Knowledge Management And Organizations : Process, System And Strategy

Description

Over the past decade, understanding, identifying, and strategic management oforganizational knowledge resource has become a competitive necessity. Microsoft,whose asset value is one fifth of General Motors, commands a market value tentimes as big as that of General Motors. Knowledge-based organizations such asMicrosoft and Intel are fast replacing the giant asset-based organizations of thepast as the front-runner for the 21C knowledge-based economy.From a conceptual point of view, knowledge management can be interpretedin two ways: knowledge-based management and knowledge resourcemanagement. Knowledge-based management is a strategy to achieve thevision of becoming a knowledge-based organization. It triggers a series ofchanges in its business processes, organizations, people, and businesspractices. Functional units with iron walls change to cross-unit communities ofpractice. Decision making changes from intuition-based to analysis-based. Notinvented-here (NIH) syndrome turns into a boundaryless knowledge echosystem with suppliers, customers, and outside experts. Knowledge resource management, which frequently has been the focus oforganizational knowledge management initiatives, involves theimplementation of various architectures, methods and tools to supportknowledge-based management. Just as information strategy planning helpsdevelopment and management of enterprise-wide information resources,knowledge strategy planning helps organizations in creating and managingtheir knowledge resources. Knowledge management systems as well asknowledge maps, repositories, search engines, analytic models, videoconferencing, etc. comprise the toolbox for effective and efficient knowledgesharing and utilization over the time and space constraints, owing togeographical dispersion of knowledge resources. In addition to tools, successfulknowledge resource management also requires a set of diverse policies andprocesses regarding evaluation, incentives, role design, and resource allocation.In this special issue on knowledge management, we received 19 papers fromall over the world: six from the USA, six from Europe, five from Asia, and twofrom Australia. Of the 19 submissions, we selected seven papers, based on theiracademic rigor, industry relevance, and potential to ignite a new stream offuture studies in knowledge management research and practices.The paper by Nilmini Wickramasinghe, “Do we practice what we preach: areknowledge management systems in practice truly reflective of knowledgemanagement systems in theory?” challenges the purpose, role, and capability ofthe currently implemented knowledge management systems through in-depthcase studies in the consulting industry. The author not only identifies thelimitations of the current KMSs but also suggests a future direction andstrategies to overcome such limitations. The paper by Stephen Smoliar, “Interaction management: the next (andnecessary) step beyond knowledge management” argues that knowledgemanagement needs to move beyond simplistic models of information exchange,to more challenging problems of leveraging social interaction to the advantage ofthe enterprise. To illustrate its argument, the author examines a case study ofcrisis management practices and suggests implications for technological support.The paper by Intae Kang, Yongtae Park, and Yeongho Kim, “A frameworkfor designing a workflow-based knowledge map” introduces a framework fordeveloping a workflow-based knowledge map in order to integrate processmanagement and contents management, two areas of crucial importance toenterprise-wide knowledge management. The authors also developed aprototype and applied it to the car seat design process of the automobileindustry. The paper by Stefan Smolnik and Ingo Erdmann, “Visual navigation ofdistributed knowledge structures in groupware-based organizationalmemories” introduces the topic map as a tool for semantically structuringlink networks to organize and navigate large and continuously growingorganizational memories. The paper by Hyun-Soo Lee and Yung-Ho Suh, “Knowledge conversion withinformation technology of Korean companies” discusses the viability of“extended knowledge enterprise” where, through using informationtechnologies, not only internal units, but also external knowledge sourcessuch as customers, suppliers, public institutions, and even competitors canparticipate. The paper by Dimitris Apostolou and Gregoris Mentzas, “Experiences fromknowledge management implementations in companies of the software sector”provides a useful knowledge management solution, called Know-Net, thatincludes a theoretical framework, a consulting method and a software tool. Itoutlines how specific business areas such as R&D, the bid managementprocess, collaboration between geographically dispersed teams, can benefitfrom knowledge management. Finally, the paper by Joseph R. Muscatello (“The potential use of knowledgemanagement for training”) discusses the use of knowledge management toserve the training needs of firms. This study combines the powerfulcompetitive traits of a learning organization with knowledge of managementtraits to potentially increase the positive effects of both.We hope that the audience of this special issue can grasp the theoreticalunderpinnings, implementation pitfalls, and available methods and tools forsuccessful knowledge management. We also expect that, unlike the fleetingmanagement techniques, knowledge management will survive the test of timeto become one of the most important management paradigms for the twenty-first century. Young-Gul Kim, Heeseok Lee and Ingoo Han Previously published in: Business Process Management Journal, Volume 9, Number 3, 2003