Is Knowledge Management a Fad?

In order to manage knowledge successfully, it is essential to clarify the essence of knowledge before identifying the importance of knowledge management. The perception of knowledge has been varied broadly; however, one of the generally accepted defintion is from Davenport and Prusak (1998). According to their points of view, knowledge is defined as a set of experience and values, it either comes from individuals ' mind or roots in the organisation, which can be found in the documents, routines, practices and norms, and is assumed to flow between individuals through various networks, being used to assess and embody new

Hislop, D. (2013). Knowledge management in organizations: A critical introduction (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Knowledge is the framework for understanding information and using it to inform judgements, opinions, predictions and decisions – a pyramidal relationship (See diagram 1)

Knowledge: It is information that has been synthesized so that relations and interactions are defined and formalized; Knowledge answers questions of “why” or “how”. It explores options.

Knowledge management was defined as the turning of information into actionable knowledge which can be accessed by people who can apply it. Robbins (2003) gives a time perspective in his definition of knowledge management. He mentions as part of knowledge management the distribution of the right information to the right people at the right time. Lytras et al (2002) gives a definition of knowledge management which emphasises the purpose of knowledge management. In the definition creation of new capabilities, enablement for superior performance, encouraging innovation and enhancement of customer value were mentioned. For the purpose of this study the researcher summarised knowledge management as the intentional process of coordinating people, technology and systems to optimise creation and sharing of intellectual

The superior capabilities of knowledge management systems provide an opportunity for the business to engage the most effective components and recognize the importance of communication to make informed, accurate decisions (McGrath, 2001). This system can organize the company’s knowledge resources, knowledge obtaining, organizing, and applying to make a sound routine the will enforce effectiveness (Niu, 2008). The dynamic function of knowledge management to create, capture, and apply knowledge to achieve an organization’s objective will allow them to be more profitable and successful (Zucker, 1986). In addition to increasing profits, the system can be also used to reduce costs and enhance research and development (DeTienne & Jackson, 2001). With all of these advantages, it would be wasteful for a company to not employ knowledge management. As seen in the Discovery Communications, Inc. example, the company can attribute their new productivity levels and increase in ease of securing documents to the knowledge management system that put into place by Carefree Technology. Like Discovery Communications, Inc., knowledge management is so popular today because companies can collect, process and share knowledge to ignite employees ' creativity which in turn will make the business grow. Wenhong and Jianhua (2009) explained the core of knowledge management is to convert company’s knowledge resources into an increased company

While Knowledge Management (KM) is important in any business however, there is no real agreed upon definition. KM is a concept that includes the

As a result, it will assist in the identification and address the evolving needs of customers thus increasing clients’ satisfaction and attracting new ones into the company (Collins & Kehoe, 2017, p.309). In fact, knowledge management is a logical way to manage knowledge through the processes of acquiring, organizing, and communicating

In 1597, Sir Francis Bacon wrote, “Knowledge is Power”. Hundreds of years later, this quote still implies today, especially for the success of any business. Today, businesses are flooded with constant data and information. Yet, managing all this information on a daily basis has definitely been a challenge for many companies to overcome. Today, managing knowledge is power; hence, the growing interest in knowledge management systems. The term knowledge management refers to the “discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing all of an enterprise's information assets. These assets may include databases, documents, policies, procedures, and previously un-captured expertise

The technology is changing rapidly; it is used for the survival of the companies in the market. There are different IT based tools used by the different organisations according to their structure and requirements of the organisation. Some of the IT based tools are: internet, brainstorming sessions, video-conferencing, knowledge maps, and many others.

Knowledge is described as an essential part of Knowledge Management. Baloh, Desouza, and Paquette (2011) saythat without having knowledge to manage, there would be no knowledge management.

Knowledge can refer to a theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be tacit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); it can be more or less formal or systematic. Botha et al (2008) pointed out that tacit and explicit knowledge should be seen as a spectrum rather than as definitive points. Therefore, in practice, all knowledge is a mixture of tacit and explicit elements rather than being one or the other. The most important distinction within KM is between explicit and tacit knowledge. The overload of data is making knowledge management increasingly more important as it facilitates decision-making capabilities; builds learning organizations by making learning routine, and stimulates cultural change and innovation.

With the benefit of hindsight, it is apparent that in the knowledge era, creating and leveraging knowledge is the business of business. By all available measures, the stock market is already providing handsome rewards to companies that successfully leverage their knowledge--a phenomenon that will almost surely grow in significance as knowledge-based organizations increase in size and number. A number of firms are anticipating this and looking to knowledge management to enhance, measure, and manage the knowledge of their employees and organizations more effectively.

KM is significantly important for organizations in modern economic system, it is also a form of expertise management to administer and incorporate subjective information such as thoughts, insights, ideas and experiences in order to enhance individual knowledge as well as organizational value and corporate culture. (StudyMode, 1999)

Knowledge management refers to organising and sharing the various forms of business information created within an organisation (Marakas and O’Brien 2013). Knowledge management is important as it increases the capability of a firm to learn from its environment and to incorporate knowledge into its business processes (Laudon & Laudon 2014).