A Development Model of Knowledge Management for The Readiness of Small and Medium Enterprises in Thailand to Enter the ASEAN Economic Community

Abstract

     The objectives of this study were 1) to examine the level of knowledge management and readiness for the ASEAN Economic Community of small and medium enterprises in Thailand; 2) to study the causal relationship of knowledge management regarding the readiness to enter the ASEAN Economic Community of small and medium enterprises in Thailand; and 3) to develop a knowledge management model for the readiness to enter the ASEAN Economic Community of small and medium enterprises in Thailand. This present survey research applied questionnaires to collect the data. The descriptive statistics used were frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. A hypothesis-testing procedure and structural equation model were also implemented.

     The results showed that small and medium enterprises in Thailand had a low level of knowledge management and readiness to enter the ASEAN Economic Community. The subjects of this research were found to have low scores on knowledge assessment and improvement, knowledge utilization, and knowledge sharing and obtained the lowest scores on knowledge codification and knowledge creation. With every knowledge management process, a low level of readiness in terms of entering the ASEAN Economic Community was shown. Considering the readiness for the ASEAN Economic Community of small and medium enterprises in Thailand in terms of knowledge management, it was found that all knowledge management processes, including knowledge creation, knowledge codification, knowledge sharing, knowledge utilization, and knowledge assessment and improvement, had a causal relationship with this readiness at a statistical significance level of 0.05. The developed knowledge management model however fit the empirical data and was able to predict readiness to enter the ASEAN Economic Community of small and medium enterprises in Thailand at an acceptable level of 75.2%.