Development of a Model For Managing Organizational Knowledge  

The proliferation of interest in “knowledge management” in the last few years is a reflection that information has finally gained visibility as a major corporate asset. Furthermore, sharing information across the organization to support greater learning and competitiveness has resulted in moving to the next level of information management (IM)—knowledge management. Those of us who have been in the information business for a while have to contain our amusement as we have seen a society preoccupied first with data (anything that is observed, measured, counted, or collected), then information (organized data), now knowledge (selected information), and, perhaps next, wisdom (integrated knowledge).y´ As Thomas Stewart defines it in Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations, “Intelligence becomes an asset when some useful order is created out of free-floating brainpower—that is, when it is given coherent form (a mailing list, a database, an agenda for a meeting, a description of a process); when it is captured in a way that allows it to be described, shared, and exploited; and when it can be deployed to do something that could not be done if it remained scattered around like so many coins in a gutter. Intellectual capital is packaged, useful knowledge.”

Ashdown, Barbara and Kathy Smith. OSTI (1999). Articles>Knowledge Management>Workflow

Knowledge Management for Front-Line Staff

The front-line environment must be understood when implementing knowledge management initiatives.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Articles>Knowledge Management>Workflow

Upstream Knowledge Management

Most of the focus in knowledge management is on 'downstream' projects to organize thousands of existing documents that, through various departmental tributaries, are flooding corporate intranets. But what about 'upstream' knowledge management -- organizing and adding value when a source is identified or a document is written?

Montague Institute Review (1998). Articles>Knowledge Management>Workflow

Writer Training: Complementary Models of Document Review in the Classroom and at Work  

Document review is an important tool for knowledge management and socialization. However, because the relationship between texts and work is changing with advances in information technology, we must reconsider the necessity and practice of document review. We need to examine what reviewers are currently doing to see how those practices match with or can be complemented by the classroom based review practices that are commonly used. This paper sketches out a new model of review (mediated practice) that combines the strength of workplace and classroom based models of review.

Swarts, Jason. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Knowledge Management>Workflow

Narrative Enquiry: A Way to Get Organizations (and the People in Them) Talking and Acting Differently: An Account of Methods of Intervention to Enquire into Conditions Surrounding Records Management and Filing to Catalyze Change    

Narrative enquiry: A way to get organizations (and the people in them) talking and acting differently: An account of methods of intervention to enquire into conditions surrounding records management and filing to catalyze change

Sparknow, Paul Corney and Victoria Ward Sparknow. Business Information Review (2008). Articles>Knowledge Management>Databases>Workflow

A Stage Model of Knowledge Management: An Empirical Investigation of Process and Effectiveness    

Knowledge management (KM) is now widely recognized to be important to the success or failure of business management. Seeking to better understand the determinants of the evolution of KM, this study focuses on two main problems: (1) whether firms change their KM processes over time to improve KM effectiveness as well as develop their KM practices, and (2) whether socio-technical support results in more mature KM practices. This study draws on the previous literature to identify key dimensions of KM process (knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, knowledge application and knowledge protection), KM effectiveness (individual-level and organizational-level KM effectiveness) and socio-technical support (organizational support and information technology diffusion). The evolution of these dimensions is studied in the form of a stage model of KM that includes initiation, development, and mature stages. Data gathered from 141 senior executives in large Taiwanese organizations were employed to test the propositions. The results show that different stages of KM evolution can be distinguished across dimensions of KM process, KM effectiveness, and socio-technical support. Implications for organizations are also discussed.

Lin, Hsiu-Fen. Journal of Information Science (2007). Articles>Knowledge Management>Workflow