Influence of Task Complexity in a Banking Technology Project on Knowledge Transfer among Kenyan Commercial Banks

Abstract

Effective knowledge management enhances sustainable competitive advantage of organisations. Influence of task characteristics on task-based knowledge transfer has not received adequate attention from academic researchers. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of task complexity on knowledge transfer in banking technology projects among commercial banks in Kenya. The indicators of task complexity construct used in the study include decision making complexity, sensitivity to changes, task variability, task overlap complexity, uncertainty in resource requirement, and misapplication of knowledge complexity. The target population comprised of the 43 commercial banks which are licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) under the Banking Act (Cap. 488).   A quantitative research methodology involving explanatory survey was used in the study to achieve the study objectives. Using census, all the 43 commercial banks were surveyed. Stratified sampling technique was used to target 240 respondents from the 43 commercial banks' management employees. The target respondents were management employees who have participated in a project to implement any kind of banking technology. According to CBK (2015), there were 10,310 management employees in Kenyan Commercial Banks in the year 2015. Quantitative data was collected from the 126 respondents, sampled from all the registered commercial banks. Quantitative data analysis techniques such as descriptive statistics, inferential analysis, linear regression and multiple regression modelling were applied to the quantitative data using IBM SPSS Statistics 2015. To test the hypothesis and measure the strength of linear or multiple association of study variables, the Pearson Coefficient was be used to test the significance of the predictor variable to the dependent variable at 95% level of confidence. The t-test was applied on the regression model at 95% level of confidence. The decision to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis was based on the significance of coefficients (p < 0.05) of the predictor variable in the fitted regression model. The study findings show that there is a strong, positive, direct and significant relationship between task complexity and knowledge transfer in banking technology projects among Kenyan Commercial Banks.  Therefore, this study concludes that task complexity is good measures of knowledge transfer in banking technology projects among Kenyan Commercial Banks. The study recommends that in the banking technology projects, complexity of banking technology project tasks should be addressed by managers by way reducing by having complex tasks split into smaller simpler tasks, availing experts during task performance, identifying knowledge sources that would simplify complex tasks, enhance collaboration, codification of task-based knowledge of complex tasks etc. This recommendation was directed to all commercial banks in Kenya as they continue to implement various banking technology and innovations aimed at enhancing their competitiveness in the banking industry. The study suggests further research on other task characteristics variables such as task structure, task interdependence, task significance etc in varying environment or context to assess their relationship with knowledge transfer towards their inclusion in the task-based knowledge management theories and practice.