On Knowledge Management (original) (raw)
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SA Journal of Information Management
Background: Knowledge management aims to improve organisational performance and it marks the beginning of organisational transformation. Most knowledge-intensive organisations engage and practise knowledge management without a full understanding of its benefits. A knowledge-intensive organisation is an organisation whose services and operations are heavily reliant on professional knowledge. The study, therefore, provides a solid understanding of knowledge management benefits, processes, infrastructure and barriers in knowledge-intensive organisations.Objectives: To understand knowledge management, its benefits, processes, infrastructure and barriers in knowledge-intensive organisations. The research objectives extend our understanding of knowledge management in organisations, identify and describe knowledge management benefits. Identification of the most important knowledge management process and associated infrastructure are among other objectives.Method: A survey was used to solve...
Knowledge Management Process: The Care and Feeding of Knowledge Workers
Successful organizations are often described as "learning organizations" composed of "knowledge workers" who continually learn and apply learning to changing situations as standard operating procedure. Knowledge management is a systematic and organized approach to making relevant knowledge visible and widely accessible so that learning can occur . Knowledge management includes identifying and mapping existing intellectual assets as well as creating new knowledge within the organization. To be successful, an organization's knowledge management process must be reflected in its culture, strategy, policy, and practice. A key challenge for purchasing and supply professionals is to develop common processes, procedures, and practices across individual entities such as business units, divisions, plants, mills, etc. One aspect of this challenge is capturing and transferring knowledge between and among these individual entities. For example, a team in one division develops an effective tool that never gets shared or used by other teams. Or, people in one location have no idea how individuals in another geographical location do things. Or, the company invests in knowledge management software, and fe w people use it. The development of a knowledge management strategy, process, and system helps to ensure that the knowledge that exists in one area of the company is captured, shared, and used by others. This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities of creating a knowledge management process.
Driving Forces behind Knowledge Management
2011
The business direction we call Knowledge Management (KM) has emerged over the last decades as a result of many intellectual, societal, and business forces. Some of its roots extend back for millennia, both in the West and the East, while others, particularly those associated with Cognitive and Information sciences, are quite recent. Globalization of business also plays an important role. Whereas KM has become a valuable business tool, its complexity is often vexing, and as a field, will still be under development for a long time to come. Significant changes in the workplace have already taken place, but changes to come are expected to be greater. As for other management directions, it is expected that KM will be integrated into the basket of effective management tools, and hence disappear as a separate effort.
Knowledge management: A strategic agenda
Long Range Planning, 1997
Knowledge can be seen as a key source of advantage. Its importance has been recognized for a long time. Some scholars have realized that information can create wealth. What is happening today is that there has been a qualitative change in the way in which vast amounts of data can be collected and communicated. The risk is of information overload. To help avoid this, a discipline is needed which can distinguish between data and knowledge, can find ways to reduce the overload and can organize itself.
Communications of the Association for Information …
Knowledge Management is an expanding field of study. In this paper we clarify and explain some of the terms and concepts that underlie this field. In particular we discuss knowledge and its related philosophies; how the sociotechnical aspects of organizations can assist in knowledge management and how communities of practice can thus be supported; how knowledge can be valued in an organization; and the idea of intellectual capital. We conclude that knowledge management is not an easy 'fix' to an organisation's problems. Implemented well it can increase productivity, improve worker collaboration, and shorten product development times. Implemented badly it may incur significant costs without delivering these benefits.
Handbook of research on knowledge-intensive organizations
2009
Knowledge management and knowledge-intensive work are two of today's hot buzzwords, though both already have a history of managerial usage. While some authors claim that knowledge is the most important organizational asset in contemporary society, others retort that much of knowledge management literature and practical solutions are just perfunctory and propagandist and many, if not most, managerial polices rely on manipulation of emotions and identity creation. This chapter aims to capitalize on this fascinating and timely research area. We want to present the current business fad of knowledge-management in terms of excess and forgetful repetition of ideas. We look at knowledge management as an idea of highly suspect utility, and search for explanations for and possible counterbalances to its ubiquity.
BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES,
2021
The article shows that the main value of knowledge in business is productive internal exchange of opinions and reasoned decision-making. A distinction between the spheres of using free access and structuring knowledge within the technological approach of knowledge management organization was made. The advantages of free access were highlighted, namely, the autonomy of work processes, ease of implementation and the ability to work in conditions of uncertainty, as well as such disadvantages as the lack of performance indicators and possible reduction in work efficiency. Attention was focused on the fact that despite the increase in productivity and transparency of work processes, there is significant resistance from employees when structuring knowledge. To overcome the limitations of the technological support model, it was proposed to consider the possibility of creating an internal knowledge market that requires the definition of pricing, exchange mechanisms and competition between suppliers. The role of standards, protocols and rules as a deterrent for buyers and sellers in the domestic knowledge market was considered. The broker model in knowledge management was analyzed, which involves active cooperation with suppliers, customers and functional business networks. The analysis of the benefits of knowledge management based on social technologies, namely, the creation of content, a searchable archive, as well as limitations in the form of complexity and duration of the process of transformation was provided.
Knowledge Management: An Emerging Discipline Rooted in a Long History
Knowledge Horizons, 2000
The business direction we call Knowledge Management (KM) has emerged over the last decades as a result of many intellectual, societal, and business forces. Some of its roots extend back for millennia, both in the West and the East, while others, particularly those associated with Cognitive and Information sciences, are quite recent. Globalization of business also plays an important role. Whereas KM has become a valuable business tool, its complexity is often vexing, and as a field, will still be under development for a long time to come. Significant changes in the workplace have already taken place, but changes to come are expected to be greater. As for other management directions, it is expected that KM will be integrated into the basket of effective management tools, and hence disappear as a separate effort.