Trying to Understand Knowledge Management - Coursework Example

Literature Review 1500 Words plus Relevant References: Trying To Understand Knowledge Management Name of Student: Name of Professor: Name of Course: Code of the Course: Date of Submission: Literature Review 1500 Words plus Relevant References: Trying To Understand Knowledge Knowledge is described as specific information about a specific issue. In the recent years, knowledge has continuously been regarded as one of the important assets to an organization. In the modern business world, organizations which are concerned about their survival in the competitive market are always placing a lot of emphasis on knowledge and its management. It is important to note that knowledge management is at today regarded as one of the competitive strategies which organizations use to embrace sustainability. Owning to the importance of knowledge management in the modern society and business world, there has been various research studies aimed at giving a deeper insight into it. Ideally, one cannot fail to notice the high degree of web presence of knowledge management. There are also many professional, academic, conferences papers, scholarly and corporate reports and articles which discuss about knowledge management from various perspectives. The concept of knowledge management has been in existence for around 20 years. Research on this topic started off in the 1990’s when the business world was changing; hence necessitating the need for knowledge in organizations in a bid to make them competitive. The following paper will review the literature on knowledge management. The choice of the articles being reviewed is based on their relevance to the topic. The articles have been gotten from peer reviewed, scholarly and professional sources, hence their credibility is undisputed. There is no specific definition of knowledge management. Various scholar and professionals have varying definitions which are based on various perceptions. Gartner group defines knowledge management s are an integrated approach to identifying, collecting, accessing, sharing and assessing an organization’s information assets (Gartner Group, 1999). The information assets of organizations include such things as documents, procedures, databases and policies in addition to the technical experience and expertise of employees (Gartner Group, 1999). Other scholars and professionals have different definitions but all of them concur on the management of information assets. With these definitions, there have arisen diverse definitions and perceptions as to what information assets are. In fact, the different definitions of information assets are what that sets the differences in the definition of knowledge management. On this point, it is important to note that information becomes knowledge when it is processed by people. Moreover, knowledge is turned into o information when it is recorded on various presentation forms (Alavi & Leinder, 2001). With respect to the historical development of knowledge management, it can be noted that the concept started being regarded in the management world in the 1990’s. Davenport was among the fist scholars and professionals to talk about knowledge management. According to Davenport (1994), knowledge management is the process of collecting/ identifying, disseminating and the effective use of knowledge. After several years in which the concept was discussed and evaluated by various scholars and professionals, the Gartner group came up with a definition of knowledge management in 1999 (which has been discussed earlier).Gartner Group’s definition is the most widely used definition of knowledge management. Knowledge management has been translated to other areas for instance in personal development where personal knowledge management has been evaluated. With the onset of strategy and systems thinking in management, there has also been the development of strategic knowledge management; an approach which is aimed at enabling an organization achieve a specific set of objectives within a given period of time. According to Materson, (2000), knowledge exists as explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is documented knowledge and is accessible to the public. On the other hand, tacit knowledge is contained in the human behavior, perception and mind. Materson points out that knowledge is an intangible resource, hence an organization should ensure that it is acquired and management appropriately. In addition to this, an organization must ensure that it has the right people. This is due to the fact that tacit knowledge is based in the people, hence the need to hire knowledgeable people (Materson, 2000). On this pit, it is important note that tacit knowledge is a major factor which leads to innovation in an organization. According to Alwis and Hartmann (2008), innovative organizations are often associated with a large acquisition and management of tacit knowledge. In their article, the two authors note that the modern global world is characterized by a high degree of competition. This gives a need for organizations to embrace innovation, in a bit to ensure that they maintain their competitiveness in the market (Alwis & Hartmann, 2008). On this point, it is important acknowledge that fact that the business world is dynamic. For this reason, there are new ways of doing things which come up with every day dawn. In addition to this, the modern business world is global. Organizations are exposed to the global market forces which makes business very competitive. For this reason, there is a need for the management of an organization to ensure that the organization has a competitive edge over its competitors in the make. This is achieved through the embracing of innovation. Just like many scholars and professionals, Marterson notes that knowledge is important in increasing organizations competitiveness. In his article, she notes that knowledge management is critical to organizations competitiveness. This makes knowledge management a management tool. It is used by organizations to management information assets. For this reason, it becomes important to manage knowledge in an organization effectively. There are several factors influencing knowledge management in organizations. According to Alavi & Leidner (1999), an organization’s management must take care of information based, technology based and culture based factors. Information based factors are actors which are concerned with the identification, collection and acquisition of knowledge. Information based factors are divided into two; external and internal factors (Alavi & Leidner1999). External factors are factors which are related to customer’s information, competitive and market situation information internal factors included such information as human resources, financial and products (Alavi & Leidner1999). Technology based factors are factors which are concerned with the recording, distribution and retrieval of information. Culture based factors are those factors which are influenced by the organizational behavior of a company. They include such elements such as knowledge sharing and teamwork (Alavi & Leidner1999). The knowledge hierarchy is one element which has attracted a lot of interest from researchers, scholars and professionals in management. The knowledge hierarchy indicates the flow of data, information and knowledge in an organization. In many of the knowledge hierarchies proposed by many studies, data is found in the lowest level in the hierarchy, information at the middle and knowledge at the top (Hicks, Dattero & Galup, 2006). The hierarchy depicts the path in which knowledge flows; data converted to information then converted to knowledge. Knowledge may be documented to information then converted to data. In their article, Hicks, Dattero & Galup propose a five tier knowledge management hierarchy. In their model, innovation is at the top, followed by solutions, influences, Facts and at the bottom is the individual (Hicks, Dattero & Galup, 2006). The fooling figure illustrates the five tier knowledge hierarchy model proposed by Hicks, Dattero & Galup. The five tier Knowledge management Hierarchy (Hicks, Dattero & Galup, 2006) Knowledge management has a special place in modern organizational management. As identified earlier, it is a business strategy which enables an organization achieves competitiveness in the market. There are some gaps which need to be filled by research. According to Randeree, the securing of knowledge is a gap which scholars and professionals need to work on. According to Ebrahim Randeree, knowledge management is a practice which enables an organization to secure its future (Randeree, 2006). In his article, Randeree points out that knowledge is critical to an organization survival in the market. He notes that many scholars and professionals have given so much emphasis on creating and sharing knowledge, but have failed in researching and developing strategies and systems of securing the information which they acquire (Randeree, 2006). In his article, the author points out that the securing of knowledge is critical in ensuring that an organization achieves maximum benefits from the knowledge which it has acquired. On this point, Randeree points out that there is a need for more study in knowledge security since it leads to a secure future. In conclusion, this review has been able to give an insight into knowledge management. The review has given a history on the development of the knowledge management concept. It has been seen that the definition of knowledge management has changed continuously over time. However, it stands out that knowledge management is the management of an organization’s information assets. The review has given an insight into explicit and tacit knowledge which are the two classes of knowledge in an organization. The review has discussed tacit knowledge in details. It has been identified that tacit knowledge is contained in individuals. Just like explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge is an intangible resource. The review has identified tat tacit knowledge is important to an organization’s innovation. It has been acknowledged that knowledge is an important asset to an organization as it enables an organization to increase its competiveness. The review has also touched on the knowledge management hierarchy. The review has identified a gap in the research on knowledge security. Summing up, it can be conclude from the literature review that knowledge management is an important management tool. References Gartner Group (1999). White papers on knowledge management, Gartner Group, Stamford, CT. Alavi, M. & Leidner, D. (1999). Knowledge management systems: issues, challenges and benefits, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Vol. 1 No. 7, pp. 2-36. Alwis, R., & Hartmann,E., 2008. The Use Of Tacit Knowledge Within Innovative Companies: Knowledge Management In Innovative Enterprises, Journal Of Knowledge Management, 12(1); 133-147 Davenport, H. (1994), Saving IT's Soul: Human Centered Information Management.  Harvard Business Review, 72(2); 119-131. Hicks, R., Dattero, R., & Galup, S., (2006). The Five-Tier Knowledge Management Hierarchy, Journal Of Knowledge Management, 10(1); 19-31 Materson, M.,(2000). A critical review of knowledge management as a management tool, Journal of Knowledge Management, 4(3); 204-216 Randeree, E., (2006). Knowledge Management: Securing The Future, Journal of Knowledge management, 19(4); 145-156 Read More