Knowledge Management Across Boundaries in the Justice system: A Case Study in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The success of an organisation depends mainly upon how it manages the knowledge within its boundaries as well as with other organisations. Knowledge management particularly knowledge sharing and integration in the judicial context have, however, not received as much attention as other sectors such as health, education, and manufacturing sectors. The purpose of the study is to therefore, contribute to the field of knowledge management within the justice system of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) by investigating issues of knowledge sharing and integration in the Saudi justice system. To accomplish this, a qualitative approach was employed to collect and analyse data from twenty-five interviews with presidents/judges of the courts of first instance (COFI), deputy ministers, general directors, IT staff from the Ministry of Justice–Saudi (MOJS), and the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). These institutions, which are used as case studies have distinctive approaches to knowledge, technology, and management. The data gathered was analysed using thematic analysis The study identified that the Saudi justice system formally practices an information-centred approach to knowledge sharing and integration through its use of E-system and business intelligence dimensions. The Saudi justice system also employs a learning-centred approach, based on its ‘research centre’, ‘official training’, ‘review and feedback networks’ and ‘collegial interaction’ dimensions. However, knowledge sharing and integration between courts and at interpersonal levels can be challenging. This is because the success of knowledge sharing, and integration can be undermined by a barrier like knowledge hoarding where the knowledge accumulating and justified by obstacles that surrounding the perceptual, physical, and interpersonal boundaries. Another issue relating to success are the training governance and IT readiness across inter-agency boundaries. Consequently, such barriers and boundaries are likely to have a great impact on the success of those projects. The study also identified the importance of ‘facilitators’ – factors in knowledge sharing and integration : Saudi vision 2030, Business process re-engineering (BPR), and the memorandums of understanding during the COVID 19 pandemic. The study culminates in the creation of a model that outlines the boundaries and enablers for sharing and integrating legal knowledge, and it proposes that Saudi legal organisations use the model to better understand the conditions and elements surrounding the knowledge boundaries as well as the enablers that can provide insights into how the flow, sharing, and reuse of knowledge can be successful.