Knowledge Management

Human knowledge is a central factor in the production of goods and services. Knowledge management, which is now a distinct field with a philosophical perspective and an applied focus, began with work in many fields, including management studies, organization theory, communication, philosophy, sociology, and information science. Knowledge management is multifaceted; it involves a research field, a professional practice, and the social and technical systems that support them.

Working with knowledge implies understanding organizations as systems. Effective work demands the creation, sharing, and distribution of information as the raw material that individuals and organizations process into knowledge. Using knowledge requires individual and organizational learning and interaction. As actors in a system, human participants enable an organization to learn. Individuals share, improve, and effectively recycle existing knowledge.

Knowledge management develops systematic policies, programs, and practices to create, share, and apply knowledge in organizations. Social and technical systems support knowledge management by helping organizations to identify, select, acquire, store, organize, present, and use information for problem-solving, learning, innovation, strategic planning, and decision-making.

Knowledge management involves two parallel streams. The first stream is social. Philosophical, interpersonal, and organizational in perspective, it involves human dynamics, dialogue, and organizational learning. Such concepts as storytelling, communities of practice, reflective practice, and behavioral modeling characterize what is sometimes called a “person-to-person” approach to knowledge management. This approach employs both tacit and explicit knowledge.

The second stream is technological. Based on information technology and data processing, it uses information systems to harvest, gather, codify, and represent knowledge. Such concepts as data warehousing, data mining, knowledge mapping, and electronic libraries characterize what may be termed a “people-to-documents” approach. Because it is [Page 274]mediated through information systems, it is almost exclusively explicit.

Knowledge management is a consequence of the information society. In 1940, Australian economist Colin Clark classified economies as primary, secondary, and tertiary: Primary economies extract wealth from nature, secondary economies transform extracted material through manufacturing, and tertiary economies engage in service. In 1967, Daniel Bell built on this classification to describe three kinds of societies: pre-industrial society extracts, industrial society fabricates, and post-industrial society processes information. Bell argued that a significant change in the character of knowledge was taking place, with a professional knowledge elite developing to manage it.

Knowledge has always been a key factor in productivity. The earliest manufacturing took place millions of years ago, when homo habilis made the first weapons and tools. The search for productivity focused on scarce material resources and the challenges of understanding the physical world. All manufacturing was handicraft until the industrial revolution gave rise to mass manufacturing in the nineteenth century.

By the 1940s, a focus on knowledge became inevitable. The ideas of knowledge management have been emerging for several decades; for example, W. Edwards Deming's work in postwar Japan reflects the principles of knowledge management and organizational learning. Economists such as Harold Innis and Fritz Machlup have gained increasing importance, along with psychologists such as Abraham Maslow and sociologists such as Daniel Bell and Manuel Castells. The shift to knowledge management emerged in many places during the 1990s. Central figures include Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi in Japan, Mats Alvesson and Bo Hedberg in Sweden, George von Krogh and Johan Roos in Switzerland, Max Boisot in England, and Lawrence Prusak, Peter Senge, and Karl Wiig in North America.

...