Knowledge
Management
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Knowledge Management
 Knowledge management (KM) is
a process that helps organizations
identify, select, organize,
disseminate, and transfer important
information and expertise that are
part of the organization’s memory.
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Data, Information & Knowledge
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Knowledge Management
 Knowledge is information that is
contextual, relevant, and actionable.
 Tacit knowledge is usually in the
domain of subjective, cognitive, and
experiential learning.
 Explicit knowledge deals with more
objective, rational, and technical
knowledge.
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By Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995
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Knowledge-based Economy
 Rapid changes in the business environment cannot
be handled in traditional ways.
 Firms are much larger, with higher turnover and
require better tools for collaboration,
communication, and knowledge sharing.
 Firms must develop strategies to sustain
competitive advantage by leveraging their
intellectual assets for optimum performance.
 Managing knowledge is now critical for firms spread
out over wide geographical areas, and for virtual
organizations.
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Sharing Knowledge
 Some reasons people are reluctant to
share knowledge include;
 No skill in knowledge management techniques.
 Willing to share, but not enough time to do so.
 Don’t understand knowledge management and
benefits.
 Lack of appropriate technology.
 No commitment from senior managers.
 No funding for knowledge management.
 Culture does not encourage knowledge sharing.
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Organization Culture
 The ability of an organization to learn, develop
memory, and share knowledge is dependent on its
culture.
 Culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions.
 Over time organizations learn what works and what
doesn’t work. As the lessons become second nature,
they become part of the organizational culture.
 Generally when a technology project fails, it is
because the technology does not match the
organization’s culture.
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The Knowledge Management
Cycle
1. Create knowledge
2. Capture knowledge
3. Refine knowledge
4. Store knowledge
5. Manage knowledge
6. Disseminate knowledge
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The Knowledge Management
Cycle (cont.)
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Knowledge Repositories
 Databases. It is
possible to structure part
of a knowledge
repository as a database.
 Data warehouses,
large repositories of
important data, can also
be used for knowledge
management, especially
in conjunction with
customer relationship
management (CRM)
systems.
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KM & Information Technologies
The KMS challenge is to identify and integrate
the following three technologies to meet the
KM needs of an organization.
 Communication technologies allow users to
access needed knowledge, and to
communicate with each other--especially with
experts.
 Collaboration technologies provide the means
to perform group work.
 Storage technologies use a database
management system to capture, store and
manage knowledge.
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Knowledge Management
Benefits

Reduction in loss of intellectual capital when people leave
the company

Reduction in costs by decreasing the number of times the
company must repeatedly solve the same problem

Economies of scale in obtaining information from external
providers

Reduction in redundancy of knowledge-based activities

Increase in productivity by making knowledge available
more quickly & easily

Increase in employee satisfaction by enabling greater
personal development and empowerment

Strategic competitive advantage in the marketplace
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Managerial Issues: Integration
 Since a KM system is an enterprise system, it must
be integrated with other enterprise and information
systems in an organization.
 The most important systems to integrate with are;
 Decision Support Systems
 Artificial Intelligence
 Databases and Information Systems
 Customer Relationship Management Systems
 Supply Chain Management Systems
 Corporate Intranets and Extranets
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