Knowledge management

Management of knowledge organizations

gladur — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:41:38 +0000

I’m planning to write a paper (literature review) on management of knowledge organizations. I’m impressed by the work of Michael Maccoby on the subject (The Managers we Need, 2007). Do you have any information on research or papers on the subject?

More new KM books

gladur — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:56:16 +0000

As a professor in management I receive a lot of information from publishers about new books. Cambridge University Press has just published Managing Knowlege Networks by J. David Johnson, University of Kentucky. Also, the book Mastering Organizational Knowledge Flows by Frank Leistner, Chief Knowledge Officier at SAS Institute, is forcoming in March. So the new year gives a great opportunities to read the newest of all new in KM.

Knowledge bloggers

gladur — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:04:03 +0000

It is of interest for us knowlege bloggers to read a paper in the International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies on the motivation of bloggers for organisational sharing and creation. In the abstract it says: “The use of weblogs for knowledge sharing and creation is a novel social and organisational phenomenon. In this paper, we start from the assumption that successful knowledge management requires the motivation of people to engage in knowledge-related communication. However, several studies indicate that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) do not always improve organisational knowledge sharing and creation as a result of a missing motivation to use ICTs. Thus, we discuss two partially opposite cases, in order to identify and explain contingency factors that directly influence the motivation towards making a contribution in knowledge sharing and creation.” You will find the paper here.

More journals and blogs

gladur — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:45:22 +0000

Happy New Year. I have added more KM journals and blogs to my blog. It is evident that KM is still live and kicking. Keep on the good work. Share knowledge, spread the word.

The different generations of KM

gladur — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:32:48 +0000

Although it is difficult to say exactly when KM started, the first generation of KM is often set at 1990 and that it was very influenced by information tecnology and the possibility to storage and reuse explicit knowledge. The second generation emerged around 1995-2000 and was highly sceptical of the first generation, and stressed the importance of KM culture and HRM, as well as arguing for the importance of tacit knowledge. The third generation, call the integrated approach, emerged around 2002-2004 as is characteristised by integration all the previous generations into a total KM system (including HRM, culture, IT, strategy, tacit and explict knowledge and more). Do you feel that there are new trends or generation emerging in 2010?

New books on KM

gladur — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:28:52 +0000

In recent years few books have been published on KM. It is therefore interesting to see two new books on KM. One is Managing knowledge work and innovation by Sue Newell, Maxine Robertson, Harry Scarbrough and Jacky Swan. Published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2009. This is a 2nd edition of the book. The other book is Knowledge management: Organizing knowledge based enterprises by Igor Hawryszkiewycz and published by Plagrave Macmillan in November 2009. So it is time to get these books and start reading.

Blink and tacit knowledge

gladur — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:55:33 +0000

In the KM literature there have been a lot of discussion on tacit knowledge from different angles. We have many philosopical and ontological classification of knowlege, and the famous SECI model of Nonaka and associates. But very few empirical measurements on tacit knowledge.

I am currently reading the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. The book is more or less about tacit knowledge. In the introduction the author presents an experiment where it is documented that it takes the unconscious mind about 10 seconds to see a pattern. It takes the the couscious part of the mind much longer time. This is very interesting for all of us that are interested in KM to see actual measurement of tacit knowledge.

Community of practice in everyday life

gladur — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:59:26 +0000

The Internet has changed our lifes in many respects, among other things how we search for information. In my childhood most information was sought and shared in closed human communties, and by looking at printed documents. When I observe the information seraching behaviour of my 18 year son a total different pattern is evident. When he need some information he consults a communities of practices of various kinds. By logging into various webpages he is able to ask questions on his car, software problems, how to make a video and so on. And in most cases his search is highly successful, indeed more successful than a close human community would ever be. It is only if he dosen’t receive help in CoP that he cousult us the parents. This is an amasing example of the potential of CoP.

Videos on knowledge management

gladur — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:16:34 +0000

I have just finished teaching a master couse on KM and HRM at the University of Akureyri, Iceland. In my teaching I have tried to mix lectures, group discussions on the topic, and showing some short videos. To my surprise there are a lot of videos and good material on the web. Much more, actually, than I had anticipated. My students loved these short videos that enhance the teaching and learning environment. Here is a good example on sharing culture at Caterpillar.

More research on the impact of culture on knowledge sharing

gladur — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:28:17 +0000

I saw an interesting qualitative research on knowledge sharing among Chinese and American employees of an international company. The results seem interesting and show some cultural differences in knowledge shareing. See the paper in International journal of knowlegde management.