5) Oxfam has a mechanism for filtering, cross-listing and integrating of
different sources and types of knowledge ;6)Oxfam apply lessons learnt for application of knowledge;
7)Oxfam actually used the created and captured knowledge for different interventions ;8)Staffs has an
awareness on Oxfam „s database(repositories); 9)Oxfam digital repository is accessible and easy to use;
10)Oxfam use different techniques of knowledge application. Majorities of the respondents agreed to
the above statements with percentages of 80%, 71% , 76%, 78%, 80%, 80%, 88%, 88%,98%, and 80%,
respectively; whereas the remaining 20%, 29%, 24%, 22%, 20%, 20%, 12%, 12%, 2%, and 15% of the
respondents remained neutral while only 5% of the respondents ( 2 persons) disagreed on the 10 th issue
that Oxfam uses different techniques of knowledge application.

Hence , in this study the aggregated mean scores of 4.37 and standard deviation 0.77 showed us that the
beneficiaries of Oxfam in Ethiopia view that OiE has a very good practice of the application of existing
knowledge through different techniques since the majorities agreed to the statements except smaller
variability of response. As explained by various researchers like McInerney and Koenig (2011),
knowledge application is a process that indicates the actual utilization of the knowledge in developing
new and improved services, management systems, techniques and procedures based on changes in clients„
needs and preferences.
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Table 1.Respondents opinion on Knowledge Acquisition and sharing Practice of the communities
of OiE

Levels of agreement
Items Agree Neutral Disagree
Fr % Fr % Fr % Mean St.Dv
No Knowledge Acquisition

1 Oxfam uses its external knowledge in 30 73% 5 12% 6 15% 4.05 1.09
knowledge acquisition process
2 Oxfam facilitates the exchange of ideas and 29 71% 8 20% 4 10% 4.21 1.08
knowledge among its members
3 Oxfam establishes mechanisms for acquiring 27 66% 8 20% 6 15% 4.07 1.17
of from different sources of knowledge
4 Oxfam KM policy promotes KM practices 28 68% 11 27% 2 5% 4 0.92

5 Oxfam creates a conducive environment for 34 83% 2 5% 5 12% 4.31 1.03

conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit
knowledge
6 Oxfam uses mechanisms for conversion of 32 78% 7 17% 2 5% 4.27 0.92
tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge
7 Oxfam has an open communication system 31 76% 8 20% 2 5% 4.17 0.92
that facilitate knowledge acquisition
8 Oxfam has a cooperative culture that support 33 80% 7 17% 1 2% 4.32 0.85
knowledge acquisition
9 Oxfam benchmarks other organizations in its 27 66% 12 29% 2 5% 4.17 1.02
knowledge acquisition activity
10 Oxfam rewards its employees who contribute 31 76% 8 20% 2 5% 4.27 0.95
in knowledge acquisition
Aggregate Mean and SD
4.184 0.995
Knowledge Sharing Practice
11 Oxfam uses different mechanisms of KS like 34 83% 7 17% 4.24 0.73
internet technologies, teamwork, etc.
12 Oxfam makes knowledge easily accessible to 34 83% 7 17% 4.36 0.77
all levels
of employees
13 Oxfam has various publications to display the 30 73% 11 27% 4.09 0.80
captured
knowledge
14 Oxfam has a regular meeting for the purpose 35 85% 6 15% 4.61 0.74
of
knowledge sharing among its academic staffs
15 Oxfam uses techniques like apprenticeship, 35 85% 6 15% 4.51 0.74
mentoring and coaching in knowledge sharing
process

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16 Oxfam publicizes the works of innovative 33 80% 8 20% 4.53 0.80
staffs via
internet, electronic magazines, etc.
17 Oxfam has knowledge sharing policy and 40 98% 1 2% 4.51 0.55
procedures
that promote knowledge sharing activities
18 Oxfam uses the existing virtual space like 34 83% 7 17% 4.58 0.77
website-mail,
etc. to share knowledge among its employees
19 Oxfam uses open communication system 36 88% 5 12% 4.58 0.71
20 Oxfam has standardized process in knowledge 35 85% 6 15% 4.51 0.79
sharing

Aggregate Mean and SD

4.545 0.74
Knowledge Application
21 Oxfam uses its employee„s knowledge, skills, 33 80% 8 20% 4.36 0.79
abilities in doing things their regular activities
22 Oxfam apply the existing knowledge to ensure 29 71% 12 29% 4.26 0.89
critical competitive needs
23 Oxfam used new created ideas in 31 76% 10 24% 4.39 0.86
organizational process
24 Oxfam has different methods for development 32 78% 9 22% 4.36 0.82
of
knowledge and its application
25 Oxfam has a mechanism for filtering, cross- 33 80% 8 20% 4.41 0.80
listing and integrating of different sources and
types of knowledge
26 Oxfam apply lessons learnt for application of 33 80% 8 20% 4.39 0.80
knowledge
27 Oxfam actually used the created and captured 36 88% 5 12% 4.65 0.69
knowledge for different interventions
28 Oxfam Staffs have an awareness on Oxfam „s 36 88% 5 12% 4.46 0.71
database
(repositories)
29 Oxfam digital repository is accessible and easy 40 98% 1 2% 4.36 0.53
to use
30 Oxfam use different techniques of knowledge 33 80% 6 15% 2 5% 4.02 0.79
application
Aggregate Mean and SD
4.37 0.77

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4.2. Qualitative Data Analysis and Findings

This data is obtained from professional staffs of Oxfam in Ethiopia who are project managers, project
experts , government officials who are stakeholders of Oxfam‟s projects, and ex-workers of OiE at the
level of country office as well as project offices.

4.2.1. Knowledge Acquisition Practices

Most of the FGD discussants mentioned that trainings, publication, workshops, managerial meetings,
site visits, timely identification of problems were stated as the most widely used knowledge acquisition
platforms and mechanisms; nonetheless, some of the study participants pointed expressed their concerns
regarding the limitation of the current knowledge acquisition practices. One respondent noted:

“Despite the efforts, there is a need to establish a more appropriate and modern knowledge management
system, including frequent monitoring and evaluation. ”

The most frequently mentioned challenges that hinder process of knowledge acquisition practices are:

 lack of budget

 infrastructure problems such as road

 lack of readily available information at the center

 shortage of focal persons at the center

 absence of frequent field visits for experience sharing

 lack of enhanced attitude towards the vitalities of new innovative ideas among the beneficiaries

 communication systems assisted by modern media technology is utilized at the level of

country program office only ; it should go down to project sites, too

 issues of tacit and explicit knowledge is not given special focus

 Lack of frequent assessment and evaluation to know how experience sharing trends are going

 Lack of conducive environment for information dissemination and learning

 Lack of smooth and more reliable communication system

 Lack of Benchmarking of other organizations

 Limitations of Communication technology media outreach executions of regular tasks

4.2.2. Knowledge sharing practices

Most respondents said that there is good coordination and smooth linkage between Oxfam's various
programs and projects in Ethiopia. To exemplify this issue, they reported that many capacity-building
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activities as means of knowledge sharing experience were conducted in the areas of operations, business
plan writing, and market linkage, etc. Some of them witnessed that there is a decent information-sharing
culture among programs and projects as well as between Oxfam and the local communities. They said
there is a strong trend of information exchange between SEPDA, AGRA, and Oxfam programs. Some of
these information sharing trends are:

 Training is given to farmers on all farm practices from production to harvesting and marketing.

 Information is shared among the regional technique committee, cooperatives, chamber of

commerce, ATA, and other stakeholders while meetings and public gatherings are held.

 Best practices are disclosed and shared among other farmers in the farmers‟ forums .

 Regular meetings, assessments, and appraisals of the activities

One of the respondents noted on this as follows:

“We were invited to Butajira town for training on PICS-bag technology. From the training we obtained a
lot of knowledge. The training helped us improve how we store agricultural yields and how to pack it with
PICS-bag and store grain products for longer period of time safely. So, this is an invaluable knowledge
that helps us a lot.”

On the other hand, some respondents who are staff members of Oxfam strongly disagreed with this idea;
and they insisted that there is no adequate knowledge sharing practice among the different programs and
projects of OiE. One of them said it is not that much encouraging, and she said it is a moderate
performance describing it as follows:

“No staff knows very well about projects of Oxfam other than their own projects. Communication among
staffs and stakeholders is better out there in the project sites, but not here in the country office level. ”

She continues saying:

“The most commonly used method of information sharing is email. Because most of us focus on our email
, we don’t even have sufficient time to share experience across the other programs and projects.”

The respondents highlighted certain challenges that should be addressed. One of them is the lack of
access to faster and reliable information in some areas of the projects. Because of these information
gaps, even improved seeds are not provided at the right time and season.

4.2.3. Knowledge Application Practices

Most discussants stressed that Oxfam in Ethiopia has been trying to apply knowledge management
through staff capacity building and different media communication approaches. This trend has had a
positive effect on the quality of services. For instance, the provision of financial analysis training helped
the office a lot to manage its income and expenditure at the FTC level. Most key informants affirmed that
farmers have got benefits from the training they took at Oxfam. They said that many householders have
become beneficial while newer technologies of have been introduced, such as using PICS bags for
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storing seeds, corn shelling machines, and „teff‟ sowing machines. They pointed out that the knowledge
they obtained made them achieve positive results. One respondent highlighted:

“Having been part of the AGRAA project, I became able to produce 20 quintals of corn; previously I used
to produce only 16 quintals on a plot of land (0.25 hectare.)”

Best practices learned in one intervention or area of work are transferred to other interventions without
too much delay. OiE is also promoting an accessible and easy-to-use digital repository and it is building
awareness of staffs on OiE 's database; nevertheless, some study participants emphasized certain gaps are
there in the knowledge application process. They said that there is a lack of well-trained experts and poor
application of inventory and inspection information for the timely provision of necessary items. For
instance, one of the informants pointed out:

“The teff thresher machine needs tire. We’ve asked repeatedly but obtained no response so far.”

Respondents mentioned the challenges on knowledge application practice such as shortage of budget, lack
of training, experience-sharing platforms. They said that there is a trend of holding training only for a day,
which is very short.

Most participants of the study agree to the idea if Oxfam in Ethiopia uses its employees‟ knowledge,
skills, abilities in doing things like annual plan, short –term plans, strategic plan , action plan and so on.
They stressed that OiE makes use of the employees‟ skills in the process of creating a situation where
experienced employees transfer their knowledge to the newly employed ones. One Key informant of the
study from Shashego woreda clearly pointed out that at all levels of Oxfam in Ethiopia projects , lessons
learnt in different mechanisms are shared among community members to practice knowledge application.
These lessons include theoretical, practical visit, display forum, demonstrations and so on.

Conclusions

Knowledge is considered as assets by Knowledge based view/ theory and its elements such as knowledge
acquisition, transfer and application as main attributes that can be used in strategic development of
services and work processes within knowledge intensive and innovative organizations .In this study the
researcher investigated the practices of Knowledge management and its effects on organizational
learning with the mediating role of intellectual capital. In order to achieve the research objectives the
researcher obtained data by doing desk review on annual reports and assessments of OiE and primary
data gathered from respondents where descriptive analysis and thematic analysis were made. Based on
the findings of both the secondary and primary data of the learning review of OiE, we can conclude: a)
there is a bit higher inclination among researchers of OiE to report best practices more than challenges
of knowledge sharing . b) Given our analysis, most of the reported knowledge sharing challenges and
practices are concentrated to the theme of “work processes/ practices”. c) The technology related
knowledge-sharing challenges are the least reported by OiE assessment reports; d) The contextual
information of OiE is not reported in the documents; hence, it was not possible to investigate the
potential relations between knowledge sharing /challenges and the contextual attributes of Oxfam staffs .
Most of the issues in the documented report are related to the project targets groups or beneficiaries, not
about the knowledge sharing trends among the staffs and stakeholders of OiE .

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Even if most staffs and stakeholders of OiE have better understanding on concepts of Knowledge
Management, there is a great gap in Knowledge Management practices (knowledge acquisition,
knowledge sharing and application). Even if OiE has policies and procedures that help to maximize the
acquisition, sharing and utilization of knowledge from both internal and external sources, there is a
weakness in creating conducive environment and open communication system that promotes the flow of
information and sharing of knowledge and also a deficiency in using the available resources like senior„s
tacit knowledge and experiences. The existing virtual spaces and websites are not used at its fullest
capacity for the purpose of knowledge acquisition and application since knowledge management and
organizational learning center has not been established by OiE.

Moreover, the researcher concluded that Oxfam in Ethiopia hasn‟t established the mechanisms and
administrative systems that promote collaborative , cooperative and regular organizational learning
culture which can upgrade the creativity and innovativeness of staffs and the use of available knowledge,
and newly obtained knowledge and research results can be sustainably used through establishing KM
and OL center. Even though OiE has well established ICT infrastructures and highly skilled senior staffs,
there is a weakness to use the available resources for effective Knowledge Management processes and
for maximizing the utilization of available knowledge to promote its innovation that help to achieve the
overall objective in a more scientific and sustainable manner.

Recommendations

1) The findings of the assessment have pertinent implications for the policies and practices which
can be drawn to improve the Knowledge Management practices of Oxfam in Ethiopia. Hence, we
would like to recommend OiE:

2) Implement techniques like apprenticeship, mentoring, and coaching in the knowledge-sharing

process to create an innovative organizational learning culture.

3) Promote an accessible and easy-to-use digital repository and build awareness of staff on OiE 's
database.

4) Needs to increase the size of publications of brochures, fliers , etc. so as to deliver valuable
messages to a greater number of peasants. The issue of publication should be treated separately
with a greater emphasis since transferring information is such a critical matter for any project to
be successful in setting outs its objectives and implementing the strategies.

5) Develop the culture of creating common platform where all beneficiaries, stakeholders and
concerned staff members gather to discuss about the issue of sharing knowledge , transferring
of pertinent ideas and work procedures , exchanging of information throughout the project
communities.

6) Should plan, devise and implement a more user-friendly system which everybody can
communicate and exchange ideas on the projects; phones and tablets can be used by beneficiaries
and stakeholders to communicate with the project focal persons . It is also vital to promo the use
of telephone number 6077 which gives information about the grain market.

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 7) Needs to emphasis on exploring knowledge sharing among its staffs and document it regularly
just like it has been doing vastly among its beneficiaries.

8) To have a well-established KM policies and procedures to develop and modify a policy

framework and procedures throughout the organization that encourages and promotes the staffs to
create, acquire, share and apply knowledge in improving the quality of the existing services it is
rendering now.

9) To apply open communication system so as to make all the staffs aware on the benefits of
knowledge sharing and methods used in knowledge sharing activities such as : R & D, mentoring
and coaching, circulars ,communities of practices, regular meetings, knowledge sharing boards,
E-learning, internal newsletter, technical conferences and seminars, etc. both on program and
project office levels which help to enhance knowledge sharing processes

10) Should take initiatives to establish KM and OL center by committing more financial resources
for training programs that improves the capacity of its staffs to use new knowledge, methods and
technologies. (This recommendation is linked to the second, third and fourth specific objectives
of the study. 8 steps knowledge management implementations and guidelines to establish KM &
OL hub has been prepared by the consultants and it will be submitted to OiE as separate
deliverables. )

11) Create a flexible and less procedural organizational learning structure that enhances the
development of intellectual resource of the organization.

12) Should be a pioneer to create collaborative and cooperative organizational culture by promoting
the participation of learners and all stakeholders in planning and assessing its activities.

13) Create awareness and capacitate all staffs to be more innovative in using ICT for KM processes,
and assign more skilled ICT workers to facilitate the utilization of ICT, as well as motivate the
staffs to share and contribute to this humanitarian organization in KM practices.

14) Introduce modern and current technology that fosters information dissemination; and
sufficient number of trained experts and professionals of information technology (IT) need to
be employed even at lower operation level of the projects. This is a pre-requisite so as to make
the knowledge sharing process attempt efficient and effective

15) standardize the practice of KM and OL across all the regions and its units where Oxfam in
Ethiopia is working.

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References:

1) Dei Johnson, D.G., 2017. Assessing knowledge management systems implementation in

Ghanaian universities (Doctoral dissertation).
2) McInerney, C.R. and Koenig, M.E., 2011. Knowledge management (KM) processes in
organizations: Theoretical foundations and practice. Synthesis Lectures on Information Concepts,
Retrieval, and Services, 3(1), pp.1-96.
3) Nemani, R.R., 2010. The role of computer technologies in knowledge acquisition. Journal of
Knowledge Management Practice, 11(3), pp.1-11.

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