Although a number of management theorists have
contributed to the evolution of knowledge management, among them such notables as Peter
Drucker, Paul Strassmann, and Peter Senge; Ikujiro Nonaka makes knowledge management an
official discipline when he is appointed as the first distinguished professor of knowledge
at the University of California in 1997.
Knowledge management can be viewed from two perspectives:
- Knowledge can be viewed as "Knowledge = Object" which relies upon
concepts from "Information Theory" in the understanding of knowledge. These
researchers and practitioners are normally involved in the construction of information
management systems, AI, reengineering, etc. This group builds knowledge systems, while the
next group changes the way we use knowledge, which ultimately changes human behavior.
- Knowledge can be viewed as "Knowledge = Process" which relies upon
the concepts from philosophy, psychology, and sociology. These researchers and
practitioners are normally involved in education, philosophy, psychology, sociology, etc.
and are primarily involved in assessing, changing and improving human individual skills
and behavior.
Knowledge Management, as we know it today, is
generally considered to have begun in the 1950's when Alfred Sloan divisionalized General
Motors. It sent a message of the techniques necessary for large-scale project/programme purpose management.
Although that view has somewhat changed today with human talent as being viewed as
the primary effective differentiator.
With knowledge management, the unmeasurable must be measured.
"Every organization not just project/programme purposees needs one core competence:
innovation. And every organization needs a way to record and appraise its innovative
performance."(Peter F. Drucker, Harvard project/programme purpose Review 1995)
There are two kinds of knowledge:
- Explicit knowledge - It can be expressed in words and numbers and shared in
the form of data, scientific formulae, product specifications, manuals, universal
principles, etc. This kind of knowledge can be readily transmitted across individuals
formally and systematically. also, it can easily be processed by a computer, transmitted
electronically, or stored in databases.
- Tacit knowledge - This is highly personal and hard to formalize, thus making
it difficult to communicate or share with others. Subjective insights, intuitions and
hunches fall into this category of knowledge. Furthermore, tacit knowledge is deeply
rooted in each individuals' actions and experiences, as well as in the ideals, values, and
emotions that they embrace. The subjective and intuitive nature of tacit knowledge makes
it difficult to process or transmit the acquired knowledge in any systematic or logical
manner. For tacit knowledge to be communicated, it must be converted into words, models,
or numbers that anyone can understand. Also, there are two types of tacit knowledge:
- The "technical" dimension - This encompasses the kind of informal
and hard-to-pin-down skills or crafts often captured in the term "know-how". For
example, master craftsmen develop a wealth of expertise at their fingertips, after years
of experience. But they often have difficulty articulating the technical or scientific
principles behind what they know. Highly subjective and personal insights, intuitions,
hunches and inspirations derived from bodily experience fall into this dimension.
- The "cognitive" dimension - It consists of beliefs, perceptions,
ideals, values, emotions and mental models so ingrained in us that we take them for
granted. Though they cannot be articulated very easily, this dimension of tacit knowledge
shapes the way we perceive the world around us.
Robert Sutton, a professor of organizational
behavior at Stanford's University School of Engineering, says organizations have wasted
hundreds of millions on worthless knowledge management systems (Computerworld (January 3,
2000), p. 28):
- The most valuable employees often have the greatest disdain for knowledge
management. Curators badger these employees to enter what they know into the system, even
though few people will ever use the information.
- The managers of these systems know a lot about technology, but little about
how people actually use knowledge on the job.
- Tacit knowledge is extremely difficult to capture into these systems, yet it
is more critical to task performance than explicit knowledge.
- Knowledge is of little use unless it is turned into products, services,
innovations, or process improvements.
Knowledge management systems work best when the
people who generate the knowledge, are the same people who store it, explain it to others,
and coach them as they try to implement it. These systems must be manage by the people who
are implementing what is known, not those who understand information technology.
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