Abstract
In this paper we explore the processes that create sustainable Knowledge Management (KM) programs. Much of the extant KM literature is advocacy or case description. There have been few attempts to look at success or failure as the result of the combination of endogenous forces that place KM in the context of the firm, and affect outcomes over time. This paper starts by describing a causal model that links a firm's staff and resources to the firm's ability to develop a knowledge repository, and the effects of this repository on the knowledge available to members of the firm. This model was developed through literature review combined with case study and 26 intensive interviews conducted at two international IT consulting firms. This model is formalized through the use of system dynamics simulation. It produces behaviors characteristic of successful knowledge management programs. Under alternative conditions, the model illustrates unsustainable outcomes. These outcomes are characterized by decay and marginalization of the knowledge management program. Knowledge management experts at one of the case study firms reviewed the results of the model through a set of structured interviews. Analysis of the interviews demonstrated that the model depicted plausible behavior for both the sustainable and unsustainable scenarios. This work contributes to the knowledge management literature by identifying and simulating the interaction between the knowledge-generating processes of the firm and its own dynamics. This simulation may be used to understand how knowledge management programs are embedded in the larger environment of the firm, and how that environment is in turn affected by the ability to manage knowledge successfully.