Knowledge management

There is no universal definition of knowledge management if we ask someone to define knowledge management they define it differently as compared to others such as, if we ask someone to define physics every body can define physics with same words and sense as physics was defined in its early years but this is not the case in knowledge management .

If we take a look in literature we can see lots of work been done on knowledge management some define knowledge management but some authors avoid the term complety and just focus on the specific aspects of the topic like knowledge , innovation and learning [Costello 1996].on the other hand some of them said that knowledge management is concept which is related to organisational learning ,information sharing and collaborative work [Schultze 1998] . Recently 434 articles been analysed by Ruab and Ruling [Ruab and Ruling 2001] from ABI/Inform they found that there is two different communities involved in knowledge management debate one is focusing on IS/IT and the other one is focusing on general management these authors also said that both these communities are making joint efforts to sustain knowledge management as a fashionable field. The community which is emphasising on IS/IT discussed by Harry Scarborough who is reviewing the literature of knowledge management for the institute of personnel and development according to him 70 percent of the articles published in 1998 appeared in IS/IT literature [Scarbrough, Swan et al1999] keeping this in mind [Gold, Malhotra et al .2001] suggest that many knowledge management projects are more than information projects. [Litrature review for C-sand 2002 volume 1 ]

Definitions from literature

1 Harry Scarbrough [Scarbrough ,Swan et al. 1999] defines knowledge management as “any process or practice of creating ,acquiring ,capturing , sharing and using knowledge wherever it resides ,to enhance learning and performance in organisations” [Litrature review for C-sand 2002 volume 1 ]

2 Alavi and Leidner [Alavi and Leidner2001] define as “knowledge is information possessed in the minds of individuals: it is personalized information (which may or may not be new,unique,useful or accurate) related to facts ,procedures, concepts, interpretations, ideas, observations, and judgements”
Definition from web
1 Microsoft’s web site define knowledge management as “ knowledge is the use of technology to make information relevant and accessible wherever that information may reside. To do this effectively requires the appropriate application of the appropriate technology for the appropriate situation. Knowledge management incorporates systematic processes of finding , selecting , organising , and presenting information in a way that improves an employee’s comprehension and use of business assets.” [Brown and Duguid 2000 ].

I examine some of the definition and come across this definition which is as follows.

" knowledge management can define as the conversion of tacit knowledge, personal experience, and personel skills into explicit knowledge by using the tools such as learning resources (available to all employees ) by sharing and distributing "


Refference

1 [Litrature review for C-sand 2002 volume 1 ] assesed on 05 2008
http://www.c-sand.org.uk/Documents/WP1001-02-KMLitRev.pdf draft

2 By Meridith Levinson assesed on feb 2008

http://www.cio.com/article/40343