View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by International Burch University Journal of Economic and Social Studies Knowledge Management Processes in Thermal Hotels: An Application in Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey Ahmet Baytok Faculty of Tourism Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey
[email protected] Hasan Hüseyin Soybali Faculty of Tourism Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey
[email protected] Ozcan Zorlu Faculty of Tourism, Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey
[email protected] Abstract: This study aims to analyze Keywords: knowledge management (KM) Knowledge Management, processes in thermal hotels in Thermal Hotels, Afyonkarahisar province in Turkey. Afyonkarahisar. Within the scope of this research, the KM processes applied in thermal JEL Classification: D83, hotels have been determined through M15, L83. conducting questionnaire surveys. Descriptive analyses of hotel Article History managers’ views on KM processes Submitted: 06 Jun 2013 were presented. Also, discriminant Resubmitted: 25 September analysis was used to determine 2013 differences between participants’ Accepted: 22 October 2013 views based on their demographic characteristics. As a result of the study, it was found that thermal hotels highly apply KM processes. Knowledge creation is the most applied KM process among others. In Introductionaddition, it was found that informal communication should be encouraged in order to improve knowledge 159 sharing. Ahmet Baytok, Hasan Hüseyin Soybali, Ozcan Zorlu Knowledge is the main determinant of transforming business techniques and technologies into a competitive tool. Since competitors cannot benchmark or copy possessed unique knowledge, this fact makes the knowledge significant (Tiwana, 2003: 72). Thus, knowledge and knowledge management (KM) is one of the most important asset in business, and one of the most researched subjects in academic literature.