Knowledge Management An Introduction
Knowledge Management An Introduction
Volume 8 Issue 5, Sep-Oct 2024 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470
INTRODUCTION
The ability to manage knowledge is now very crucial determine what is useful and that which is not. A
as we are in a knowledge-based economy. In the great organization is one that learns, remembers, and
1950s, about half of all workers in industrialized acts according to the best available information,
countries were making or helping to make things, but knowledge, and processes. The two key factors in
in the 2000s only a small percentage of all workers competitiveness are the ability to: 1) create and, 2)
were dedicated to industrial work. This is due to the diffuse knowledge. Therefore, the ownership of
fact that as the demand for knowledge work knowledge as well as the ability to use the knowledge
increases, so does the complexity of the management to create or produce goods or services is what defines
of this knowledge. Furthermore, knowledge is being a successful organization [2].
viewed as a commodity or an intellectual
HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
property/asset, but there exist some paradoxical
Knowledge management (KM) efforts have a long
characteristics of knowledge that are radically
history, which include on-the-job discussions, formal
different from other valuable commodities, such as:
apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries,
Using knowledge does not consume it.
professional training, and mentoring programs [3-5].
Transferring knowledge does not result in losing
The increasing use of the computers in the second
it.
half of the 20th century has led to the specific
Knowledge is abundant, but the ability to use it is adaptations of technologies such as knowledge bases,
scarce. expert systems, information repositories, group
Much of an organization’s valuable knowledge decision support systems, intranets, and computer-
walks out the door at the end of the day [2]. supported cooperative work to further enhance such
However, with the advent of the Internet, we have efforts [3].
access to unlimited knowledge, but we need to
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The term “personal knowledge management” was knowledge creating company: How Japanese
introduced in 1999, which refers to the management Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation,” then
of knowledge at the individual level [6]. In the was knowledge management given more attention.
enterprise, the early collections of case studies By mid-1990s many companies then began to realize
recognized the importance of knowledge management a competitive edge as a result of increased company
dimensions of strategy, process and measurement [7, knowledge assets. The end of the 1990s was said to
8]. Some very important lessons learnt include people be the phasing out of the total quality management
and the cultural norms that influence their behaviors (TQM) and business process re-engineering
are the most critical resources for successful initiatives and the implementation of knowledge
knowledge creation, dissemination and application; management solutions [9]. According to O’Leary,
cognitive, social and organizational learning KM is defined as the “Organizational efforts designed
processes are essential to the success of a knowledge to: (a) capture knowledge; (b) convert personal
management strategy; and measurement knowledge to group-available knowledge; (c) connect
benchmarking and incentives are necessary/essential people to people, people to knowledge, knowledge to
to accelerate the learning process and to drive cultural people, and knowledge to knowledge; and (d)
change [8]. measure that knowledge to facilitate management of
Furthermore, the history of knowledge management resources and help understand its evolution” [9], as
(KM) is brief because it is a relatively new discipline shown in Figure 4.
that started in the 1970s due to papers published by FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
management theorists like Peter Drucker and Paul The three forms of knowledge are [2]:
Strassman, based on how information and knowledge 1. Explicit knowledge: This is information in
could be used as valuable organizational resources, as tangible form such as books, newspapers or
shown in Figures 1 and 2. Dorothy Leonard-Barton of articles.
Harvard Business School also contributed 2. Implicit knowledge: This does not originate in a
significantly to the development of the theory of KM tangible form, but can be transferred into tangible
and the growth of its practice. form, such as the dictation of a speech or an
Late 1970s was when Everett Rogers at Stanford and experience.
Thomas Allen at MIT, pioneered studies on 3. Tacit knowledge: This is information that is
information and technology transfer that led to a difficult to capture in a tangible form such as
better understanding of many facets of organizational someone’s perception of an experience or a
knowledge cum the usage of computer technology to feeling after a big event.
store this knowledge, as shown in Figure 3. In 1978, The field of KM mostly relies on explicit knowledge,
Doug Engelbert introduced knowledge management also called formal or codified knowledge. Implicit
system (KMS) which was named “Augment,” an knowledge is the practical application of explicit
early hypertext/groupware application system that knowledge – which is the best practices and skills that
interfaced with other applications and systems. are transferable from job to job, and the best way to
Another KMS introduced by Rob Acksyn and Don perform a task with results. Implicit knowledge can
McCraken, in the 1970s and before the world wide eventually become explicit or tacit or both.
web, was called the Knowledge Management System.
KM is a continuous cycle of three processes:
In the 1980s came the increased understanding of 1. Knowledge creation and improvement
how knowledge served as a competitive 2. Knowledge distribution and circulation
organizational asset, while many companies have not 3. Knowledge addition and application.
strategized to incorporate the knowledge concepts and
The success of any organization depends on how it
how to effectively manage organizational knowledge.
continually reinvents itself, and while employees
Despite all these, theorists like Peter Drucker,
should know how to access and share knowledge
Matsuda and Sveiby have written a lot about the
within the organization. Learning from the past will
knowledge worker, resulting in the concepts of
lend credence to enhance future performance. Some
knowledge acquisition, knowledge engineering, and
common KMS are:
knowledge-based systems.
Cross-training programs
It was during the 1990s that KM began to grow to Content management systems (CMS)
become a major focus in many local and global Documented management systems
companies. With the publishing of the book by Chatbox
Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi titled, “The Social networking tools
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THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE fact they are comfortable with the old ways of doing
MANAGEMENT things and do not want to adopt another tool or
Poor knowledge-sharing practices is said to have cost process into their workflow (i.e. resistance to change).
Fortune 500 companies about $31.5 billion dollars It therefore follows that to attain success, the
annually. This is also coupled with a survey published company must create a company culture that
in the book, Critical Knowledge Transfer, it was prioritizes knowledge sharing as very crucial. The
estimated that losing a key employee can carry with it overall goal of KM should be to drive positive
a knowledge-related cost of up to $1 million dollars business and employee outcomes [2].
per employee. Furthermore, when employees quit and
KM TECHNOLOGIES
retire, they take with them decades of company
Knowledge management technology can be
knowledge. Where the organization may even train
categorized into [5]:
those that replace them, the departing employees are
1. Collaborative software (Groupware).
never able to pass on everything, because much of
2. Workflow systems
their knowledge is tacit knowledge. Computer hard
3. Content management and document management
drives can fail, and devices can be stolen too. In
systems
transferring tacit information, some people are better
4. Enterprise portals
at it than others. Therefore, knowledge management
5. eLearning
is important, because of these situations [1, 2], as
6. planning and scheduling software
shown in Figures 5 and 6.
7. Telepresence
Some of the benefits of knowledge management are 8. Semantic technology such as ontologies
that [10]:
KNOWLEDGE RETENTION
It helps to encourage a culture of collaboration,
Knowledge retention, as a part of knowledge
allowing employees to share expertise and ideas,
management, helps in converting tacit form of
and work towards common goals.
knowledge into an explicit form. This is a complex
Access to organized knowledge and information process which aims to reduce the knowledge loss in
helps employees work more efficiently, avoiding the organization [11], and the loss of intellectual
duplication of effort and making better-informed capital [12]. Knowledge retention strategies are
decisions. divided into four major categories which are [13]:
Employees feel empowered and engaged in their Human resources, processes and practices
work, and experience a sense of fulfillment Knowledge transfer practices
leading to employee retention. Knowledge recovery practices
Information technologies used to capture, store
It enables faster problem-solving and the and share knowledge.
generation of innovative ideas, leading to
improved solutions and competitive advantage. KNOWLEDGE AUDIT
Knowledge audit is the comprehensive assessment of
Having access to accurate and up-to-date an organization’s knowledge assets, including its
knowledge supports informed decision-making at explicit and tacit knowledge, intellectual capital,
all levels of the organization. expertise, and skills. This helps to identify the
It promotes a learning culture within the organization’s knowledge strengths and gaps, and to
organization, fostering continuous learning and develop strategies for leveraging knowledge to
professional development. improve performance and competitiveness, thereby
It ensures that valuable information is not lost enhancing organizational effectiveness and efficiency
when employees leave or retire, preserving [14].
critical knowledge for future use. Knowledge auditing is the examination of what
It effectively streamlines processes, leading to people in an organization know, how well they know,
cost savings and reduced errors. and how they share that knowledge; and when there is
no clear structure for sharing information within an
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT GOAL organization, people start working in isolation,
A major hurdle in the implementation of a knowledge resulting in “information silos” and work duplication,
management system is getting employees to embrace leading to inefficiency and wasted productivity. The
it. This is as a result of fear that sharing their four components of a knowledge audit are as follows
knowledge will reduce the value that they provide and [15]:
put their jobs at risk, and/or that a new system will 1. Knowledge needs analysis.
take up too much of their time. This tantamount to the 2. Knowledge inventory analysis.
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3. Knowledge flow analysis, and Inadequate protection.
4. Knowledge mapping.
BARRIERS TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
KNOWLEDGE PROTECTION Knowledge management effort can fail due to a
Knowledge protection is the behaviors and actions number of reasons. It usually starts with a “people
taken to protect the knowledge from unwanted problem.” According to the American Productivity &
opportunistic behavior for example appropriation or Quality Center (APQC) research, the biggest barriers
imitation of the knowledge [16]. Knowledge that hurt KM implementations are awareness, time
protection is used to prevent the knowledge to be and culture. This is because people are not aware of
unintentionally available or useful for competitors, the tools and the approaches available to them, nor
which could be in the form of a patent, copyright, have (or make) time to participate, or unwritten rules
trademark, lead time or secrecy held by a company or and assumptions that make KM participation difficult
an individual [17]. or unappealing [23]. Other challenges include
Knowledge protection methods could be: formal unsupportive technology, resistance to change,
protection, informal protection, and semi-formal duplicate or false information, and lack of
protection; and organizations could use a combination management contribution
of formal and informal knowledge protection methods According to a KM research in Indian manufacturing
[18]. industries, 30 enablers and 25 barriers were identified
The balancing of knowledge protection and and ranked on the basis of questionnaire-based survey
knowledge sharing is said to be a critical dilemma – this indicated that “team building and knowledge
faced by organizations today. Knowledge sharing can variety”, “employee knowledge”, and “knowledge
lead to innovation, collaboration, and competitive integration” as the most important enablers and
advantage, protecting knowledge can prevent it from “pressure for conformity”, “issue of common
being misused, misappropriated, or lost. Finding the language required to integrate complex knowledge”,
right balance between knowledge sharing and and “employee turnover” as most important barriers
knowledge protection is a complex issue that requires [24].
a nuanced understanding of the trade-offs involved CONCLUSION
and the context in which knowledge is shared or As crucial and important knowledge protection is to
protected [19, 20]. Information security is essential in the promotion of innovation, creativity and efficiency
helping organizations protect their assets whilst still to organizations, it also has some risks. Some of the
enabling the benefits of information sharing. Despite risks are overprotection, misappropriation,
implementing effective knowledge management infringement claims, and inadequate protection. All
strategies, organizations can protect valuable necessary steps must be taken to protect intellectual
intellectual property while also encouraging the property of individuals and organizations, but should
sharing of relevant knowledge across teams and as well consider the potential risks and benefits of
departments [19]. such protection.
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