Managing sustainability knowledge in the Canadian mining industry

This study was undertaken in order to identify and discuss KM techniques that are used to manage sustainability knowledge in the Canadian Mining Industry. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 sustainability executives in the Canadian mining industry. The findings show that few mining firms are reaping the full benefits of knowledge management in terms of codifying tacit knowledge, providing employees with the necessary resources to contribute to the organization's knowledge, retaining project knowledge, establishing KM roles and a KM strategy and monitoring the success of KM. The difficulties of managing sustainability knowledge as expressed by the firms interviewed in this study can be overcome by effective implementation of knowledge management. Effective implementation of knowledge management will need to be governed by top management commitment and the ability of the organization to make changes in strategic programs and adopting the necessary behaviors that facilitate KM.