Knowledge Management: An Integrative Approach

Citation

Barker, P. (2006), "Knowledge Management: An Integrative Approach", The Electronic Library, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 108-109. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470610649290

As our understanding of people, processes, objects and organisations develops, knowledge is being pin‐pointed as one of the most important factors that are likely to influence our future development. Everyone has knowledge and, increasingly, we are all becoming involved in its management – be this for ourselves or for other people. The problem is, however, that people often perceive knowledge and knowledge management (KM) in different ways. According to the authors of this book (p. 3), their intent in writing it was to “address some of the challenges brought about by the novel and complex nature of the field of KM”. From an organisational perspective, the material in the book is arranged into eight basic chapters. These, in turn, are sub‐structured into three basic themes that provide an introduction to knowledge management (Part 1 – Chapters 1 and 2), a discussion of KM components and the relationships between them (Part 2 – Chapters 3 through 6) and a description of the benefits and limitations of KM (Part 3 – Chapters 7 and 8).

The opening chapter of the book emphasises both the complex and cross‐cultural nature of knowledge management. It identifies, describes and discusses three basic “schools of KM” – the technocratic, the economic and the behavioural – and then goes on to outline the need for a holistic/integrative approach to the management of knowledge. Indeed, the integrative approach that is proposed in this chapter is subsequently used as a basis for structuring the content of the remaining chapters of the book. In the second chapter of this first part of their work, the authors deal with “drivers of KM”. Some of the important ones identified include the avoidance of organisational chaos and uncertainty, gaining a competitive advantage and the realisation that “knowledge capital” is the fundamental ingredient of creativity, innovation and the development of new services and products.

The four chapters that make up the second part of the book deal, respectively, with organisational enablers of KM, the role of information technology (IT) in relation to knowledge management, knowledge manipulation processes and understanding knowledge as an asset. The topics covered in these chapters include a discussion of the importance of knowledge sharing within organisations and how appropriately selected IT configurations may be helpful in achieving this. The authors introduce “a typology of KM technologies” containing seven different categories of technology. Each category is based upon the knowledge processes that it is able to support and the underlying objectives that it can be used to achieve. In order to understand the essential features of knowledge manipulation, the authors introduce and discuss the four underlying activities that are involved – that is, the creation of knowledge, its storage/retrieval, sharing/transfer processes and its application to problem solving situations. Considerable emphasis is given to the point that these four activities should not be thought of as discrete, monolithic and independent processes but, instead, they should be regarded as being dynamic, interdependent and interconnected. Another important issue that is emphasised in this part of the book is the need to be able to identify and classify (through classifications and taxonomies, etc.) the available knowledge assets within an organisation. The rationale underlying this requirement stems from the fact that the effective utilisation of knowledge assets can lead to a sustainable advantage within a competitive environment. Undoubtedly, taken together, the four chapters that make up this second section of the book provide a useful and comprehensive “big picture” of the activities and roles played by the various people involved in the KM sector of the business arena.

The third (and final) part of the book is a relatively short one. Its two chapters cover the general theme of benefits and limitations of knowledge management. The authors start off this section of the book with a discussion of the potential outcomes that can be derived from KM – such as, knowledge retention, productivity improvement, innovation in products and services and enhanced competitiveness. They then move on to consider some of the issues and challenges facing knowledge management from the perspectives of KM practice and useful research activities to support this. A particularly important topic that is discussed in this section of the book is the concept of intellectual property, its protection and exploitation and the effect that it has on knowledge flow. Within this part of the book the authors also propose quite a rigorous multi‐method research agenda for academic research in knowledge management.

One of the attractive features of this book is its conciseness. The authors provide just enough material to get their message across without involving the reader in unnecessary and/or less‐relevant information. The book is also nicely punctuated with useful (and equally concise) case study material. These are aptly chosen to illustrate many of the important points that the authors want to establish. Overall, I think this book provides a valuable source of ideas for practical knowledge management and identifies some interesting possibilities for future research in this area.