The knowledge landscape

Citation

Chase, R.L. (2007), "The knowledge landscape", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 11 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jkm.2007.23011daa.001

The knowledge landscape

The knowledge landscape

The knowledge landscape is very complex and some aspects have the potential to be controversial. In many cases “knowledge” is defined and understood differently by those involved in the discipline. In the literature there are many types of knowledge identified (e.g. tacit knowledge, tacit embodied knowledge, tacit not-yet-embodied knowledge, self-transcending knowledge), or the same knowledge has different names (e.g. tacit knowledge, know-how, knowing, experiential knowledge, implicit knowledge). All these make the understanding of knowledge very confusing.

Therefore, according to this issue’s first author Maria Jakubik, there is an increased need for understanding what “knowledge” is and is not when conducting research in this field. The author’s investigations show that “knowledge” is viewed in four emerging and complementary ways: ontological, epistemological, commodity and community. The paper’s findings confirm that knowledge management is still a young discipline and, therefore, it is natural to have different, sometimes even controversial views of “knowledge” side by side in the literature. This paper offers a framework as a compass for researchers to help their orientation in the knowledge landscape.

The role of knowledge management in innovation is the subject of growing interest. Marina du Plessis examines how the nature of global economic growth has been changed by the speed of innovation – made possible by rapidly evolving technology, shorter product lifecycles, and a higher rate of new product development. The author discusses the nature of the role of KM in innovation as well as its value proposition. She also identifies the drivers for the application of knowledge management in innovation.

The next paper, authored by Dimitris Lamproulis, examines how the cultural artifacts of space and technology enhance the creation of knowledge, leading to creativity and innovation. Based on a review of the literature and interviews with senior managers and designers, this paper provides numerous findings which illustrate how a successful creative organization links the cultural artifacts of physical space and technology with the creation of knowledge in the form of innovative interior and graphic designs. The findings of this paper provide an alternative view to the traditional approach that examines the creation of knowledge without answering the question of how and why it occurs in a specific way within an organization.

Enrique Claver-Cortés, Patrocinio Zaragoza-Sáez and Eva Pertusa-Ortega have studied the organizational policies and culture required to create an appropriate environment and infrastructure to support the creation, transfer and application of knowledge. A multiple case study of six leading knowledge-driven Spanish companies has been undertaken as part of this research. The results show that the investigated companies have adopted flexible, flat organizational structures with fewer hierarchal levels in order to encourage staff dialogue and teamwork. This approach enables employees to make greater use of their individual capabilities and knowledge, creating higher levels of personal and organizational performance.

The next paper, Carmen Castro Casal and Edelmira Neira Fontela analyze some of the variables that influence knowledge transfer in mergers and acquisitions. Using data from a sample of 57 domestic Spanish mergers and acquisitions, the authors have examined the influence on the transfer of knowledge from the acquired firm to the acquiring firm. The results show that the social complexity of the knowledge, the knowledge base existing in the acquired firm, and the frequency of rich communication media have a positive influence on knowledge transfer. The existing literature indicates that the more socially complex the knowledge, the more difficult it will be to transfer. However, in this study it was found that since firms perceive that the socially complex knowledge is more valuable from the strategic point-of-view, they make a greater effort to achieve the transfer.

Promoting people-focused knowledge management is the focus of research by Nekane Aramburu and Josune Sáenz. The authors have studied IDOM, a leading Spanish engineering company, in order gain an understanding of the benefits of pursuing a people-based KM approach. This case study reveals the paramount relevance of articulating a knowledge-sharing culture throughout management systems and organizational policies and routines, in order to guarantee the alignment of individual and organizational “mental” models. IDOM’s corporate values support and inspire employees and assist in collective socialization and organizational learning.

Floor Slagter’s paper examines a topic of growing interest – the importance of implementing a knowledge management strategy to encompass the older workforce. The author argues that organizations must adopt a proactive KM-driven management style towards older workers. Human resources managers, in particular, need to review their policies and processes for older workers in order to facilitate knowledge sharing and the conversion of individual knowledge into organizational memory. The author reports that coaching leadership style; structures, roles and responsibilities; emphasis on learning and education; attention to motivation, trust, reward and recognition; and establishing the right organizational culture are the five HR critical success factors within KM.

The purpose of the contribution by Markus Strohmaier and Stefanie Lindstaedt is to explore a new, rapid approach to modeling knowledge work in organizational settings, and to introduce a software tool that demonstrates the viability of the concept. Based on existing modeling structures, the authors describe the KnowFlow Toolset, which is designed to aid knowledge analysts in rapidly conducting interviews and conducting multi-perspective analysis of organizational knowledge work. This approach to rapid knowledge work visualization can be conducted largely without human modelers through the development of an interview structure that allows for self-service interviews. The authors provide two application scenarios to illustrate the need for and the potential of rapid knowledge work visualization in the organizational setting.

In their paper, Martin Eppler and Remo Burkhard discuss the potential of visualization for corporate knowledge management. The authors have created a taxonomy of visualization formats, embedded in a conceptual framework, according to the type of knowledge that is visualized, KM objective, target group, and application situation. This conceptual framework is illustrated through real-life examples. The authors encourage practitioners to look beyond simple diagrammatic representations of knowledge, and explore alternative visual languages, such as visual metaphors or graphic narratives.

William Johnson’s paper integrates what is known about the concept of tacit knowledge and proposes a pattern recognition and synthesis (PRS) framework as an explanation of how tacit knowledge is created. The PRS framework models the development of personal knowledge via the process of tacit knowing within the individual in an organizational setting. According to the author, the PRS model complements extant models of organizational learning by providing possible mechanisms for tacit knowing that have not yet been elucidated. Specifically, as a perception-based model its main conclusion is that all tacit knowledge must be built up within individuals, which has major implications for the time and energy invested in knowledge creation activities.

The paper by C.F. Cheung et al. advocates a systematic approach for knowledge auditing, and includes a pilot study of the auditing of knowledge processes in a railway company. The framework of the systematic approach to knowledge auditing consists of eight phases: orientation and background study, cultural assessment, in-depth investigation, building knowledge inventory and knowledge mapping, knowledge network analysis and social network analysis, knowledge management strategy recommendation, deployment of KM tools and building a collaborative culture, and continuous knowledge re-auditing. The results show that the systematic knowledge auditing approach yields a number of potential benefits, including the identification of critical organization knowledge, which forms the basis for creating an enterprise-wide knowledge strategy.

Finally, Jay Chatzkel provides JKM readers with a review of the recent KMWorld Conference. He states that the conference presentations indicate that knowledge management may be at the end of one era and the beginning of its next stage of development. Conference presentations point to three major influences on KM:

1. 1.

   new elements are fusing with KM, such as innovation;

2. 2.

   emerging technologies have become great levelers and social network enablers; and

3. 3.

   KM theory and practice is in the process of transformation.

The outcome of these three trends is that knowledge management appears to be evolving into a boundryless, continuously reframing discipline. And, knowledge management’s opportunities lay in exploring these new perspectives and technologies to best redefine how KM can create the most value in organizations and their social networks.

Rory L. Chase