Strategic Importance of Knowledge Management
Today the world has more and more of free flow of information leading to transfer of knowledge from a person or an organization to others. Whereas this invariably leads to faster development, it also impacts the competitive advantage held by the innovators of processes or technology. It has therefore become strategically important for one and all in business to understand the knowledge, processes and controls to effectively manage the
system of sharing and transferring the information in the most beneficial fashion.
This paper dwells upon definition, types, scope, technology and modeling of knowledge and Knowledge Management while examining its strategic importance for retaining the competitive advantage by the organizations.
What is knowledge?
Plato first defined the concept of knowledge as ‘‘justified true belief’’ in his Meno, Phaedo and Theaetetus. Although not very accurate in terms of logic, this definition has been predominant in Western philosophy (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Davenport et al. (1998) define knowledge as ``information combined with experience, context, interpretation and reflection''.
The terms ‘‘knowledge’’ and ‘‘information’’ are often used inter-changeably in the literature and praxis but a distinction is helpful. The chain of knowledge flow is data-information-knowledge. Information is data to which meaning has been added by being categorized, classified, corrected, and condensed. Information and experience, key components of definitions of knowledge, are put into categories through the process of labeling with abstract symbols. This allows the process of synthesis to occur more efficiently than when dealing with masses of individual bits of information. Information coded into symbols to make it “knowledge” may be stored both inside and outside the individuals. Thus, knowledge may be stored within a person in his mind or outside the person in books, manuscripts, pictures, and audio and videotapes or discs. However, while only the individual himself may retrieve knowledge stored within his mind, knowledge stored outside can be retrieved by anybody familiar with the storage systems.
In organizations, knowledge is often embedded not only in documents and presentations but also in “organizational routines, processes, practices, and norms,” and through person-to-person cont...
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This paper will be covering what knowledge essentially is, the opinions and theories of J.L. Austin, Descartes, and Stroud, and how each compare to one another. Figuring out what knowledge is and how to assess it has been a discussion philosophers have been scratching their heads about for as long as philosophy has been around. These three philosophers try and describe and persuade others to look at knowledge in a different light; that light might be how a statement claiming knowledge is phrased, whether we know anything at all for we may be dreaming, or maybe you’re just a brain in a vat and don’t know anything about what you perceive the external world to be.
Knowledge is defined as information and skills one acquires through experience or education. There is; however, a certain knowledge than cannot be certain and is unjustifiable from the scientific perspective. Karen Armstrong, Robert Thurman, and Azar Nafisi wrote about this type of knowledge in their essays: “Homo Religiosus,” “Wisdom,” and “Reading Lolita in Tehran,” respectively. Each of these authors has a different view of what knowledge is exactly, how it can be achieved, and what it means to have achieved it, but each author takes on the view that the concept of knowledge should be viewed from a social stance. Armstrong refers to this uncertain knowledge as “myth,” Thurman refers to it as “wisdom,” and Nafisi refers to it as “upsilamba";
To sum up, in our community of learners the knowledge that we have today consists of facts that are universally acknowledged and considered to be truth. The word fact that from Latin means something that is doe, when organized systematically forms knowledge, however it changes over time. Difference between facts can be seen in different areas of knowledge for example in history and natural sciences, where language and reasoning are used as tools of attaining knowledge. While language can be used as a manipulator of knowledge by taking advantage of it being the main source of attaining knowledge, reasoning is a logical justification of facts. Both of them can be changed as for in case of language another powerful authority may capture the power and in case of reasoning new type of facts or statements can be present that will lead to shifting the knowledge.
One of the most widely accepted definitions of knowledge was once that of knowledge being justified true belief (JTB). It is used to define propositional logic which involves knowing whether something is or is not true. Specifically, it sets out that knowledge is a belief which happens to be true such that there exists significant justification for holding said belief. This supposed definition can be traced back to Plato’s Theaetetus and remained unchallenged until Edmund Gettier published a paper in 1963 entitled ‘Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?’ In it, Gettier demonstrates that the three conditions which must hold for knowledge outlined in the JTB definition are not sufficient for knowledge to be attained.
T.D. Wilson (2002) makes a point of identifying several sources of articles, references and course syllabi with varying takes on knowledge management within organizations. Wilson is convinced that organizations misuse the terminology “knowledge management” and that their activities are more concerned with managing information than with the management of knowledge (Wilson, 2002). Wilson defines knowledge as involving “the mental processes of comprehension” or, as “what we know” and information as the expression of what we know and can convey through messages (Wilson, 2002). By researching the use of the “knowledge management” Wilson conveys that the terms knowledge and information are used interchangeably, which results in an inaccurate application
The philosopher, Linda Zagzebski, offers a virtue based definition of knowledge. She arrives at this definition by presenting numerous accounts of knowledge definitions that fail, explore why they fail, then shows how her theory satisfies knowledge criteria.
The literature review has emphasised on the importance of four major and common factors in regards to managing knowledge work, that is, communities of practice, information technology support, KM activities, and performance outcomes (Davenport & Prusak 2000; Demarest 1997; McDermott 1999). Much of the existing research on knowledge creation focuses on the source and state of knowledge. In fact, the term management control of activities that may be uncontrollable or stifled by ...
Plato and Aristotle propose theories of knowledge in which they both agree that the knower is measure by the known and that knowledge is an exchange within the world. However, their respective theories may be considered polar opposites of one another especially when considering that Aristotle rejects Plato’s theory and admits that ‘informed opinion’, is a form of knowledge whereas Plato rejects opinion as a form of knowledge.
(106) 'Knowledge management means using the ideas and experience of employees, customers and suppliers to improve the organisation’s performance. ' (5) Knowledge management (KM) is best when 'it is in alignment with organizational culture, structure and strategy ' (5). For this reason, the aim of this briefing document is to advise Santander on solutions to potential KM barriers employees may face by discussing three key barriers- culture, technology and leadership.
Traditionally, Plato Philosophers have analyzed knowledge as being a justified true belief. Based on the views of different philosophers, one can be pessimistic about the applicability of this definition. I will elaborate my reasoning by arguing that other philosophers have challenged ‘justified true belief’ with analytical propositions that contest Plato’s argument. 1. Explanation of Justified True Belief Plato philosophers defined knowledge as being justified true belief.
"Knowledge, Truth, and Meaning." Cover: Human Knowledge: Foundations and Limits. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. .
Introduction With today’s rate of development in technology, there has also been an immense increase in global information sharing. Innovations in technology and design seem to be emerging in the market almost every month. One of the key aspects of any business is to gather, organize and efficiently apply this information. According to Antonic (2005), economic assets are fast becoming of secondary importance in the market as companies ascribe more importance to intellectual capital. With the right application of knowledge management methods, companies can achieve a competitive advantage by managing the immense amount of information available (Balanced Scorecard Institute, 2002).
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Knowledge consists of behavioral attitudes, and those experiences and skills that are developed in individuals that cause them to be consistent and effective when performing functions in the workplace (Seidman. W & ...