Knowledge management

Knowledge Management or KM incorporates the desire to expand our range of inquiry with the need to simplify our decisions. KM can involve any human or technological process that helps create, disseminate or organize knowledge. What we consider knowledge can we widely interpreted, but a basic definition is 'knowledge is that which can be acted upon'.

Definitions of Knowledge Management

Knowledge management has always existed as an intuitive process i.e. apprenticeships, colleagues chatting, or a parent handing over her/his business to offspring. As a formal theory, KM is relatively new and has developed in response to advances in technology. The biggest challenge today is the scope and speed by which knowledge is developed, accessed and exchanged.

In theory, the intended goal of KM to provide real-world explanations and best practice methodologies for individuals and companies seeking to harness their knowledge potential.

While knowledge as a whole involves action, there are sub-sets of knowledge which can be further defined and analyzed. Nonaka and Takeuchi (Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge Creating Company, New York: Oxford University Press.) suggest using the concepts of data, information, tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge to describe several types that are relevant to an organisation. Tacit knowledge is knowing that has been internalized, and is difficult to share or express. Explicit knowledge has been externalized, and is easier to exchange.

An approach taken by Don Mezei (Mezei, D. (2002). The One Minute Knowledge Manager; Mezei, D. (2000). The Unified Theory of Knowledge) compares knowledge, information and data to levels of context:

Data describes the contextual world that extends between inorganic matter and biological forms. For example, data is used in fuzzy logic to control systems. A temperature measurement for brakes might have several functions defining the temperature ranges that control brakes properly. Each function maps the temperature value to a truth value in the 0 to 1 range. These values can then be used to determine how the brakes should be controlled.

Information describes the contextual world that extends between biological forms and social groups. For example, the overall equation for photosynthesis in green plants is:

n CO₂ + 2n H₂O + light energy → (CH₂O)_n + n O₂ + n H₂O

Knowledge describes the contextual world that extends between social groups and intellectual ideas. For example, The Constitution of the United States styles itself the 'supreme law of the land.' Here a group of intellectual ideas help govern a social body, the U.S. of A.

In each case, the means for describing a particular level of context becomes more varied. Whereas data can often involve simple values like 0/1, information begins to incorporate more complex scenarios in order to describe the actions taking place, while knowledge further develops subtlety of language, morals and intention.

In another example, he describes how the context of knowledge, information and data can be understood using the alphabet:

(T)(h)(e)(o)(l)(d)(s)(h)(o)(e) - data

(The)(old)(shoe) - information

(The old shoe) - knowledge

Related definitions

Personal knowledge management - PKM pays attention to the organization of information, thoughts and beliefs. In this approach, the responsibility for knowledge creation lies with the individual who is charged to learn, connect and share personal insights.
Enterprise knowledge management - EKM is concerned with strategy, process and technologies to acquire, store, share and secure organizational understanding, insights and core distinctions. [KM] at this level is closely tied to competitive advantage, innovation and agility.

Helpful Tips

It is helpful to make a clear distinction between knowledge on the one hand, and information and data on the other.
See: KM concepts