Knowledge about knowledge : knowledge management in organizations (original) (raw)
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Knowledge Management: The Darker Side of KM
2004
Knowledge Management (KM) has become one of the most discussed issues amongst academics and practitioners working in the information systems arena. The source of knowledge, the dissemination of knowledge, and the motives of the knowledge provider and knowledge seeker have received less attention in the literature than their significance warrants, both in terms of practical outcomes and in terms of ethical issues. This paper sets out to re-examine some of the foundations of Knowledge Management, to show that much of the current discussion -including by those who are critical of the conceptual basis of KM -neglects or underplays some otherwise well known aspects of the topic. The paper points to the more manipulative processes which characterise the darker side of KM. Why is it even necessary to explore the ethical dimension of KM? There exists shades of desirable and undesirable directions of the experience of KM, processes in need of a critical awareness. We cannot assume that however knowledge is interpreted, facilitated, conceptualised, or experienced, that KM processes will always have a desirable outcome. The first section examines the multidisciplinary foundations of Knowledge Management.The second section discusses 'relationship guidelines' for engaging with KM in organizations. The concluding part examines the issues raised from the previous discussion and relates these to the theme of ethics. The paper concludes that if the study of KM is to have an enduring future it must take a more holistic stance and recognise that its antecedents come from many more disciplines than those which are cited in its literature.
Knowledge Management as an Organizational Process
Tools and Methods
The current debate about Knowledge Management is not only divulged in recent publications and research works of mainstream authors from the field of business administration, but also from the library and information science, such as Davenport & Cronin (2000).
Knowledge management in organizations: A critical introduction
2004
This textbook provides a critical review and analysis of the key themes that underpin the subject of knowledge management in organizations. Adopting a thematic approach, Hislop presents the key debates and a wide range of perspectives in knowledge management. The book ...
Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Knowledge Management
Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications
The last decade of the 20th century saw the emergence of a new discipline within the realm of information systems, which became known as knowledge management (KM). As such, it has become one of the most discussed issues amongst academics and practitioners working in the information systems and human resource management arenas (Prusack, 2001). Amongst academics it has become an area of specialisation with research projects, journals, conferences, books, encyclopaedias, and numerous papers devoted to the topic. Businesses are investing heavily in buying or developing KM supportive systems. However, predominately researchers and practitioners in this area have tended to see (see for example, Alavi & Leidner, 2001; Baskerville, 1998): 1. consider the context in which knowledge management takes place as teams of knowledge workers in communities of practice, whose performance and the performance of their organisation, can be enhanced by knowledge sharing; 2. focus on the process—the creat...
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS
To better understand knowledge management requires that we first define what is meant by the term"knowledge." It is the result of a process that begins with data, which is a specific fact or figure that lacks context. Data organized to provide more context becomes information. Knowledge is the ability to take action based on that information. Knowledge management is essentially about getting the right knowledge to the right person at the right time. This in itself may not seem so complex, but it implies a strong tie to corporate strategy, understanding of where and in what forms knowledge exists, creating processes that span organizational functions, and ensuring that initiatives are accepted and supported by organizational members. Knowledge management is a process that transforms individual knowledge into organizational knowledge. s The aim of this paper is to show that through creating ,accumulating, organising and utilising knowledge, organisations can enhance organizational performance. The overall objective is to create value and to leverage, improve, and refine the firm's competences and knowledge assets to meet organizational goals and targets.
Knowledge management: Dispelling myths and finding directions
2004
Knowledge Management, a widely misused term, with a string of misconceptions attached to it, is our main target of this working paper. Here, we hope to identify some, if not most, myths associated with Knowledge Management, as well as delve into the reasons behind these myths and then find some possible directions / solutions, based on success stories among business organizations from various disciplines, to dispel them so that Knowledge Management can be utilized to its full potential. Our paper incorporates the myths in Knowledge Management and directions to dispel the myths so that Knowledge Management can be improved.
Internet-Based Organizational Memory and Knowledge Management
It is widely acknowledged that knowledge is one of the most important assets of today’s organizations. According to Davenport and Prusak (1998), knowledge is often a company’s greatest competitive advantage in a global economy. How to support the company’s knowledge-intensive work processes (e.g., quality support, product design or strategic planning) is therefore becoming a vital issue in many organizations worldwide. Identification, analysis and characterization of the knowledge-intensive work processes become essential in order to qualify a discussion of how to support knowledge management processes. This chapter presents, discusses and reflects upon findings from a study of how highly skilled actors manage information and knowledge, i.e., how information is gathered from a wide range of sources, structured according to needs and relevance for the users, and disseminated to the relevant suppliers in the organization. The aim of the chapter is two-folded: first, to contribute to t...
Introduction - The Essentials of Knowledge Management Introduction: Setting the Scene
2015
The activity that we now call knowledge management has been practised for thousands of yearsprobably ever since the first "organizers" in tribes or villages tried to think of ways to stop repeating the same mistakes. Coming up with new knowledge, sharing it with others, making sure it is retained for the future, refining it (learning from experience), understanding how to apply it and deciding when to discard it are all important parts of the human experience. Nevertheless it was only in 1986 that the explicit attempt to direct and combine these activities was given the name knowledge management, by Karl Wiig. Most of the work on knowledge management in the generation or so since then has been set in an organizational context, and that is the emphasis we take in this book. It is nevertheless worth bearing in mind that many of the principles of knowledge management apply at levels all the way from the individual (personal knowledge management) to nations or even (say) science itself. Knowledge management sits at the intersection of several disciplines, including organizational learning, computer science, human resource management, economics, psychology and strategic management. As a result, it is not very surprising that there is no single agreed view of what knowledge management is. 2 Indeed, some would go so far as to say that managing knowledge is not possible, and that the best that can be achieved is managing human "knowers." Perhaps the only aspects that everyone agrees on are that knowledge management is (at best) difficult, and that any knowledge management initiative in an organization has to be tailored to the particular context of that organization at that time. Knowledge management as a field acquired the status of a management "fad" in the mid-to late-1990s, with an explosion in the number of books and articles published about it, and it is fair to say that it has both benefited and suffered from this status. Nevertheless, unlike some other management fads, it has demonstrated its staying power, and is widely practised and studied worldwide today, even if not always under the precise name knowledge management. The aim of this book is to review the field of knowledge management with an operational research/management science mindset, encompassing both "soft" and "hard" aspects. This implies a holistic approach that gives a broader perspective than one based on any single viewpoint such as that of computer science or organizational learning. The various chapters represent the best knowledge management articles published in the 21st century in the journals Knowledge Management Research & Practice and the European Journal of Information Systems. All have undergone a rigorous double-blind review process, and the contributing authors include Ikujiro Nonaka, perhaps the biggest name in the knowledge management field, as well as others with equal reputations in associated fields such as George Huber (decision support) and Richard Baskerville (information systems). The contributing authors are based in nine different countries on four continents, showing the global nature of knowledge management.