Abstract:
The study cross sectional in nature was conducted at Uganda Management Institute and Tanzania Civil Service College. A total of 109 out of the total population of 176 representing a 62% response rate of both training and senior administrative staff were interviewed using a semi- structured questionnaire that was administered over a period of one week. Data was analyzed using factor and reliability analysis and multiple regressions. The results revealed that knowledge acquisition, knowledge evaluation and knowledge application do affect some elements of performance namely internal processes, staff satisfaction, and customer focus. Surprisingly the results showed that when more knowledge is acquired from outside the firm boundary and staffs knowledge evaluated, staff get demoralized and become less motivated subscribing to the old saying that knowledge is power. Prompted by recent critics on MDI’s performance and aware that MDI’s are in the knowledge industry and employ knowledge workers, the need to establish the relationship between KM strategies and performance was justifiable. Implications are that MDI’s should focus more on individuals’ tacit knowledge that is difficult to articulate and document and adopt management strategies that identifies where knowledge that will create greater business value resides, how it can be tapped and extracted from individuals who hold it and how it can be shared in the form of reliable information through learning and innovations. The results are comparable to international findings and a number of theoretical, policies, managerial implications are presented.

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Muhenda, Mary Basaasa; Lwanga, Elizabeth Kawuma; Wanderage, Agatha (2009). Knowledge management strategies and performance improvement in management development institutes: empirical findings from the Ugandan and Tanzanian context. Research paper