The concept of knowledge itself is not new, because the need and importance of knowledge has been the basis for the development of various cultures, philosophies and religions. What has really made it possible for people and even organizatins today to even contemplate harnessing knowledge energies for better management has been the rapid evolution in technology that we have seen over the last decades. The role of technology, particularly information technology in defining and revitalizing corporate strategy has evolved over the last forty years or so. In the 1960s and 70s, computers were confined to glass cabins and sometimes as departmental number crunches. Information strategy was always seen as something that would come in after the corporate strategy had been defined. It was only with the introduction of the personal computer in the early 1980s and the subsequent spread of the networking phenomenon that changed the role of information technology Continue reading
Knowledge Management
Approaches to Knowledge Management Practice
There are two fundamental approaches to knowledge management practice, tacit and explicit approaches. The approach of tacit knowledge accents understanding the individuals king of knowledge in an organisation make the people to transfer knowledge within the organisation, the people managing the key as knowledge carriers and creators. The approach of explicit knowledge explains marches for express knowledge applied by one person, the pattern of organisation approaches for invention of new knowledge, and including information systems (development of systems) to distribute and express knowledge within the organisation. The comparative merits and demerits of both tacit and explicit approaches to knowledge Management are explained here. Tacit Knowledge Approach The tacit knowledge approaches have some outstanding features is staple impression that knowledge is about personal knowledge in creation and unmanageable to deduce from the heads of single person. In all organisations tacit knowledge consists in an large amount ruins on the head of Continue reading
Knowledge Management Cycle
In today’s business scenario where there is lot of competition, only source of lasting is Knowledge. It is argued that knowledge management is a necessity due to changes in the environment such as increasing globalization of competition, speed of information and knowledge aging, dynamics of both product and process innovations, and competition through buyer markets. Knowledge management promises to help companies to be faster, more efficient, or more innovative than the competition. Also, the term ‘‘management” implies that knowledge management deals with the interactions between the organization and the environment and the ability of the organization to react and act Various researchers then gave the various definitions on Knowledge Management and still it’s the buzzword today. Knowledge management is the process through which we can manage human centered assets efficiently and effectively. The function of knowledge management is to guard and grow knowledge owned by individuals, and where possible, transfer Continue reading
Knowledge Management Value Chain
Knowledge management refers to the set of business processes developed in an organization to create, store, transfer, and apply knowledge. Knowledge management increases the ability of the organization to learn from its environment and to incorporate knowledge into its business processes. Following figure illustrates the five value-adding steps in the knowledge management value chain. Each stage in the value chain adds value to raw data and information as they are transformed into usable knowledge. In the figure, information systems activities are separated from related management and organizational activities, with information systems activities on the top of the graphic and organizational and management activities below. One apt slogan of the knowledge management field is, “Effective knowledge management is 80 percent managerial and organizational, and 20 percent technology.” In the case of knowledge management, as with other information systems investments, supportive values, structures, and behavior patterns must be built to maximize the Continue reading
Knowledge – Definition and Types
Knowledge is a very slippery concept with many different variations and definitions, each of which is valid in its own right. The nature of knowledge and what it means to know something are epistemological questions that have perplexed philosophers for centuries and no resolution looms on the horizon. According to Webster’s Dictionary, knowledge is “the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association”. In practice, though, there are many possible, equally plausible definitions of knowledge. A frequently used definition of knowledge is “the ideas or understandings which an entity possesses that are used to take effective action to achieve the entity’s goal(s). This knowledge is specific to the entity which created it.” There are two basic kinds of knowledge in an Organization: Explicit and Tacit. Explicit knowledge is knowledge that has been articulated and, more often than not, captured in the form of text, tables, Continue reading
Knowledge Management Systems: Costs and Benefits
Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) like any other information systems have its benefits as well as costs, weighing the benefits in relationship with the costs will probably provide a basis for deciding whether to invest in it or not. Costs of Knowledge Management Systems Although knowledge management system is beneficial and important to the organisation, it also involves some cost. These costs vary quite a bit, depending on the size of the organisation, the current level of infrastructure and the scope of knowledge management initiative. Also, the cost depends on whether or not there is an existing infrastructure. The first step in determining the return on investment for a knowledge management project is to deter mine the costs. On the surface, this may seem deceptively simple, but there are costs involved in a knowledge management project that may not be readily obvious to the manager who is not experienced in estimating Continue reading