Alavi and Leidner (1999) surveyed 109 executive participants in an executive MBA program on their perceptions of KMS activity within their firms and what they felt was needed for a successful KMS. Three perspectives for knowledge management – an Information-based, a Technology-based, and a Cultural-based perspective were identified.  Findings from the research included 1) knowledge management systems are multi-faceted; 2) developing metrics is essential to assess the benefits of KMS; 3) it is important to have an integrative technology architecture in place that can support database, communication, and search and retrieval functions; and 4) organizational and cultural issues associated with user motivation to share and use knowledge are the most significant.