Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Library and

Information Science

Knowledge Management

BLIS 304/BRAM 407

______________________________________________________
Dr Chipo Mutongi

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Author: Dr. Chipo Mutongi
Doctor of Philosophy in Information and Knowledge Management (ZOU)
Master of Science in Library and Information Science (NUST)
Master of Business Administration -MBA (ZOU)
B. A Media Studies (ZOU)
Higher National Diploma in Library and Information Science (HEXCO)
Diploma in Library and Information Science (HEXCO)
Diploma in Education (UZ)
Diploma in Personnel Management (1PMZ)
Diploma in Salaries Administration (Stallone Consultancy)
Certificate in Web Designing (People’s College)
Certificate in PC repairs (People’s College)
Certificate in Desk Top Publishing (CCOSA)

Content Reviewer: Pedzisai Munyoro

Msc Library and Information Science [NUST]
Bsc Degree in Geography and Environmental Studies [ZOU]
Higher National Diploma in Library and Information Science [HEXCO]
National Diploma in Public Relations [HEXCO]
National Diploma in Library and Information Science [HEXCO]

Editor :Solomon Tafireyi Magumisise

Master of Business Administration (ZOU)
Bachelor of Arts (London)
Graduate Certificate in Education (UR)
Diploma in Personnel Management (IPMZ)
Diploma in Training Management (IPMZ)
Diploma in Public Relations (LCCI)
Certificate in Public Relations Techniques (UK)
Certificate in Marketing, Selling and Sales Management (LCCI)
Certificate in Middle Management Development (ZIPAM)
Certificate in Facilitator Training (ZOSS)

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Table of Contents
Module Overview
UNIT 1
Introduction to Knowledge Management
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Unit objectives
1.2 What is knowledge?
1.3 Knowledge characteristics
1.4 What is information?
1.5 Knowledge versus information
Activity 1.1
1.6 What is Knowledge Management?
1.7 Knowledge Management versus Information Management
1.8 The role of Knowledge Management
1.9 Knowledge as a strategic resource
1.10 Background of knowledge Management
1.11Knowledge theoretical framework
Activity 1.2
1.12 Summary
References

UNIT 2
The Dimensions of Knowledge
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Unit objectives
2.2 Knowing and “to be able to”
2.3 Procedural knowledge
2.4 Declarative knowledge
2.5 Tacit versus explicit knowledge
2.6 Indigenous Knowledge
2.8 Cultural knowledge
2.9 Priori knowledge
2.10 Empirical knowledge
2.11 Inferential knowledge
2.12 Factual knowledge
Activity 2.1
2.7 Summary
References

UNIT 3
The process of knowledge management
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Unit objectives
3.2 The Knowledge cycle
3.3 The process of knowledge management
3.4 A hierarchy of knowing

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3.5 Competence vs Knowledge
3.6 The implementation of knowledge management
3.7 Organisation of knowledge
3.7.1 Classification and cataloguing
Activity 3.1
3.8 Summary
References

UNIT 4
The sources of information and knowledge
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Unit Objectives
4.2 Information centers
4.3Libraries
4.4 Types of libraries
4.5.1 Academic library
4.5.2 School library
4.5.3 College library
4.5.4 University library
4.5.5 Special library
4.5.6 Public libraries
4.5.7 Virtual library
Activity 4.1
4.6 Records centers and records management
4.7 Challenges in Library and Information Centers Management
4.7.1 Inadequate budgetary provision for libraries
4.7.2 Absence of national information policies
4.7.3 Few libraries in rural areas
4.7.4 Under-utilization of libraries
4.7.5 Lack of recognition of the profession
4.7.6 Lack of adequate and qualified human resources
4.7.7 Lack of adequate and up to date library material
4.7 Recommendations
Activity 4.2
4.8 Summary
References

UNIT 5
Challenges of information and knowledge Management.
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Unit Objectives
5.2 Challenges of information and knowledge management
5.2.1 Expanding tacit knowledge within the organisation
5.2.2 Managing the volume of explicit knowledge
5.2.3 Decentralised information activities and system

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5.2.4 Underutilisation of information and knowledge
5.2.5 Top down information and knowledge flow
5.2.6 Not giving adequate value to information and Knowledge Management
5.2.7 Lack of awareness
5.2.8 Solutions and recommendations to challenges
Activity 5.1
5.3 Summary
References

UNIT 6
Knowledge workers
6.0 Introduction
6.1 Unit objectives
6.2 Definition of knowledge workers
6.3 The importance of Knowledge worker
6.4 The value given to knowledge workers
Activity 6.1
6.5 The challenges of managing knowledge workers
6.6 How to manage knowledge workers
6.7 The Role of the Information Professional in Knowledge Management
Activity 6.2
6.8 Summary
References

UNIT 7
Knowledge networks and strategies
7.1 Introduction
7.1 Unit objectives
7.2 Strategies of capturing and transferring knowledge
7.3 Knowledge networks
7.3.1 Communities of practice
7.4 The internet
7.5 Global organisational knowledge creation and management
Activity 7.1
7.6 Artificial Intelligence
7.7 Summary
References

UNIT 8
Knowledge and Learning
8.0 Introduction
8.1 Unit objectives
8.2 Organisational Learning and Knowledge management
8.3 The individual learning cycle
8.4 The group learning cycle
8.5 Organisational learning cycle

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8.6 Theories of Learning
Activity 8.1
8.7 Summary
References

UNIT 9
Knowledge management and new communication and information technologies (ICT)
9.0 Introduction
9.1 Unit objectives
9.2 Information technology vs information and knowledge management
9.3 The role of the internet in knowledge applications
9.4 The challenges of ICTs
9.5 Solutions to challenges
Activity 9.1
9.6Summary
References

UNIT 10
The Intellectual Capital
10.0 Introduction
10.1 Unit objectives
10.2 What is intellectual capital?
10.3 The intellectual capital management
10.4 Intellectual property
10.4.1 Patents
10.4.2 Design patent
Activity 10.1
10.5 Summary
References

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Module Overview
Information and knowledge are the only resources that do not decrease with use. One of
the most significant keys to value-creation comes from placing emphasis on producing
knowledge. The production of knowledge needs to be a major part of the overall
production strategy. Carnegie (2010:1) argues that “the only irreplaceable capital an
organization possesses is the knowledge and ability of its people. The productivity of that
capital depends on how effectively people share their competence with those who can use
it”. Knowledge professionals have become the dominant force behind the new economy
of information superhighway and society, as the farmer was once the key player behind
the agricultural age. It is incumbent upon all organizations to embrace this need for
managing knowledge. Just take a look at those organizations that seem to create value
against the competition. You will invariably find a strong emphasis on knowledge
management.

The internal and external environment is always changing which calls for relevant and
appropriate information and knowledge applications in organizational development. This
is supported by Kotler (2005:1) in that “the future is not beyond of us it has already
happened. Unfortunately it is unequally distributed among companies, industries and
nations”. Kotler (2005:158) also goes on to say that “today you have to run very fast to
stay in the same place”. Information and knowledge help in the acquiring, storing and
dissemination as well as acting upon relevant and up to date information and knowledge
therefore able to cope with the changing environment.

History shows examples of lost, unused information and knowledge, the consequent cost
of which can be measured not only in dollars, but on terms of disorder, ignorance and
even death. According to Jackson (1990:13) “Gregory Mendel in 1866 published the
results of his experiments which laid the foundation of the modern science of human and
plant genetics. But not until 1900----34 years later was his great experiment recognised
and put to use. There is, therefore need to utilise information and knowledge hence, a call
for this module. There is, however, confusion concerning the meaning of information and
knowledge. Schlogl (2005:3) observes that “the terms information management and
knowledge management are used very inconsistently in theory and in practice. This is due
to ignorance and tactical reasons”. Better understanding of information and knowledge is
important for proper Knowledge Management.

The world is now living in the era of information and knowledge. The significance of the
role played by information and knowledge in all kinds of human activities, especially
socioeconomic development in changing and developing societies, is too great to ignore.
Knowledge is an important resource for the development of the national economy,
science, technology, and society. The transformation from an agrarian society to the
information society has largely been brought about as a result of accumulation of
knowledge through the centuries. Knowledge by its very nature depends on other
knowledge to build on. Knowledge creation is, in fact, a process of value addition to
previous knowledge through innovation (Duffy, 1999; Narayanan, 2001). Al-Hawamdeh

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(2002:2) adds that “this also implies that the more knowledge we already possess the
more we will be in a position to create and transfer to others. The key to economic
success is always linked to the advances in knowledge creation and the ability of a nation
in translating knowledge into products and services. Knowledge creates knowledge and
in the process brings competitive advantage and leads to wealth creation. Steyn (2004)
observes that “successful organisations are knowledge-creating organisations, which
produce, disseminate and embody new knowledge in new products and services”. To this
end, knowledge management enables organisations to improve efficiency and
effectiveness. Having information and knowledge is regarded as having power.

The introduces you to the fundamental concepts in the study of knowledge and its
creation, acquisition, representation, dissemination, use and re-use and its management.
The role and use of knowledge in organisations and the challenges of Knowledge
Management and their solutions are discussed in the module. Concepts, methods,
techniques, and tools for computer support of knowledge management will be explained.

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UNIT 1
Introduction to Knowledge Management

1.0 Introduction
Knowledge is the only resource that increases with use. This unit introduces you to the
field of Knowledge Management and the role and importance of Knowledge
Management (KM). It defines knowledge and distinguishes it from information.
Knowledge Management is also defined alongside with information management. The
background of Knowledge Management and its theoretical framework are discussed.

1.1 Unit objectives

By the end of this unit, the student should be able to:
 define Knowledge
 distinguish knowledge from information
 define the concept of Knowledge Management.
 discuss the background and theoretical framework of Knowledge Management
 identity the role of Knowledge Management

1.2 What is Knowledge?

“Knowledge is defined as what we know: knowledge involves the mental processes of
comprehension, understanding and learning that go on in the mind and only in the mind,
however much they involve interaction with the world outside the mind, and interaction
with others” (Wilson, 2000). Johnson and Scholes (2004: 150) define knowledge as
“awareness, consciousness or familiarity gained by experience or learning”. Thus
knowledge exists in mind. Frappaolo (2002:8) defines knowledge management as “the
leveraging of collective wisdom to increase responsiveness and innovation”. He goes on
to say the definition implies that three criteria must be met before information can be
considered knowledge which is as follows:

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  Knowledge is connected. It exists in a collection (collective wisdom) of multiple
experiences and perspectives.
 Knowledge management is a catalyst. It is an action-leveraging. Knowledge is
always relevant to environmental conditions, and stimulates action in response to
these conditions. Information that does not precipitate action of some kind is not
knowledge. According to Drucker (1998:8) knowledge for the most part exists
only in application.
 Knowledge is applicable in encountered environments. Information becomes
knowledge when it is used to address novel situations for which no direct
precedent exists. Information that is merely “plugged in” to a previously
encountered model is not knowledge and lacks innovation.
Knowledge therefore is the know how.

1.3 Knowledge Characteristics

Dalkir (2005) brings out the following knowledge characteristics

 Use of knowledge does not consume it

 Transferal of knowledge does not result in losing it
 Knowledge is abundant, but the ability to use it is scarce
 Much of an organization’s valuable knowledge walks out the door at the end of
the day.
Whittington (2001) observes that “knowledge is dynamic in unpredictable ways-
experience and events are always adding to it, regardless of formal efforts at research and
development.

1.4 What is Information?

Information is organised and processed data for a purpose. Mitchell, (2000:15) gives the
example that if the raw data is –10 degrees, then information would be “ it is –10 degrees
outside” and the knowledge would be that –10 degrees is cold and one must dress
warmly. In other words, knowledge is closer to action while information could be seen as

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documentation of any of the pieces of knowledge. Roger and Evernden (2003:134)
observe that “we deal with huge volumes of data every day. There is every expectation
that organisational information will continue to increase and we will be forced to cope
with more and more information, so it is vital to be able to separate the useful, from the
useless”. They go on to say that the task of information architecture is to remove
confusion and frustration, while simultaneously creating information, knowledge and
innovation.

Norton (2009:6) observes that “information’ like beauty, depends on the eye of the
beholder. It has no intrinsic value in itself, value is conferred by the user. Until that
happens, what we have is no more than raw data, ideas, facts or figures, a book on the
shelf, an article in a journal, a statistic on the page, even a picture on the wall. These then
need to be sorted and manipulated to turn data into useable information. Thus certain type
of information has different values to people depending on what they need the
information for. But information is not knowledge or intelligence, just halfway to it. To
convert information into intelligence, we need to analyse, interpret and apply it in order
to solve problems, make decisions or draw conclusions. Evernden and Evernden (2003:1)
are of the opinion that most organisations have made huge investments in information
technology, but few have yet made a strong commitment to information as a corporate
resource. Because of the growth in computing power and the benefits it offers, most
organizations have overlooked the need to cultivate and nurture the resource that
computers sustain which is information. Knowledge is as important as the human,
financial and other physical assets.

1.5 Knowledge versus information

Wiig (2009:3) defines information as facts and data organized to characterize a particular
situation and knowledge as a set of truths and beliefs, perspectives and concepts,
judgments and expectations, methodologies and know-how. Mitchell, (2000:15) adds that
information can be seen as data made meaningful by being put into a context and
knowledge as data made meaningful through a set of beliefs about the causal

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relationships between actions and their probable consequences, gained through either
inference or experience. He goes on to say that knowledge differs from information in
that it is predictive and can be used to guide action while information merely is data in
context.

Frappaolo (2002:8) expounded that information and knowledge management are both
important to an organization’s success, but each addresses different needs and requires
different approaches. Information management consists of predetermined responses to
anticipated stimuli. Knowledge management consists of innovative responses to new
opportunities and challenges. Knowledge must be internalised, it co-exists with
intelligence and experience and emanates at the points where decisions are made. For this
reason the primary repository for knowledge is people’s heads. Electronic and paper
based knowledge repositories are merely intermediate storage points for information
between people’s heads.

Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:37) assert that “There is mostly a difference between
knowledge and its management, and information and its management. Too many
organizations have gone off creating what they thought was a knowledge management
application, only to be disappointed by the results. Their results were actually reasonable
and admirable, but most misguided. Thus if one is going to invest in knowledge
management, there must be clear understanding how it differs from information
management.

 Information management consists of pre-planned responses to anticipated

stimuli,
 Knowledge management consists of unplanned (innovative) responses to
surprise stimuli.

However, it perhaps axiomatic that a knowledge driven enterprise is often only as

effective as the information from which it learns. Information and information systems in
knowledge –driven enterprise must be accurate, timely, available to those who need it,

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and in a format that facilitates use. Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:20) argue that
“knowledge management depends less on the amount of information than on the number
of connections that link information and people. The dynamic linking aspects of
knowledge are a critical distinguishing factor between knowledge management and
information management. It is the navigation between information and people throughout
a value chain of activities that constitutes a knowledge chain.

McGarry (2001:10) assert that “Information is the name for the content of what is
exchanged with the outer world when we adjust to it and make our adjustments felt upon
it. To live effectively is to live with information”. Knowledge is something in your head.
“Information is not imbedded in your mind so that when a situation comes up, you can
sputter it out. Knowledge, however is, and you can apply it to a situation without
thinking” (http://en.mason.gmu.ed/-bpiers02/editfinaldtraft.html).

Information is obtained from different sources which include human communication or

anthrop semiotics which shows how people communicate with themselves: interpersonal
communication, group dynamics within organizations, cross cultural communication
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/human communication). Foskett (2002:1) argues that
“knowledge is what l know, information is what we know. Though knowledge can be
coded into information, there is an error of approximation”. Live performances, whether
they be performances of drama, songs, dances, music and stories are the most ephemeral
of all art. They vanish within moments of being brought into existence and only remain
as a memory (The Herald 07/02/2007).Thus showing that it is difficult for someone
outside the specific culture to know what he/she is looking at and listening to during a
particular performance. The very style of a performance is shorthand of actual meaning
which has been established jointly by artists and their audiences over a period time. This
then indicates knowledge.

Jongwe (2010:15) observes that “many organizations believe that they are knowledge
driven simply because they have a massive databank or they capture a range of
information on their competition, competitors and customers. Kermally (2002:1) argues

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that knowledge is the use of information, whilst knowledge management is about creating
an environment to encourage creation and transfer. Knowledge organizations should have
both information and people who are able to effectively perform such that this
performance cannot be easily copied by other organisations thereby displaying both core
and distinctive competence. Core competence is that an organisation can do better inside
the organization and distinctive competence is what the organization can do better compared
with other organisations.

Activity 1.1
1. What is knowledge?
2. What is information?
3. Distinguish information from knowledge
4. What are the characteristics of knowledge?
5. Distinguish between core competence and distinctive competence
6. A person dies with information but information remains. Discuss.

1.6 What is Knowledge Management?

Frappaolo (2002:8) is of the opinion that “defining knowledge management is not a
simple issue. It is not a technology, although technology should be exploited as an
enabler”. The most important issue today for organizations of almost any size is the
knowledge in the organization and the organization’s ability to deal effectively with that
knowledge” (Everndn and Evernden, 2003:1). According to Dalkir (2005) “Knowledge
management is the deliberate and systematic coordination of an organization’s people,
technology, processes and organizational structure in order to add value through creating,
sharing and applying knowledge as well as through feeding the valuable lessons learned
and best practices into corporate memory in order to foster continued organizational
learning”.

Wiig (2003) emphases that given the importance of knowledge in virtually all areas of
daily and commercial life, two knowledge-related aspects are crucial for viability and

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success at any level. These are knowledge asses that must be applied, nurtured,
preserved, and used to the largest extent possible by both individuals and organizations
and knowledge-related process to create, build, compete, organize, transform, transfer,
pool, apply, and safeguard knowledge that must be carefully and explicitly managed in
all affected areas.

Suresh and Mahesh (2006: ix) are of the opinion that the key elements of a knowledge
Management vision are to:
 Enable and support every individual action by the power of knowledge.
 Empower every employee with the knowledge of every other employee.
 Leverage knowledge for improved development and delivery of products, series
and solutions.
Whittington (2002:25) argues that “knowledge resides inside in the heads of lower
ranking staff, not in the files of top management”. Thus organisations need to identify
people with the appropriate knowledge.

1.7 Knowledge Management versus Information Management

Information management
Bouthillier and Montreal (2002:1) expounded that “to differentiate the management of
information from the management of knowledge, one must examine the distinctions
drawn between the related concepts: data, information, knowledge and intelligence.
Attempts to define these concepts are numerous and produce slightly different results,
depending on which discipline is looking at them. Dictionaries define data as factual
information (measurements or statistics) used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or
calculation, information as the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence,
knowledge as the condition of knowing something gained through experience or the
condition of apprehending truth or fact through reasoning, and intelligence as the ability
to understand and to apply knowledge”. For Meadow, et al. (2000:35), data refer to “a
string of elementary symbols, such as digits or letters. As they point out, information "has
no universally accepted meaning, but generally it carries the connotation of evaluated,
validated or useful data. Knowledge, on the other hand, involves a higher degree of

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certainty or validity than information and has the characteristic of information shared and
agreed upon within a community". Intelligence, for the previous authors, is a form of
information but it is also “a measure of reasoning capacity”. As we can see, many
conceptual overlaps exist between all these terms (Meadow, et al 2000:38).

Powell (2009) posits that “managing information means working out what information is
needed by the people whom you work with, where it might come from, and what they
need it for”. It involves seeing information as a resource which is available to your
organisation, and which can be consciously used and reused to meet its needs.
Audiovisual information services have become an important part of the Chinese special
libraries' information service system. They mix technology and art together and are vivid,
lively, and easy to understand. Therefore, they are suitable forms of information services
for general users. The special libraries' audiovisual information service network covers
nearly all of China. Chinese special libraries now have 1,800 full-time staff for
audiovisual information services, more than 800 facilities for
production, translation and broadcasting, and more than 1,000 locations to show and
distribute audiovisual materials. In recent years, Chinese special libraries have produced
more than 2,500 scientific and technical films or videodisks, importing additional 1,500
from abroad. They have also provided broadcasting for about seven million information
users. All of these activities have produced tangible benefits for the Chinese economy
and society (j.hu@lancaster.ac.uk).

Powell (2009:8) observes that good information management rests on some

straightforward principles which are as follows:

 Information management should be based on a consideration of the needs of all

the people concerned, and how they use, create, and exchange information,
 It should understand and define issues such as the appropriate quality, accuracy,
detail, frequency, format, location and maintenance of information, so that the
information can be used effectively and efficiently,

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  Links between information and power should be understood-the cultural and
organisational contexts in which information is being valued, interpreted, and
exchanged. It must be understood that information, its use, and therefore its
management are dynamic and permanently changing,
 Information management must be functional. It may or may not be possible to
create the most beautiful information system over the next two years, but
information needs managing now.

The distinction between Knowledge Management (KM) and Information Management

(IM) is far from being well-articulated in the KM literature and this is compounded by
the confusion around the concepts of knowledge and information. In fact, there is no
consensus regarding the claim that KM is a new field with its own research base, since
much of the terminology and techniques used, such as knowledge mapping, seem to have
been borrowed from both IM and librarianship (Koenig, 1997). Although many KM
initiatives are documented in the business literature what is actually entailed in these
initiatives remains vague and ambiguous because there are many interpretations of
knowledge management.

From a management perspective the key difference between information and

knowledge is that information is much more easily identified, organized and
distributed. Knowledge, on the other hand, is difficult to manage because it
resides in one’s mind. Thus, KM is essentially limited to creating the right
conditions for individuals to learn (using information and experiencing the world)
and apply their knowledge to the benefit of the organisation. The application of
one’s knowledge can, hopefully, thereby be translated into relevant information
that is shared and used, new products and actions that create value.

There are also very important differences between information and knowledge
management when it comes to strategies for protecting of valuable intellectual
capital. An IM perspective will lead organisations to put too much emphasis on
“front-door security”, badges, firewalls, permission and access levels and so on.
Although in many cases these measures can be of utmost importance, in many

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other circumstances, truly important knowledge resides within people’s heads
and an active and systematic protection strategy of this type of knowledge should
be put in place. In practical terms, there are only two types of strategies to
protect this type of knowledge: retention policies and the circulation of
knowledge. Retention policies are more clearly understood. Circulation of
knowledge strategy relates to actively developing mentoring thus helping juniors
learn from more senior people that hold strategic knowledge and fostering
teamwork and communities of practice which is making sure a number of people
develop knowledge collectively, therefore, reducing the potential of losing
knowledge suddenly by the departure of a particular individual.

1.8 The Role of Knowledge Management

Suresh and Mahesh (2006:ix) demonstrate that “knowledge management aims to create
and expand wealth and/or societal value by providing people with access to individual
and organizational knowledge. This Knowledge, in turn creates an ever changing and
deepening reservoir of new skills and competencies for innovation, decision making and
performance improvement. Each organisation, through top management leadership and
support, must establish systems and processes to help build a pervasive culture to foster
individual knowledge sharing of experiences and learning with the rest of the
organisation”.

Jongwe (2010:15) notes that “knowledge has become the most important factor in
economic life”. Afuah (2010:15) expounded that “a firm’s ability to perform an activity
rests on its knowledge”. Duvenport and Marchard (2000:1) state that knowledge like
information is of no value unless applied to decisions and actions in a purposeful business
context. Jongwe (2010:15) argues that “many companies have worked diligently to stock
the shelves of repositories with information about knowledge. However, they have paid
far less attention to how effectively employees apply and use their knowledge not just
operating today’s business, but for generating new ideas about tomorrow’s business”.
Jongwe goes on to say that “they concede that knowledge application and use is a
complex issue with several different dimensions and single out culture as one of the

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dimensions”. In concurrence with Skyme (2001) and O’ Brien (2004) as alluded to
earlier, Davenport and Marchand (2000), conclude by emphasizing the cardinality of the
human element in the creation and use of knowledge. Kermally (2002:1) suggests that
knowledge is an appreciating assert and the more it is used, the more effective its
application.

Gadner (2002:4) observes that “the concept of knowledge has become increasingly
important as the economic focus has shifted from material resources to the knowledge
and intellectual assets of organisations and their employees. This is accompanied by the
growing demand for knowledge-based products, brain workers and knowledge-
processing computer software. Abell and Oxbrow (2001:5) argue that “the wealth of a
nation no longer depends on its ability to acquire and convert raw materials, but on the
abilities and intellect of its citizens and the skills with which organizations harness and
develop those organizations”. Sanchez (2001:77) postulates that “knowledge creation
and organisational learning have become central concerns in strategic management”.

Knowledge is important to all organizations and in a knowledge-based economy the

capability of individual organisations is critically underpinned by knowledge (Johnson
and Scholes, 2004:151). Evernden and Evernden (2007:7) propounds that “alone with
the financial and human resources, information is being recognized as a vital asset that
should be managed effectively by establishing a special; team responsible for information
in the same way that there are groups responsible for financial accounting and personnel.
People should be trained in the use of information, so that they know how to take
advantage of it and use it effectively”. Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (1999:3) observe that
“in a knowledge-based economy, knowledge management is the critical element of a
business strategy that will allow the organisation to accelerate the rate at which it handles
new market challenges and opportunities, and it does so by leveraging its most precious
of resources, collective know-how, talent and experience. Pindeni (2010: 7) assert that if
man lacks knowledge, he/she will perish. He goes on to say that “if people had
knowledge in my village, we would not have suffered the way we did”.

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 Pindeni (2010:7) describes how people perished from cholera because of lack of
knowledge. Haynes and Mickelson (1997: 58) postulate that information is the key to
effective advocacy. The Herald (11/02/2010:C6) reports that information is power and
every organisation that wants to be on the cutting edge, must have a powerful information
resources base, that is a well stocked library”. Girad and Edvinson (2005: xvii) argue that
“knowledge has become the key source of wealth not only at an organizational but also
on a national level”.

Bouthillier and Shearer (2002) assert that “Information and Knowledge Management
were conceived with the purpose of meeting the needs of competitive organizations.
These organisations, in order to sustain competitiveness, must use strategic information
and knowledge which has been treated with adequate techniques of conception,
organization, dissemination and use”. Bourhillier and Shearer (2002) came up with an
exploratory research done with a sample of public health’s managers in the city of
Campinas/SP were: the understanding, analysis, mapping and evaluation of the decision
making process and eventually to propose improvements in the decision making process
with specific support from Information and Knowledge Management. Among the results
were: identification of information needed at decision making instances and decision
making stages; identification of moments that demand entrance and exit of information
and knowledge in decision making process; evaluation of level of the resulting quality by
using information and knowledge; and development of a decision making proposal
supported by Information and Knowledge Management. This research confirmed the
importance of the information and knowledge resources to decision making process.
Though these resources are always requested by public health’s managers, there is failure
to access it. Thus, the Information Management and Knowledge Management are real
possible alternatives of solutions to pointed deficiencies in the municipal public health
sector.

Abell and Oxbrow (2001:4) are of the opinion that the “wealth of a nation no longer
depends on its ability to acquire and convert raw materials, but on the abilities and
intellect of its citizens and the skills with which organizations harness and develop those

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abilities”. Some organizations argue that identifying and building the value of their
intellectual capital is the main feature in their Knowledge Management (KM)
programme. Drucker (1999:60) observes that “knowledge during the last few decades has
become the central capital, the cost centre and the crucial resource of the economy. New
knowledge, rather than capital or labour, now produces productivity. The impact of
cheap, reliable, fast, and universally available information will easily be as great as was
the impact of electricity”. Turbon et al (2008:28) realises that knowledge can be
organised and stored in a knowledge repository. When a problem has been solved, or an
opportunity to be accessed, the relevant knowledge can be found and extracted from the
knowledge repository. Fitzroy and Hulbert (2006:28) observe that “the traditional factors
of production- capital and skilled labour- are no longer the determinants of the power of
an economy. Now economic potential is increasingly linked to the ability to control and
manipulate information”. Information also plays a major role in empowering people.
Nyamuda (2003:34) postulates that “empowerment has also come to involve a natural
shift of power, away from position to knowledge”.

Johnson and Scholes (2004:151) are of the opinion that “knowledge may also be an
organizational core competence in that it provides competitive advantage. Sanchez
(2001:3) postulates that “managing organizational knowledge effectively is essential to
achieving competitive success. He goes on to say that “managing knowledge is now a
central concern-and must become a basic skill-of the modern manager”.

In summary knowledge management has the following roles:

 Creating Core and distinctive competency
 Helps in decision making
 Creates wealth
 Solves problems
 Brings power
 Results in the right action
 Brings efficiency and effectiveness in the organisation

21
  Helps in organisational strategy

1.9 Knowledge as a strategic resource

Strategy is the actions that are intended to result in anticipated business outcome. Roper
and Williams (1999:88) assert that the strategic assets are that set of goods, tangible or
intangible, which the company has been generating and which have become essential to
develop a competitive advantage in their market. Knowledge is a vital business resource.
In fact knowledge is critical to manage change, which is the distinguishing feature of the
information age.

1.10 Background of Knowledge Management

Johnson and Scholes (2004:490) observe that “in the early 21st century, knowledge
creation and information management are issues at the front of managers’ minds as the
potential source of improved competitiveness. Information management has been around
for more than two decades. Many authors date its beginning back to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1980 in which U.S. federal agencies were forced to introduce
information resource management. Regardless of its exact origins, there was a substantial
growth in literature dealing with this topic at the beginning of the eighties. In the second
half of the nineties, the term knowledge management became more popular (Information
Research, 2005:1). Norton (2009:5) notes that “today information is the bread and butter
of business. The key to success is to apply it with the right pressure in the right quantity
at the right place and time. We then get the quality that we want”.

A number of management theorists have contributed to the evolution of knowledge

management, among them such notables as Peter Drucker (2001:1), and Peter Senge
(2000:1) in the United States. Drucker has stressed the growing importance of
information and explicit knowledge as organizational resources, and Senge has focused
on the "learning organisation," a cultural dimension of managing knowledge.

22
Al-Hawamdeh (2010:1) asserts that the arrival of the information society and the move
toward the knowledge-based economy highlighted the importance of tacit knowledge and
the need to manage knowledge resources including skills and competencies. He goes on
to say that “knowledge management as a concept with people taking the centre stage has
prompted to rethink information management and shift focus from trying to develop
intelligent systems to that of developing tools for intelligent people”. Drucker (2000:1)
was not alone in focusing the attention on the emergence of the "knowledge society".
Many significant public and private sector organizations, for example, Anglian Water
Services, Dow Chemical Co., National Westminster, Hewlett Packard, IBM, ICL,
Monsanto, Skandia Corporation, and UK Department of Defence have demonstrated
strong commitment to the idea that enhanced effectiveness and greater success can come
from knowledge management (64th IFLA General Conference, 2000:1).

1.11 Knowledge Theoretical Framework

Knowledge has different theoretical framework and some of them are discussed below:

1.11.1 Piaget’s knowledge theory

Firth (1981:6) expounded that “nearly fifty years ago, Jean Piaget asked questions about
intelligence and knowledge. Piaget treated questions concerning knowledge as any other
biological problem that needed an answer. He decided to observe for himself in a
systematic and critical manner how general knowledge comes about. Piaget discovered
that it is through the development of intelligence that the individual constructs spatial
notions. This shows that people are accustomed to place within the environment. The
implications of Piaget’s theory of operational intelligence are not limited to psychological
science but apply to science and philosophy in general in so far as they are concerned
with theoretical questions of knowledge. More importantly really revolutionary changes
in the whole field of education and human relations seem to be a direct consequence of
deeper understanding of Piagets’s theory. Firth (19811:6) adds that who dares to guess
how our primary education would change if teachers really took seriously Piaget’s
proposition that knowledge is an operation that constructs its objects.

23
Firth (2001:6) asserts that assimilation is a critical concept in Piaget’s theory. It is his
technical term for the psychological, relation of a stimulus to a reacting organism and
expresses an inner correspondence or someone between an environmental phenomenon
and the structure within the organism. Piaget holds that behaviour at all levels
demonstrates aspects structuring, and he identifies structuring with knowledge. Knowing
is here taken in a very general sense and does not imply any conscious or reflect
knowing. It is by definition synonymous with assimilation to the organism’s structure.
Such a view simplify proposes that an organism cannot respond to a stimulus unless the
stimulus is at least in some rudimentary way meaning or known to the organism. Firth
(2001:6) advocates that Biologists frequently use a different terminology and prefer to
say that an organism has some specific information about its milieu. The main point for
Piaget is that behavior at all levels demonstrates aspects of construction which derive at
least partly from the behaving organism’s intrinsic structure and that this structuring
aspect is identical with meaningful, knowing behaviour. To know is therefore an activity
of the subject and knowledge is a construction in the true sense of the term. Yet this
should not be understood as implying that any specific behavior, human or animal taken
in its concrete situation is nothing but knowing behavior. Knowing activity is only a
partial aspect of the whole, and there are other aspects which always form part of that
whole, as, for instance, motivational aspects, affects, and values. Even behaviour that
may seem to be entirely intellectual for example, problem solving or mathematical
computing, must necessarily involve some aspects of interest and cooperation. Without
some motivation, the effort requisite for that behavior would not be made.

Firth (2001:6) goes on to say that “the notion that knowledge is not a static quality but a
dynamic relation appears again to be rather trivial until one follows it through as does
Piaget to its ultimate consequences. One of the results of Piaget’s radical constructivism
is his resolute refusal to take objectivity in any but a constructivist sense. A thing in the
world is not an object of knowledge until the knowing organism interacts with it and

24
constitutes it as an object. Knowledge is then a subjective copy of something that is
simply given in the external world.

1.11.2 Plato’s knowledge theory

Influenced by Socrates, Plato was convinced that knowledge is attainable. He was also
convinced of two essential characteristics of knowledge. First, knowledge must be certain
and infallible. Second, knowledge must have as its object that which is genuinely real as
contrasted with that which is an appearance only. Because that which is fully real must,
for Plato, be fixed, permanent, and unchanging, he identified the real with the ideal realm
of being as opposed to the physical world of becoming. One consequence of this view
was Plato's rejection of empiricism, the claim that knowledge is derived from sense
experience.

He thought that propositions derived from sense experience have, at most, a degree of
probability. They are not certain. Furthermore, the objects of sense experience are
changeable phenomena of the physical world. Hence, objects of sense experience are not
proper objects of knowledge. Plato's own theory of knowledge is found in the Republic,
particularly in his discussion of the image of the divided line and the myth of the cave. In
the former, Plato distinguishes between two levels of awareness: opinion and knowledge.
Claims or assertions about the physical or visible world, including both commonsense
observations and the propositions of science, are opinions only. Some of these opinions
are well founded; some are not; but none of them counts as genuine knowledge. The
higher level of awareness is knowledge, because there reason, rather than sense
experience, is involved. Reason, properly used, results in intellectual insights that are
certain, and the objects of these rational insights are the abiding universals, the eternal
forms or substances that constitute the real world. The myth of the cave describes
individuals chained deep within the recesses of a cave. Bound so that vision is restricted,
they cannot see one another.

The only thing visible is the wall of the cave upon which appear shadows cast by models
or statues of animals and objects that are passed before a brightly burning fire. Breaking

25
free, one of the individuals escapes from the cave into the light of day. With the aid of the
sun, that person sees for the first time the real world and returns to the cave with the
message that the only things they have seen therefore are shadows and appearances and
that the real world awaits them if they are willing to struggle free of their bonds. The
shadowy environment of the cave symbolizes for Plato the physical world of
appearances. Escape into the sun-filled setting outside the cave symbolizes the transition
to the real world, the world of full and perfect being, the world of forms, which is the
proper object of knowledge.
[http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/biographies/mainbiographies/P/plato/2.html].

1.11.3 Radical Constructivism

McCormick and Paechter (2009:6) observes that “over the past two decades,
constructivism has become increasingly accepted as a viable theory of knowledge, and
for many it is replacing more traditional philosophical positions that claimed the knowing
subject as a pure entity, unaffected by biological, psychological and sociological
contingencies”. They go on to say that, “at the core of constructivism is the belief that
human beings build up knowledge in a slow process, that begins with simple sensory-
motor schema during early childhood and progresses to complex schema without
physical referents from their late teens onwards.

1.11.3 Social Constructivism

McCormick and Paechter (2009:9) Piaget’s development theory and vonGlaserfeld’s
radical constructivism focus to a large extent on individual, isolated minds that construct
knowledge from experiences in the world. However, there is ample evidence that a theory
of knowing and learning as an individualistic interprets is inappropriate in accounting for
many learning situations. Vygotsky (2009:3) regards individual cognitive development as
subject to a dialectical interplay between nature and history, biology and culture, the lone
intact and society. Bruner (2006:2) believed that mind is transmitted across history by
means of successive mental sharing which pass ideas from those more able or advanced
to those who are less so. Bruner (2006:2). Vygotsky (2009:4) considers “the growth of

26
the individual to become a functioning member of the society as part of the process of
societal change.

1.11.4 Michael Polanyi’s concept of knowledge.

Polanyi’s concept of knowledge is based on three main theses:

 First, true discovery cannot be accounted for by a set of articulated rules or

algorithms.
 Second, knowledge is public and also to a very great extent personal (that is it is
constructed by humans and therefore contains emotions, “passion”.).
 Third, the knowledge that underlies the explicit knowledge is more fundamental,
all knowledge is either tacit or rooted in tacit knowledge.

1.11.5 From Knowledge as Truth to Knowledge as relative

Jarvis et al (2001:7) notes that “as early as 1923, the German sociologist, Max Scheler
began to chronicle the way that different types of knowledge change at different speeds,
with technological knowledge changing much more rapidly than religious knowledge for
example.

Activity 1.2
1. What is knowledge Management?
2. What is information Management?
3. Distinguish Information Management from Knowledge Management
4. Give different theoretical perspectives of Knowledge Management?
5. Discuss the role of Knowledge Management in Library and information centres.
6. Discuss knowledge as a strategic resource.
7. Examine the view that knowledge is the only resource that increases with use.

27
1.12 Summary
This unit defined knowledge and information. It has given the distinction between
information and knowledge. Knowledge Management was discussed and a distinction
between information and Knowledge Management was made. The Historical and
theoretical framework of Knowledge Management were established in this unit. The
subsequent chapter will discuss the dimensions of knowledge.

28
References

Abell, A and Oxbrow, N (2001) Competing with Knowledge. London: Library

Association Publishing

Al-Hawamdeh, S. (2002) Knowledge management: re-thinking information management

and facing the challenge of managing tacit knowledge. Singapore: School of
Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University. Information
Research, Vol. 8 No. 1, October 2002

Bouthillier, F and Shearer, K .2002. Understanding knowledge management and

information management: the need for an empirical perspective. Information Research,
8(1), paper(1), no.141. Obtained from http.//inforamtiomR..net/ir/8-1 paper141.html.

Bruner, J. (1966). Studies in cognitive growth: A collaboration at the Center for

Cognitive Studies. New York: Wiley & Sons.

Drucker, P. F (2000) Managing in a Time of Great Change. Oxford: Butterworth

Heinemann.

Evernden,R and Evernden, E .2003. Information First: Integrating Knowledge and

Information Architecture for Business Advantage. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth
Heinemann.

Fitzroy, P and Hulbert,J (2005). Strategic Management. Singapore: Wiley.

Gadner, J et al .2004. Organising Knowledge: Methods and Case Studies. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/human communication

http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/biographies/mainbiographies/P/plato/2.html

Jarvis, P, Holford, J and Griffin, C (2001) The theory of learning. London: Kopan Page.

29
Johnson and Scholes (2004:490) Exploring Corporate Strategy. New Delhi: Prentice Hall
of India.

Jongwe, A (2010) obtained from The Financial Gazette (June 3-9 2010), Harare.

j.hu@lancaster.ac.uk

Kulopoulos, T. M and Frappaolo, C. (2000) Knowledge Management: Smart : Things to

know about. Milford: Capstone.

Mitchell, K D. (2000) Knowledge management: the next big thing. Public Manager, 29
(2), 57-60.

McCormick, R and Paechter, C (2009) Learning and Knowledeg. London: Paul

Publishing Ltd.

Norton, B (2005) Managing Information. Headway: Holder and Stroughton.

Nyamuda, P (2003) Organisational Leadership. Harare: Zimbabwe Open University

Turban, E., and J. Aronson. (2008) Decision Support Systems and Intelligent Systems.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Pindeni (2010) obtained from The Herald (11/02/2010:C6.) Harare

Poyanyi (2010) obtained from http://www.sveiby.com/articles/Disc1-3.html.

Powell, M (2009) Information Management for Development Organizations. Oxford:

Oxfam.

Senge, P.M (2000) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice if The Learning
Organisation. New York: Broadway.

Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and language. Boston: MIT Press.

30
 Whittington, R. 2002. What is Strategy- and does it matter?. London: Thomson.

Wiig, K.M. .1999. "Introducing knowledge management into the entreprise", in:
Knowledge management handbook. New York: CRC Press.

Wilson, T.D .2009. The Nonsense of Knowledge Management. Boras: University of

Sheffield.

64th IFLA General Conference, 2000.

31
UNIT 2

The Dimensions of Knowledge

2.0 Introduction

This unit gives different dimensions of knowledge. It describes tacit and explicit
knowledge. Procedural, declative, indigenous knowledge, cultural, priori, empirical,
inferential and factual knowledge. A distinction between priori and empirical knowledge
is made.

2.1 Unit Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
 explain declative knowledge and procedural knowledge
 define tacit and explicit knowledge
 differentiate tacit from explicit knowledge
 explain indigenous knowledge
 distinguish between priori and empirical knowledge

2.2 Knowing and “to be able to”

Knowledge is the premise for any kind of ability. Thus a distinction has to be made
between knowing and be able to. Knowing is an internal category whereas “to be able to”
in terms of an individual’s skills, are an external observer’s categories.

2.2 Procedural Knowledge

Procedural knowledge, also known as imperative knowledge, is the knowledge

exercised in the performance of some task.Turban, E., and J. Aronson. (2008: 14)
postulates that “procedural knowledge is related to the procedure to carry an action out.
For example, a method to balance a checkbook would be considered procedural

32
knowledge. Knowledge about how to do something is procedural knowledge. Procedural
knowledge is instruction-oriented. It focuses on how to obtain a result.

2.4 Declarative Knowledge

Descriptive knowledge, also declarative knowledge or propositional knowledge, is the

species of knowledge that is, by its very nature, expressed in declarative sentences or
indicative propositions. “Declarative knowledge is factual knowledge. For example,
knowing that ”A cathode ray tube is used to project a picture in most televisions" is
declarative knowledge. Propositional knowledge or declarative knowledge is knowledge
or the possession of information that is either true or false. Declarative knowledge is
assertion-oriented. It describes objects and events by specifying the properties which
characterize them; it does not pay attention to the actions needed to obtain a result, but
only on its properties” (Turban and Aronson 2008: 14). Kumar (2008:108) assert that
declative knowledge means representation of facts or assertions. This tells “what” about a
situation for example, the facts about the college like its building, its courses, location,
organsational set up.

2.5 Tacit versus Explicit Knowledge

Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (1999:41) expounded that “all knowledge exists on a
continuum between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge”.

2.5.1 Tacit Knowledge

Tacit knowledge is personal knowledge embedded in individual experience and involving
such intangible factors as personal belief, perspective, instinct, and values (Frappaolo,
2002: 10). Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (1999:46) assert that personal knowledge is
embedded in individual experience and involving such intangible factors as personal
belief, perspective, instinct and values.

33
 Balogun and Hailey (2009:71) are of the opinion that “the important aspect of tacit
knowledge is that it is not formally held within an organization in the form of written
policies or procedures, instead it is retained in people’s heads. Since it is not written
down or systematized in any way, it is hard to imitate and pass on to others. Yet this
informal knowledge, precisely because it is not formally produced, is often a source of
competitive advantage because it is not easily replicated by other companies. This is
supported by Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:46) who argue that an organisation’s
most valuable knowledge is often tacit. Because explicit knowledge is so easy to convey,
competitors can easily acquire similar knowledge. They cannot learn and create tacit
knowledge so easily-thus, for the company that is able to leverage tacit knowledge, it has
a much more powerful tool for competitiveness at its disposal. There is no doubt that tacit
knowledge plays a more important role in distinguishing companies in terms of success.
For this reason, an ability to expand the level of tacit knowledge throughout an
organisation is regarded as one of the core objectives of knowledge management. It also
happens to be one of the most difficult.

2.5.2 Explicit Knowledge

Frappaolo (2002:10) explains that “explicit knowledge is knowledge that is articulated in
formal language and easily transmitted among individuals both synchronously and
asynchronously. Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:45) explain that “explicit knowledge
is often conveyed as a standard part of most transaction-based information systems. It is
much easier to convey and capture than tacit knowledge”. Explicit knowledge is that it
can be found in textbooks, journals, newspapers, the internet and all other written
material.

2.6 Indigenous Knowledge

Warren (2000:3) posits that Indigenous Knowledge (IK) is the local knowledge –
knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society. IK contrasts with the international
knowledge system generated by universities, research institutions and private firms. It is
the basis for local-level decision making in agriculture, health care, food preparation,
education, natural-resource management, and a host of other activities in rural

34
communities. “Indigenous Knowledge (IK) can be broadly defined as the knowledge that
an indigenous (local) community accumulates over generations of living in a particular
environment. This definition encompasses all forms of knowledge – technologies, know-
how skills, practices and beliefs – that enable the community to achieve stable livelihoods
in their environment. A number of terms are used interchangeably to refer to the concept
of IK, including Traditional Knowledge (TK), Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK),
Local Knowledge (LK) and Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS”
(http://www.unep.org/IK/).

2.8 Cultural Knowledge

These are the shared assumptions and beliefs about an organization’s goals, beliefs,
customers and competitors. These beliefs are used to assign values and significance to
new information.

2.9 Priori Knowledge

It is knowledge which is obtained without needing to observe the world. It deals with an
aspect of reality which is held to be accessible by thought alone. Truths in this area are
held not to depend on experience. In recent years ‘a priori’ has been considered a strictly
epistemological notion – a way in which we can know things, independent of experience.
The traditional view of this has its roots in Plato.

2.10 Empirical Knowledge

This is the knowledge which is only obtained after observing the world or interacting
with it in some way. Often knowledge is gained by combining or extending other
knowledge in various ways. Isaac Newton famously wrote: “If I have seen further... it is
by standing on the shoulders of giants. Empirical or a posteriori knowledge is
propositional knowledge obtained by experience. It is contrasted with a priori knowledge,
or knowledge that is gained through the apprehension of innate ideas, intuition, pure
reason,” or other non-experiential sources. The natural and social sciences are usually

35
considered a posteriori disciplines. Mathematics and logic are usually considered a priori
disciplines.

For example, “all things fall down” would be an empirical proposition about gravity that
many of us believe we know; therefore we would regard it as an example of empirical
knowledge. It is “empirical” because we have generally observed that things fall down,
so there is no reason to believe this will change. This example also shows the difficulty of
formulating knowledge claims. Outside of the Earth’s gravitational field, for example,
things do not “fall down”, as there is no “down”. The vast bulk of the empirical
knowledge that ordinary people possess is gained via a mixture of direct experience and
the testimony of others about what they have experienced.

2.11 Inferential Knowledge

This is the type of knowledge that is based on reasoning from facts or from other
inferential knowledge such as a theory.

2.12 Factual Knowledge

It is knowledge of specific details and elements. It is getting the facts straight and not
twisted.

Activity 2.1
1. Distinguish tacit from explicit knowledge?
2. What is the difference between declative and procedural knowledge?
3. What is indigenous knowledge?
4. How does cultural knowledge help the organisation?
5. What is the difference between priori knowledge and empirical knowledge?
6. Which dimension of knowledge would you recommend to your organisation and
give the reasons why?

36
2.7 Summary

This unit gave different dimensions of knowledge. Declative and procedural knowledge
was explained. It gave the difference between tacit and explicit knowledge. Indigenous
Knowledge was also explained. Cultural, priori, empirical, inferential and factual
knowledge were discussed. The next unit will establish the process of Knowledge
Management.

37
References

Balogun and Hailey (2009) Exploring Strategic Change. Harlow : Prentice Hall.

Frappaolo, C (2002) Knowledge Management. Oxford: Capstone Publishing.

Kulopoulos, T. M and Frappaolo, C. (2000) Knowledge Management: Smart : Things to

know about. Milford: Capstone.

Kumar, E (2008) Artificial Intelligence. New Delhi: I.K International Publishing House
Pvt. Ltd.

http://www.unep.org/IK/.

Turban, E., and J. Aronson. (2008) Decision Support Systems and Intelligent Systems.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Warren, D. M. (1990) “Indigenous Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Agriculture in

Africa”. Keynote Address, International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture in Africa.
Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University, Center for African Studies.

38
UNIT 3

The Process of knowledge Management

3.0 Introduction
This unit gives the process of Knowledge Management. It shows the knowledge cycle.
The hierarchy of knowing is discussed and stages of competency in Knowledge
Management are given.

3.1 Unit objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
 explain the cycle of Knowledge Management.
 give the process of Knowledge Management.
 explain the hierarchy of knowing.
 state stages of competency in knowledge acquisition.

 explain the implementation of Knowledge Management.

 establish the organisation of knowledge.

39
3.2 The Knowledge Cycle

Source: Burk, M (1999:3) Knowledge Management: Everyone Benefits by Sharing

Information. November/December 1999· Vol. 63· No. 3.

Burk (2009:3) observes that in traditional organisations, knowledge tends to flow along
organisational lines, from the top down however that pattern seldom results in making
knowledge available in a timely fashion and where it is needed the most . In organisations
with managed knowledge, information can flow across organisational lines, reaching the
people who can use it in ways that best promote the organisation’s goals and that enhance
service to the customer at the same time. How this happens can be understood by
examining the four basic elements of the knowledge management cycle: find/create,
organise, share, and use/reuse.

Find/create-Knowledge is gained through a variety of means, including publications,

conferences, workshops and meetings, project experiences, research, and industry
expertise.

40
Organise and share-The knowledge is filtered and catalogued and the links to the
outside are created. Then the knowledge is shared for wide availability, making use of
high-tech computer tools such as the internet and other techniques such as conferences,
journal articles, and the natural communication channels created in a collaborative work
environment. Knowledge shared it knowledge multiplied. To help carry out the
“organise” and “share” functions in a specific community of people having a common
interest, information professional are called for which include the Librarian, Records
Manager and Knowledge Manager.

Use/reuse- It is when knowledge that has been captured, coded, shared, and otherwise
made available is put to actual use. If this step is not accomplished successfully, all of the
KM efforts will have been in vain, for Knowledge Management can succeed only if the
knowledge is used (Dalkir, 2008:145). However, it now becomes imperative to
understand which knowledge is of use to which set of people and how best to make it
available to them so that they not only understand how to use it but believe that using this
knowledge will lead to an improvement in their work.

Stapleton (2003:43) finds that there are ten step processes for transferring information,
data, research and opinions into usable applicable knowledge which are as follows:

 Find it
 Get it
 Evaluate it
 Compile it
 Understand it
 Analyse it
 Synthesize it
 Disseminate it
 Act on it
 Maintain it/ combine it.

41
3.3 The Process of Knowledge Management

Figure 3. 1: Conceptual framework: knowledge management processes

(source: http.//inforamtiomR..net/ir/8-1 paper141.html.)

The above diagram demonstrates the process of Knowledge Management and gives the
following stages:

42
  Identification of knowledge needs- There is need to identify the knowledge needs
of the individuals, organisation and the society. This is important in proving the
right knowledge to the right people,
 Discovery of existing Knowledge- The existing knowledge should be established
so that it will be utilized together with the acquired and created knowledge,
 Acquisition of Knowledge - The identification of the existing knowledge will help
in the acquisition of knowledge that might not be available which will result in
the acquisition of that knowledge,
 Creation of new knowledge- New knowledge need to be created,
 Storage and organisation of knowledge- For easy access and use knowledge need
to be stored and properly organised,
 Sharing of knowledge-There is need to share knowledge so that knowledge is not
lost when people die or leave the organisation,
 Use and application of knowledge- Knowledge need to be used to obtain new
knowledge.

Suresh and Mahesh (2006:ix) advocates that “in order for knowledge sharing to become
part of the fabric of an organization’s work culture, the drive to share can only be
sustained through addressing factors intrinsic to the individual and their environment-
their hopes, aspiration, fears, the sense of belonging, potential for learning and growth,
internal motivation, rewards and recognition”.

Nomana and Takeuchi (1995:29) describe four processes for the convention of tacit and
explicit knowledge which they believe is crucial to creating value.
 Tacit-to-tacit-socialization where individuals directly share and test knowledge
 Tacit-to-explicit-externalization-the transformation of knowledge into a tangible
form through documentation or discussion
 Explicit-to-explicit-combination-combining different forms of explicit knowledge
such as documents or databases
 Explicit –to tacit-internalization-where individuals internalize knowledge from
documents, discussion or learning into their own body of knowledge.

43
  Knowledge mapping (Seeman, 2008). Knowledge mapping is data gathering,
survey, exploring and discovery. It aims to track the loss and acquisition of
information and knowledge, personal and group competencies and proficiencies,
show knowledge flows, appreciate the influence on intellectual capital due to staff
loss, assist with team selection and technology matching.

3.4 A Hierarchy of Knowing

Rolf (1991:3) suggests a hierarchy of knowing based on how the rules are followed:
 The lowest level of knowing is to follow rules which can be controlled by the
subject itself,
 The next level is to follow rules which are established by a social context outside
the individual-know how,
 The highest level is to be able to and to be allowed to change the rules
competence, or expertise.

3.5 Competence vs Knowledge

Scott (2010 :1) defines a competency by four characteristics:
 A cluster of related knowledge, attitudes, skills, and other personal characteristics
that affect a major part of one’s job

 Correlates with performance on the job

 Can be measured against well-accepted standards

 Can be improved via training and development

From the perspective of knowledge growth, the most important is the fourth characteristic
the ability to learn and improve. The following diagram shows stages of competence a
person typically goes through as knowledge is internalised and put to use during daily
work (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/cc505967.aspx.).

44
Figure 3.2 Stages of competency in knowledge acquisition

Source: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/cc505967.aspx

Beginner
A person that is not aware of the existence or relevance of a certain skill area, or even
denies the relevance or usefulness of the skill, is called a beginner. The beginner does not
recognize a deficit, it is not possible to improve the skill, so we can say that person is
incompetent without knowing it. A cohesive collection of available knowledge areas for a
profession would help beginners identify deficits, so that they can determine how to
acquire the skills and become learners.

Learner

45
A learner is aware of the existence and relevance of the skill; the deficiency in this area is
often exposed through trying and failing to perform a missing skill and generates a thirst
for knowledge. Ideally, a learner makes a commitment to learn and practice the new skill
until the adequate proficiency level is met. People at this stage urgently need sources of
relevant knowledge and training. A reference index of learning resources could direct
them to the best sources.

Apprentice
When a certain skill can be performed reliably and at will, the stage of conscious
competence is reached. Apprentices need to concentrate to perform the skill deliberately;
the apprentice still lacks intuitive command of the skill. The knowledge is gathered, but it
requires practice to become “second nature.” Concentrating and thinking about the skill
requires frequent reminders and guidelines. A single source of information to help
apprentices follow the steps, it would shorten the time required to develop unconscious
competence.

Expert
This is the stage when a skill is used without a second thought, just like driving,
swimming, or skiing. It becomes so natural that the decision to use it is not conscious.
This is the mastery stage when a skill starts to turn into art and the expert can turn into a
teacher. (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/cc505967.aspx).

3.6 The Implementation of Knowledge Management

Burk (2009:3) asks “to implement knowledge management, how much does an
organization need to change its culture? Some people believe that a wholesale
transformation is required in the way people work and act, but this is largely a myth. The
fact is that successful knowledge management programmes work with organisational
cultures and behaviours, not against them.

46
Tissen (2003:1) advocates that every organisation should strive to have six capabilities
working together:

 Produce : Apply the right combination of knowledge and systems so that you
produce a knowledge based environment,
 Respond : Constantly monitor and respond to the marketplace through an
empowered workforce within a decentralized structure,
 Anticipate : Become pro-active by anticipating events and issues based on this
new decentralized knowledge based system,
 Attract : Attract people who have a thirst for knowledge, people who clearly
demonstrate that they love to learn and share their knowledge opening with
others. These so-called knowledge professionals are one of the most significant
components of your intellectual capital,

 Create : Provide a strong learning environment for the thirsty knowledge worker.
Allow everyone to learn through experiences with customers, competition and son
on,
 Last : Secure long-term commitments from knowledge professionals. These
people are key drivers behind your organisation. If they leave, there goes the
knowledge.

3.7 Organisation of Knowledge

In order to make explicit knowledge available to people it must be organized in a useful

way. The difficulty in organising information and knowledge is due to the fact that
describing the content of sources is a subjective act. Someone must determine how a
specific resource fits within the whole of human knowledge or the knowledge within a
specific discipline.

47
In order to make resources as accessible as possible, librarians and other information
professionals try to anticipate the different ways people might search for them. It often
proves difficult to focus a person,s information request in such a way as to match the
request to a book, periodical, web page, or other form of published resource. Implicit
knowledge is classified catalogued for easy accessibility, search and research.

Activity 3.1
1. What is the cycle of Knowledge Management?
2. Discuss the process of Knowledge Management.
3. Discuss the hierarchy of knowing.
4. Analyse the stages of competency in knowledge acquisition.
5. How can knowledge be implemented in your organisation?
6. Explain ways of organising knowledge?

3.8 Summary

The cycle and process of knowledge was discussed in this unit. The hierarchy of
knowledge was illustrated and stages of competency in knowledge acquisition were
discussed. The implementation and organisation of Knowledge Management were
elaborated in this unit. The subsequent unit will look on the repositories of information
and knowledge.

48
References

Burk, M (2009) Knowledge Management: Everyone Benefits by Sharing Information.

November/December 1999· Vol. 63· No. 3.

http.//inforamtiomR..net/ir/8-1 paper141.html [accessed 16/09/11]

Nomaka,I and Takeuchi, H (2005) The Knowledge creating company. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

Rolf (1991) obtained from http://www.sveiby.com/articles/Disc1-3.html [accessed

20/09/11]

Seeman, P (200) A prescription for knowledge management: What the Hoffman LaRoche
case can teach others, Business Innovation 1, obtained from www.
Businessinnovation.ey.com/journal/issue.

Scott, B.P (2010) obtained from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-

us/architecture/cc505967.aspx . [accessed 15/09/11]

Stapleton, J.J (2002) Knowledge Management. London: John Wiley and sons.

Tissen, R.V (2003) Value Based knowledge Management. Longman: London.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/cc505967.aspx

49
UNIT 4

The Sources of Information and Knowledge

4.0 Introduction

This unit gives the sources of information and knowledge. It talks of different types of
libraries as repositories of information and knowledge. The unit also explains records
centres as repositories of information. The challenges that are encountered in libraries
and information centres are discussed.

4.1 Objectives

By the end of the unit you should be able to:

 state different repositories of knowledge.

 distinguish different types of libraries
 define Records Management
 discuss challenges in Library and Information Centers

4. 2 The People’s minds

Awad and Ghaziri (2009:75) give an example of human mind as a sources of knowledge

and adds that it accommodates learning. The people’s minds are sources of knowledge as

knowledge exists in the mind. The infinite library of the universe is in your own mind.

The external world is simply the suggestion, the occasion, which sets you to study your

50
own mind, but the object of your study is always your own mind.

(http://www.greenmesg.org/swami_vivekananda_sayings_quotes/education-

source_of_knowledge.php.). This points out that people’s minds are sources of

knowledge.

4.3 Products, services and performance

Knowledge can be encoded in products, services and performance. For example the way
a librarian performs his/her cataloguing work shows knowledge in that performance.

4.4 Organisational routines, processes and norms

Knowledge is also encoded in organizational routines, processes and norms. The way an
organisation for example an information centre performs its tasks and process for
example classification, cataloguing and appraisal signifies knowledge.

4.5 The internet

The internet is also a source of knowledge. There is great knowledge that can be found
from the internet. The internet actually creates new winners and buries the laggards.
However it also comes with its own challenges.

4.6 Information centers

An information centre is a place where one gets the information he/she requires to fulfill
his/her information needs. It is both a repository of both information and knowledge.

4.7 Libraries

At an elementary stage a library is defined as a collection of literacy documents or record

kept for reference or borrowing (Adio and Olasina, 2007). An advanced definition of a
library according to Islam (2004) “is a learned institution equipped with treasures of

51
knowledge maintained, organized, and managed by trained personnel to educate the
children, men and women continuously and assist in their self-improvement through an
effective and prompt dissemination of information embodied in the resources. The
Sunday Mail (31 February to 6 March 2010) posits that “libraries are a prime source of
information which assist students, professionals and all members of the public that yearn
for wisdom through reading”. Allcock (2009:23) posits that “this world of material
would not be accessible and meaningful if it were not organized and presented
professionally by information workers the world over.

4.8 Types of Libraries

There are different types of libraries which are as follows
 Academic library
 Special library
 Public library
 Virtual library

4.8.1 Academic library

The academic libraries include the school library, college library and the university
library. In an academic library, the librarian becomes teacher of teachers as well as
teacher of students and researchers.

4.8.2 School library

This is the library within a school setup or a library of a certain school for example,
Dominican Convent School Library and the Buhera School Library. The role of the
school library is to support the teaching and learning programme in a school. It assists
both the teacher and the learners in their researches. In so doing promoting knowledge
acqusition. If the school library is to serve its purpose, it must be recognized as an
integral part of the teaching programme. The school library plays a major role in
knowledge acquisition and transmission as an information centre, as a learning resource
centre and a reading centre thereby promoting learning and reading culture.

52
Wehmeyer (1984:xix) assert that the “school Librarian as educator guides youngsters in
independent study projects and demonstrates media production”. The Librarian develops
learning packages. They counsel students on study habits and reading selection and often
about personnel problems as well. This promotes formal and nonformal education leading
to the advancement of knowledge as knowledge increases with use. The librarians work
together with teachers in planning overall curriculum and, in so doing, the teacher and the
librarian learn from each other. The Librarian’s contribution in education includes the
scope, structure, and organization of the collection and of the network of resources
available in the community, by mail or by computer as well as researching on the
internet. Kotler (2005:1) argues that the internet creates new winners and buries the
laggards”.

Moreover, planning cooperatively with the teacher, a librarian must know how to fit
library resources to the instructional objectives set forth by the teacher and sometimes,
how to elicit those objectives. The librarians utilize the library as a teaching tool. They
suggest materials, activities and educational strategies to facilitate students learning. This
is facilitated by incorporating multimedia materials and various independent learning
activities into the classroom unit. These activities include programmed instruction, tape
recorded lessons, speaking books and video lessons.

4.8.3 College library

The college library is mostly situated in the college campus for example Seke Teachers
College library. It helps both the lecturer and the student in their researches and day to
day learning. The user education offered at college libraries contributes to students and
lecturers obtaining information literacy. It is also used in knowledge acquisition through
bibliotherapy.

4.8.4 University Library

53
The university library is usually situated in a university campus, for example, the
University of Zimbabwe Library. It is used intensively for projects research writing,
preparation of notes and for reference purposes.

4.9 Special library

Special library means a library that focuses on the interests inherent in the institution it
serves. Libraries in hospitals, corporations, association, museums, parastatals and other
types of institution are all special libraries. Special libraries follow the focus strategy
which was expounded by Michel Porter. This has been an effective strategy as it tends to
get closer to customers thereby bringing out some distinctive competencies which include
efficiency, quality, motivation and responsiveness to customers. Kotler (2005:106) adds
that the firm gets to know its customers intimately and pursues relevant approaches that
suit their needs. This then acts as a protective measure against rivals to the extent that
the organization would be providing services that competitors do not easily imitate. The
focus strategy employed in special libraries permits the library to stay closer to its
customers and provide effective and efficient response to their changing needs hence
serving a narrow market better than competitors who serve a broader market, for
example, public libraries.

The role and value of the special libraries is in meeting the organisational goals and
objectives. According to Jackson (1990:1) “special librarians are information resource
experts dedicated to putting knowledge to work to attain the goals of their organisation”.
Jackson (1990:1) adds that special libraries “play a unique role in gathering, organising
and coordinating access to the best available information sources for the organisation,
understanding the critical need of turning that information into usable knowledge”. This
is also enhanced by the role of the special Libraries Association (SLA) to bring out the
value of Special Libraries in the strategic organisational decision making. This is
supported in the research done by the Special Library Association (2005:1) at five large
corporations. The research showed the value of special libraries in the sense that four out
of five of the surveyed executives felt that the information provided by their special

54
librarians helped them decide upon a course of action. Thus bringing in the value of
special libraries and their contribution to the success of organisations.

The research studies conducted by Elizabeth Makin, Nigel Ford and Alexander M
Robertson (2008:2) of the department of Information Studies University of Sheffield
identified how special libraries are neglected in some areas, for example, catalouging.
Very few special libraries materials were fully catalogued and this resulted in the
ineffectiveness of special libraries and delayed the user’s time.

The ability of the special librarian to bring himself/herself and the organisation together
and the closeness of the special librarian to the users is very important. Jackson
(1990:14) adds that “because most special libraries are members of the family in the
organisation they serve, they can maintain close relations with their patrons and make
sure that the information services they provide truly meet their patron’s needs”. This
helps the users and librarians to realise that such service is not a stop and go situation, but
often is a continuum, whereby the first services provided may open new avenues of
investigation or questioning, and this may stimulate the need for more information on
related problems. Mueller (2000:25) points out that the public library has a long term
objective to satisfy the cultural needs of society, while the special library has to dispense
a more tangible product—answers to problems of interest of the company on a day to day
basis. This highlights that information and knowledge in an organisation are a commodity
that can be bought and sold and the library that handles it is a business that can generate
profit. Thus indicating that information and knowledge have a measurable value. This
serves the company’s money through information and knowledge provision leading to
effective decision making.

Lock (1988:31) asserts that “the objectives, value and priorities in this kind of library are
concerned with an employer and specific readers, than with generalised library practice.
Regard for the local context and the opportunities it provides for unique good service, has
always characterised the best special librarianship. Subject knowledge and other special
preparedness are needed, and the librarian’s natural stand is by the reader’s side”. Much

55
value is also put on selective dissemination of information in special libraries. There is
unique group of materials in the special libraries which include journals, statistical
information, periodicals, pamphlets, informational booklets, company annual reports,
budget reports, brochures, and internet researches. It is interesting that some of the
reports and research projects in the library were done by the library users themselves with
the help of the librarian.

The special library has a great role in promoting employee learning and organisational
learning. Some of the library users would be attending schools, colleges and universities
hence utilize the special library in educational development. Equally important, special
libraries save money. Extensive research has shown that special libraries are likely to
save several times their cost of operation by reducing the time that employees have to
spend to acquire needed information. That is time that can be spent on the employees’
primary duties.

The study done by Owens and Abell (2003:155) conclude that “all company libraries
have seen their staff and funding diminish and they have been slow to take up new
technology. There has been increasing marginalization of library-based services in favour
of technology-based services, which lack the expertise of libraries”.

4.10 Public Libraries

This is often called “People’s University” in a democratic society operated for the people
by the people that conserves and organizes human knowledge in order to place it freely in
the service of the community without any distinction of occupation, creed, class, religion
or ethnicity. It is the university of the people since it is maintained and financed by the
people of the community who freely throng in the institution and acquire knowledge that
they need in their day to day life ( Olio and Olasina, 2010:7). Although the public library
can charge people to use the library, the costs are little. The significance of the role of the
public library in supporting the reading development of children, young people and elders
produce service criteria and performance indicators to inform future directions and
policy.

56
4.11 Virtual library
The “virtual library” emulates a real library, but is understood to be a product of the
virtual world of the internet (Burke, 2001:1). Both digital and electronic libraries can be
virtual libraries if they exist only virtually -- that is, the library does not exist “in real
life”. For example, a virtual library can consist of material from a variety of separate
libraries that are organized in a virtual space using computers and computer networks.
Tennant (1999:1) notes that one of the best examples of a virtual library is the Networked
Computer Science Technical Reports Library (NCSTRL).

Activity 4.1
1, What is a knowledge repository?
2, Give different types of libraries and their roles?
3, Discuss the role played by special libraries in Knowledge Management?
4, When a person does he/she does with knowledge but information remains. Discuss

4.12 Records Centers and Records Management

According to Savic (2002) and Trauth (2009), records management is one of the oldest
information management disciplines. This claim was renewed by the records
management community when renaming the most important international journal in the
field from Records Management Quarterly to The Information Management Journal. In a
highly respected book in this field, records management is described as a discipline
which is concerned with the management of document-based information systems
(Robek, et al. 2006:4).

Robek et al.( 2006:5) adds that the main goals of records management are: to
 furnish accurate, timely, and complete information in order to enable efficient
decision making processes;
 process recorded information as efficiently as possible;
 provide information and documents at the lowest cost;
 render the maximum utility to the users of documents;

57
  dispose of records which are no longer needed (Robek, et al. 1996).
As can be seen, the main feature of records management is the management of the
information life cycle. According to Robek, et al. (1996), it consists of production,
dissemination and use, storage and provision for current access, decisions on the
retention/destruction, and archiving of documents.

4.13 Challenges in Library and Information Centers Management

There are some challenges in the management of libraries and information centres. Some
of the challenges are given below:

a, Inadequate budgetary provision for libraries

There is a challenge of lack of funds in libraries for their effective utilization. In the
research done by Owens et al (1996:33) on information and Business Performance it was
discovered that libraries were not adequately funded. They found that “in general the
libraries had all seen their budgets cut in recent years. This has caused them to reduce
their levels of service and has made them reluctant to promote their activities within the
company”.

b, Absence of national information policies

This affects the efficient and effective operation of libraries.

c, Few libraries in rural areas

Although most people in the African countries live in rural areas, most libraries are,
however, located in urban areas.

d, Underutilisation of libraries

History shows examples of lost or unused information, the consequent cost of which can
be measured not only in dollars, but in terms of disorder, misery, ignorance and even
death. According to Jackson (1990:13), “Gregory Mendel in 1866 published the results of

58
his experiments which laid the foundation of the modern science of human and plant
genetics. But not until 1900… 34 years later was his great achievement recognised and
put to use”. This underutilization and loss of information of great value should be
minimised hence calls for utilisation of libraries.

e, Lack of recognition of the profession

Librarians and other information professionals are not highly recognized as compared
with professions like Accounting, Finance and Auditing. For example, a Librarian with
high qualifications is found in a lower grade as compared to an Accountant in most
organisations.

f, Lack of adequate and qualified human resources

Oldaker (2003:307) asserts that the problems of an information service or special library
discussed are those of staffing.

g, Lack of adequate and up to date library material

Most libraries and information centres lack adequate and up to date material.

4.14 Recommendations
 There is need to adequately fund the libraries and information centres;
 Need for an information policy from the organizational to the national level as
well as global level;
 There is need to for marketing of information services as well as creating as
awareness to the clients of the information services;
 Librarians should know principles of education for the librarians are not only
teachers of children, they are also teachers of teachers;
 Education for all to be effective, government and policy makers in education
should look beyond recruitment of teachers and ensure that libraries are

59
 established alongside these education for all projects and that all libraries should
be stocked with the materials that are of immense contribution to the development
of minds of the community and people in the environment which the library serve
hence leading to national development;
 There is need for Total Quality Management in libraries which promote
continuous improvement (kaizen). For example, the Government of Bangladesh
has been trying to develop public libraries in the country. During its first, second,
third and fourth five-year plans, public libraries have received an increasing
attention;
 Librarians should be at the forefront in showing their importance to the
organization, society and the world;

 Modeling of the rural community library characteristics of the Kitengesa Library

in rural Uganda. This library which serves as both a community library and a
school library
(http://www.kitengesalibrary.org/modellingarticle pdf). It might be seen as a
model for other rural libraries for sustainable development. Thus there is need to
also incorporate school libraries as community libraries.

Activity 4.2
1. What is the role records and information centres in the Management of Know ledge?
2. Discuss the challenges that are faced in libraries and information centres ? Give
recommendations to the challenges?
3. Which challenges does your organisation face in information and knowledge
management ?

4.14 Summary
This unit discussed the sources of information and knowledge. It explained different
types of libraries as repositories of information and knowledge. Records centres were

60
given as examples of knowledge repositories. The challenges that can be found in
libraries and information centres were discussed and recommendations given. The next
chapter is going to discuss on the challenges of information and knowledge management.

References
Awad, E.M and Ghaziri, H (2009) Knowledge Management. New Delhi:Pearson.

http://www.kitengesalibrary.org/modellingarticle pdf. [accessed 22/08/11]

Islam, S.K.M (2004) The role of libraries and Education: Information society Today
vol.1 (1).
Kotler, K (2005) Marketing Management. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India.

Lock, N.R. (1988) Manuel of Library economy: A conspectus of Profesional

Librarianship for students and Practitioners. London : Clive Bingley.

Mueller, M . (1990). “Time , Cost and Value Factors in Information Retrieval”. In

information Retrieval Systems Conference, Poughkeepsie,N.Y, 1959. General
Information Papers. New york: IBM Corp.

Oldaker,L.T .2003. Administration problems of a Special library: The service and its
staff. Vol.5. no.4.

Odio, G and Olasina, G (2010) The role of library in educational development.

Ogbomoso: Ladoke Akintola University of Technology

61
Owen, J., Burstein, F., and Mitchell, S. (2004). "Knowledge Reuse and Transfer in a
Project Management Environment", Journal of Information Technology Cases and
Applications (JITCA), Ivy League Publishing, Vol 6 number 4.

Robek, M.F., Brown, M.F. & Stephens, D.O. 2006. Information and records
management. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Special Librarianship-Special Libraries Association (SLA).[internet] Available

fromhttp://www.sla.org/content/SLA/professional/meaning/what/index.cfm
http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/professional/meaning/what/index.cfm.
[accessed 12/02/08]
The Sunday Mail (31 February to 6 March 2010), Harare.

Wehmeyer, L, B (1984) The School Librarian as Educator. Littleton: Libraries

Unlimited.

62
UNIT 5

Challenges of Information and Knowledge

Management.

5.0 Introduction
This unit discusses the challenges in information and knowledge management. It gives
the confusion and misunderstandings that exists between information and knowledge.
Strategies on how to solve those challenges are given.

5.1 Unit Objectives

By the end of the unit you will be able to:

 Give the different challenges of information and knowledge management
 Indicate solutions to the challenges.

5.2 Challenges of information and knowledge management

There are challenges in the information and knowledge management. Some of the
challenges are below:

63
a, Expanding tacit knowledge within the organisation

Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:37) give the challenge of expanding the levels of tacit
knowledge within an organisation. Since tacit knowledge exists in the mind, some
oganisations find it difficult to expand it.

b, Managing the volume of explicit knowledge

The primary challenge when facing explicit knowledge is to manage its volume and
ensure its relevance. There is now information explosion which in turn has brought the
challenge of choosing the relevant information. A common malaise facing organisations
is information overload, as the levels of explicit knowledge become so overwhelming
that they cannot be appropriately filtered, and applied or connected at the right point and
time.

c, Decentralised information activities and systems

Dentralised information activities and systems, resulting from lack of policy (Orna, E,
2000:16). Decentralisation of information activities results in duplication of work and
result in wasted time.

d, Underutilisation of information and knowledge

The information and knowledge that is there in organisations and communities if not
fully utilised. This is evidenced by the underultisation of information centres and
knowledge workers.

e, Top down information and knowledge flow

Whittington (2001:26) argues that “especially in knowledge-intensive firms, such as

professional services or new technology enterprises, strategy is as likely to emerge
bottom-up as top-down. After all, it is at the bottom where the knowledge lies and is
continuously recreated. Top managers ignore this source of value in their strategy process
at their peril”.

64
f, Not giving adequate value to information and Knowledge
Management

The study done by Owens and Abell (2003:122) found out the “the company does not
convey the value of information to its workers. Indeed the value of information is not
fully understood by senior staff within the company. It is when it is missing that
information becomes an issue”. The study done by Owens and Wilson (2003:129)
identifies difficulties of locating information. One major problem is that company offices
are spread over a wide geographic area, so information may be held in one part of the
country that is needed in another.

g, Lack of awareness

There is lack of awareness of the existence and importance of information and

Knowledge Management. Owens and Wilson (2003:114) in their research identify that
“in general staff members are not aware of all the information resources that are available
to them. One reason for this is lack of training in general information-seeking skills.
Sanchez (2002:12) identified problems that may arise in the process of sharing
information in groups which are as follows:

h, People knowing more than they say

People may know more than they say, for example, individuals may prefer to keep some
knowledge in personal tacit form. What a person can say might not be what he/she all
knows. Sometimes it becomes difficult explaining what one knows. On the other hand
some people prefer to keep some of what they know to themselves.

i, People saying more than they know

People may say more than they know. Some people exaggerate what they know.

J, People hearing something not said

65
People may hear something other than what is said. This is due to different backgrounds
and level of education. Sanchez (2001:73) notes that “difficulties related to the
interpretation of what others are saying often resulted from the different terminologies
and vocabulary used in different fields of technology. There is therefore need to
standardize the language (symbols) and frameworks of employees. Gadner et al (2004)
argues that “computer science covers the technological aspects and provides the software
and hardware. In order to cover the field of knowledge management adequately, methods
and concepts from psychology, economy, sociology, group therapy, philosophy,
epistemology, cognitive science, artificial intelligence and so on are at least as important
as the techniques and tools offered by computer science.

Sanchez (2001:14) adds that the problems of knowledge sharing may arise because of the
nature of the learning process itself, as well as for economic and social reasons. Knight
and Silk observes that (1990:3) knowledge and information are intangible therefore can
not be counted therefore making the task of managing information and knowledge
difficult.

Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:51) discover that “Far too many organizations focus
their efforts on how to get knowledge out of their knowledge-management systems, and
too little, if any, on getting knowledge into the system.

Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:51) notes that there are obstacles in capturing
knowledge:
 Mobility
 Half-life
 Threat to specialists

k, Mobility
Especially in larger organisations and mature or maturing markets, mobility is the
daunting challenge of capturing knowledge as employees and gray matter are constantly

66
moving in and out of the organisation. Some people with the relevant knowledge and
information may leave the organisation.

l, Half life
Because knowledge has a limited life span, people who use it should constantly re-
evaluate the validity of the knowledge on which they base decisions. The problem,
though, is that knowledge is not always overt or easily accessible. Because it is below the
surface, it is not examined often. Individuals may assume that a certain process or
business method is correct because it has precedent, even if that precedent is based on
out-dated premises.

m, Threat to specialists
Many individuals who have become specialist in their areas of expertise are obviously
reluctant to part with their knowledge for fear of making their skills less valuable. This
depends on specifics of the industry. The accounting profession changes little in the
course of five years, whereas the knowledge base for engineering and designing
integrated circuits changes monthly.

n, Replacing knowledge
Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:51) postulate that “replacing knowledge is much more
important-and more difficult-than its simple capture. And this stumps most organisations.
They realise too late that all their efforts to capture knowledge are nothing more than
casual accumulation of information”.

o, The dissemination of knowledge

One of the biggest challenges behind knowledge management is the dissemination of
knowledge. People with the highest knowledge have the potential for high levels of value
creation. But this knowledge can only create value if it is placed in the hands of those

67
who must execute on it. Knowledge is usually difficult to access – it leaves when the
knowledge professional resigns.
[http://www.exinfm.com/board/importance_of_knowledge_management.htm].

p, Confusion and misunderstanding of the Knowledge Management

concepts

There is confusion and misunderstanding of the Knowledge Management concepts. This

makes the management of knowledge a challenge. Some people think that Knowledge
Management is Information Technology while some think that information and
knowledge is one and the same thing.

Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (1999:37) observe that “Although there is much heat in the
knowledge management field, there is very little light. Widespread lack of understanding
exists about how to implement knowledge management effectively, or even what it is.
Indeed, one has merely to try to find a widely accepted definition for knowledge
management to realise the extent of confusion that exists”.

In the study done by Owens (2009:37) on the information and business performance, it
was indicated that some companies demonstrated a desire to introduce information
management concepts to the organization but had some problems in understanding
information management concepts. There is a problem in identifying the difference
between information systems department and information management concepts. Some
companies were using the same staff found who ran the data processing department to
organize the information management function. They admitted that some of the staff
found it difficult to come to terms with information management concepts.

Frappaolo (2002:2) observes that “knowledge management has fallen victim to a mixture
of bad implementation practices and software vendors eager to turn a complex process
into a pure technology play”. He also argues that “we must move beyond the academic
and focus on practical”. Information and knowledge management is confused with
computer science. For example, the following definition of information management

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dwells much on information technology. Knight and Silk (1990:7) define information
management as the “the informed response of the general manager to the opportunities of
modern information technology. Though information technology facilitates the
management of information it is not information management. Koulopoulos and
Frappaolo (2009:3) argue that Knowledge Management is not a technology, although
technology should be positioned to facilitate it.

5.3 Solutions and Recommendations to Challenges

 Installation of systems that capture tacit knowledge in the organization;

 Promotion of information literacy to deal with information overload;

 Centralisation of information and knowledge management activities.
 Clear explanations and understanding of information and knowledge
management;
 Involvement and participation of everyone in the information and knowledge
management;
 Greater value on information and knowledge management should be placed;
 Increase awareness through advertising, marketing and Just in Time Inventory
systems (JIT);
 Total Quality Management;
 Knowledge replacement and addition;
 Having a knowledge and information policy.

Activity 5.1
1. Discuss the challenges that are faced in Knowledge Management.
2. Give the confusion that exists between information and knowledge.
3. Which strategies can be used in solving the challenges in Knowledge
Management?

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5.4 Summary
This unit discussed different challenges in information and knowledge management.
They include confusion and misunderstanding of information and knowledge, not valuing
information and knowledge management, lack of awareness, underutilisation of
information and knowledge, information decentralization, mobility, half life, threats to
specialists, challenges in knowledge dissemination and knowledge replacement. Some

strategies to address the challenges were given. The subsequent unit will discuss on the

management of knowledge workers.

References

Gadner, J et al .2004. Organizing Knowledge: Methods and Case Studies. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.

Jackson, E. (1990) .Special Librarianship: A New Reader. London: Scarecrow Press.

http://www.exinfm.com/board/importance_of_knowledge_management.htm

Knight, A.V and Silk D,J (2000) Managing Information. New York: London

Kulopoulos, T. M and Frappaolo, C. 2000. Knowledge Management : Smart : Things to

know about. Milford: Capstone.

Orna, E .2000. Practical Information Policies: How to manage information flow.

Aldershot.

Owens, I and Wilson, T (2006) Information and Business Performance. London:

Bowker.

Sanchez, R (2001) Knowledge Management and Organizational competence. New York:

Oxford.

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Whittington, R (2002) What is Strategy- and does it matter?. London: Thomson.

UNIT 6

Knowledge Workers
6.0 Introduction
A knowledge worker is of great importance to this knowledge economy. This unit defines
knowledge workers and gives their importance. It discusses the value given to knowledge
workers in organisations and the challenges of managing knowledge workers. Ways of
managing knowledge workers are discussed in this unit.

6.1 Unit objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
 define knowledge workers
 give the importance of knowledge workers
 discuss the value given to knowledge workers in organisations
 explain the challenges in managing knowledge workers

 provide ways of managing knowledge workers.

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6.2 Definition of knowledge workers
A knowledge worker is anyone who works for a living at the tasks of developing or using
knowledge. Serrat (2008:1) postulates that “a knowledge worker is someone who is
employed because of his or her knowledge of a subject matter, rather, than ability to
perform manual labour. The term was polularised by management guru Peter Drucker. It
describes workers whose roles involve making decisions and analyzing information. It is
sometimes used in the wider context of knowledge management, which refers to how
companies manage and use intellectual capital, or what their employees know. It not only
includes people in technical fields, but extends to other professionals and students in
fields like science, law, information and education who have the knowledge expertise. A
knowledge worker is an employee who has high degrees of expertise, education,
experience and the primary purpose of the job involves the creation, application,
distribution and sharing of knowledge.The Librarian, Records Managers and Archivists
are knowledge workers.

The importance of Knowledge Worker

The knowledge worker has a great role to play in all organiations. The following are
some of the importance of knowledge workers:
 Knowledge workers make the knowledge available in the organization,
community and the world;
 Knowledge workers in management roles come up with new strategies;
 Knowledge workers in Library and Information Science bring the rightful
knowledge to the clientele at the right time with the right means;
 Knowledge workers in Research and Development and engineering create new
products;
 Knowledge workers in marketing package up products and services in ways that
appeal to customers;
 Without knowledge workers there would be no new products and services, and no
growth;

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  They bring change, innovation and initiatives.

6.4 The Value given to Knowledge Workers

“Peter Drucker was the first to coin the term, Knowledge Worker. He describes the
character of knowledge workers: Knowledge workers are not satisfied with work that is
only a livelihood. Their aspirations and their view of themselves are those of the
"professional" or "intellectual." They demand that knowledge become the basis for
accomplishment”.
(http://navcenter.borgess.com/KworkerManual/ePages/front_page/kw_def.html)

Brinkley et al (2009:2) carried out a major new survey of the work-lives of 2011 workers
which aims to analyse the level of “cognitive complexity of different jobs to get the view
of the scale of the knowledge work. The study finds out that UK has 30-30-40 shaped
workforce, about a third of jobs have a high knowledge content, a third have some and
about 40% have less knowledge content. The report argues that employers are poorly
equipped to weather the recession because they use workers’ skills and talents poorly as
they tie them up in rules and procedures and give them little say over how they do their
work.

Abell and Oxbrow (2001:5) note that “annual reports have for many years contained an
acknowledgement of the quality of the people employed and their intrinsic value to the
operation, but this has not necessarily reflected the way these people were managed”. In
1993 the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manuscripts and Commerce
(RSA) launched the Tomorrow’s Comply Programme, which set out to explore how
organizations need to respond to this changing environment. It concluded that there is an
interwoven mix of stakeholders who all need to share the same values and have a
commitment to its survival (Abell and Oxbrow, 2001:4). Scarborough (2006:8) observes
that “this is a society based on an explosion of scientific and technical knowledge, where
the knowledge worker reigns supreme. Organisations are becoming more knowledge
intensive, and this is matched by the impressive occupational growth of knowledge

73
worker groups”. Some organizations have Knowledge workers but they are not given
recognition and value this left them de-motivated.

Activity 6.1
1. Define knowledge workers?
2. Give the importance of knowledge workers?
3. Discuss the value given to knowledge workers?

6.5 The Challenges of Managing Knowledge Workers

Knowledge workers are indispensable for the organisations. They like complete
autonomy in the work they perform. Their creativity and inquiry-driven learning may be
difficult to achieve within traditional command-and-control paradigm. Too much
stringency can be destructive to their creativeness and can have adverse affect on their
performance.

Druker (2007:78) observes that “knowledge workers can work “only because there is an
organisation, thus they too are dependent. But at the same time they own the means of
production-their knowledge. In this respect, they are independent and highly mobile”. He
goes on to say that “knowledge workers cannot be supervised effectively”. Improving
knowledge worker productivity is the most important task of the century. Therefore it is a
challenge for the management as how to manage knowledge workers due to their
importance and the unique role they play in the organisation.

Change is constant and inevitable. Organisations have to adapt to the changes in the
environment. Without these twin strategies organisations will soon become outdated and
unable to compete in the market. Learning through incorporating changes gives them the
necessary edge over their competitors. Knowledge workers are actually those workers in
an organisation who are sensitive to change. They constantly respond to the changes by
gathering information and then arranging their work accordingly. With the accelerated
pace of change in the environment, it is a reality that all knowledge workers have

74
significant place in the organisation. The importance of their role to any organisation that
wants to survive in this dynamic era cannot be undermined.

Knowledge workers have an aversion to taking orders from anyone. They do not
like to be told what to do. They enjoy more autonomy than other workers. They
possess skills which other workers do not have therefore they are a major part of
the organisation’s workforce therefore they are hard to be replaced. Much of their
work is invisible as it is of cognitive nature. It is hard to measure, because it goes
on inside their heads or outside the office. “They are knowledge workers, and
they are performing well below their potential because companies still do not
know how to manage them”, says Thomas Davenport, professor of information
technology and management at Babson College, in Wellesley, Mass., and
director of research for Babson's executive education programme. Knowledge
workers are going to be the primary force determining which economies are
successful and which are not," he says. "They are the key source of growth in
most organizations. New products and services, new approaches to marketing,
new business models—all these come from knowledge workers. So if you want
your economy to grow, your knowledge workers had better be doing a good job".
Knowledge workers can not be managed in the traditional sense of the word and
with a heavy-handed, hierarchical way. Serrat (2008:1) notes that one misleading
notion is that knowledge workers are subordinate employees retained around the
clock, another is that they rely on their organization for livelihood and career.

6.6 How to Manage Knowledge Workers

Serrat (2008:1) is of the opinion that knowledge workers perform best when empowered
to make the most of their deepest skills. Managing knowledge workers is not a matter of
making them work harder or more skillfully. Naturally, they are dedicated and such
interventions are beside the point. Rather, the managerial task relates to removing
obstacles to performance and then channeling accomplishment of an organization’s

75
objective. Serrat (2008:2) advocates for the following in the management of knowledge
workers:
 Recognise outstanding talent whatever it is found;
 Establish clear task objectives and performance standards in consultation with
each knowledge worker;
 Extent incentives, rewards and reinforcements that meet the motivational patterns
of each knowledge worker;
 Provide opportunities for improvement;
The management of knowledge workers requires that managers themselves act as good
followers and team player as well as a leader.

Drucker (1999:18) posits that managing a knowledge worker focuses on developing the
right policies and practices. He goes on to say that managing knowledge work and
worker will require exceptional imagination, exceptional courage and leadership of
higher order. Self motivation and self direction makes the knowledge workers productive.
Drucker (1999:242) adds that knowledge workers have to be professionals. This means
that no one can motivate them. They must motivate themselves. No one can direct them.
Thy have to direct themselves. Above all, no one can supervise them. They are the
guardians of their own standards, performance and objectives. They can be productive
only if they are responsible for their own job.

6.7 The Role of the Information Professional in Knowledge

Management

The librarian or information professional is a knowledge worker. There is a fair overlap

between knowledge management and information management as a way of dealing with
the information needed and produced by an organisation. Hence, KM has professional
implications for information managers and librarians who work as specialists in
organisations (Speh, 1997:1) [17]. Information centres are the logical place for managers
to look when trying to leverage their corporate knowledge. Information professionals are
increasingly being asked to act as Knowledge Managers. These activities involve

76
cataloguing and classifying knowledge which helps in defining the organisation’s
knowledge assets. The information professionals are also involved in knowledge creation,
capturing, retrieving, utilising, disseminating and sharing knowledge. When the
information professional has access to knowledge, they can quickly assist users with
solving their problems and inquiries. As a result Knowledge Management has become an
essential practice within today’s libraries and information centers. When combined with
Knowledge Management, the libraries and information centers are able to improve
efficiencies and effectiveness, increase satisfaction, and reduce the cost of service.
Kumar, (2010:1) posits that the library plays a very crucial role in the extension and
modification of knowledge [18]. The growing need for Knowledge Management has
influenced every component and operation of a library. Knowledge Management requires
more effective methods of information handling, speedy transfer of information and
linking of information with individuals and their activities. It demands library patron
centered development of information systems and services and customisation of
information at the individual level. Librarians or Information professionals have been
thought of as being experts at collecting and organising information and knowledge. The
Information professionals are involved in the whole cycle and process of Knowledge
Management. Informational professionals act as knowledge leaders therefore are as
knowledge catalysts for effective and efficient Knowledge Management.

Activity 6.2
1. What are the challenges of managing knowledge workers?
2. Give the strategies that can be used in managing knowledge workers.
3. A knowledge worker requires exceptional imagination, exceptional courage and
leadership of higher order. Discuss.
4. Discuss the role of the information professional in Knowledge Management.

77
6.8 Summary
This unit defined knowledge workers and gave their importance in the organisation. The
value given to knowledge workers was discussed and the challenges of managing
knowledge workers. Strategies of managing knowledge workers were given. The
subsequent unit will focus on the knowledge networks and strategies.

References
Abell, A and Oxbrow, N (2001) Competing with Knowledge. London: Library
Association Publishing.

Brinkley, I (2009) Knowledge Workers and Knowledge Work: Survey Report.

Obtainedfromhttp://www.theworkfoundation.com/research/publications/publicationdetail.
aspx?oItemId=213 [accessed 02/02/2010].

Drucker P.F. (2009) Management Challenges for the 21st Century. Oxford : Butterworth-
Heinemann.

http://navcenter.borgess.com/KworkerManual/ePages/front_page/kw_def.html.
[accessed 02/03/2011].

Serrat, O (2008) Managing Knowledge Workers. October, 2008. vol.12.

78
UNIT 7

Knowledge Networks and Strategies

7.0 Introduction

This unit gives strategies for capturing and transferring knowledge. It discusses different
knowledge networks which include communities of practice, Delphi method, the
knowledge library, data warehousing and mining. Global organisational knowledge
creation and management is discussed in this unit.

7.1 Unit objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
 give strategies of capturing and transferring knowledge
 explain different knowledge networks
 discuss the global organisational knowledge creation and management.

79
7.2 Strategies of Capturing and Transferring Knowledge
Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:37) observes that knowledge-based strategies must not
focus on collecting and disseminating information, but rather on creating a mechanism
for practitioners to reach out to other practitioners. Such mechanisms, like communities
of practice, have special characteristics. They emerge on their own accord: three, four,
twenty, maybe thirty people find themselves drawn to one another by a force that is both
social and professional. They collaborate directly, use one another as sounding boards,
and teach one another. They are built on bond of obvious trust: a key word for any
knowledge-management solution.

Communities of this sort are difficult to construct and easy to destroy. They are among
the most important structures of any organisation where thinking matters, but they almost
inevitably undermine its formal structures and strictures. Knowledge is connected, for
information to be transformed into knowledge you must recognise, support and
administer the connections and, most importantly, the people who are the ultimate owners
of all knowledge (Koupoulos and Frappapaolo, 2009:37).

Bouthillier and Kathleen (2002:5) advocate that “after knowledge has been gathered, it
must be stored and shared. Knowledge sharing involves the transfer of knowledge from
one (or more) persons to another one (or more). Knowledge sharing is often a major
preoccupation with knowledge management. Not only most organizations abandon the
idea that all knowledge should be documented, but they should also be ready to
implement different methods for sharing different types of knowledge (Snowde, 2008:3).

Bouthillier and Kathleen (2002:3) argue that it is our contention that the focus of
Knowledge Management is neither on the distribution nor the dissemination of
knowledge but on its sharing. Although knowledge can be acquired at the individual
level, to be useful it must be shared by a community, often described as a community of
practice. For instance, if there is only one person knowing organizational rules and
procedures, such rules and procedures would be useless and meaningless. On the other
hand, rules and procedures emanate from communities and exist precisely to regulate

80
group activities. Knowledge sharing is then crucial when new employees arrive and
others quit.

The management of information does not really focus on information sharing and is more
oriented toward the control, preservation, and retention of information. One could also
argue that the usefulness and the meaningfulness of information do not depend as much
on its collective consumption or sharing: its individual consumption and use could be
very effective from an organisational point of view. In fact, too much distribution of
information can lead to information overload which could paralyze action. Knowledge
sharing is perceived, for example, by the World Bank as critical for economic
development and as an important next step going beyond the dissemination of
information (MacMorrow, 2001:5). In the end, the cycle of knowledge management is
neither complete nor successful if no efforts are made to ensure the use of stored and
shared knowledge. On the other hand, the success of an IM project is achieved when the
preservation and the retrieval of information is guaranteed while the success of a KM
programme ultimately depends on the sharing of knowledge (Martensson, 2000: 10).

7.3 Knowledge Networks

7.3.1 Communities of practice

McCormick and Paechter (2009:16) posit that “in the recent years, the notion of
community of practice has gained prominence as an analytic tool for understanding
knowing and learning. Communities of practise are characterised for example by the
shared practises, (linguistic) conventions, behaviour, and standards of ethics viewpoints.
Brown et at (2009:15) stipulates that in communities, knowledge can no longer be
considered as a property of individuals that can be quantified, assessed, or transferred,
rather knowledge is distributed, situated in both physical, psychological and social
contents. This knowledge is collaborately constructed, meanings are negotiated and

81
courses of actions negotiated, determined by majority vote, or dictated from someone in
power by drawing on the social and material resources available in specific settings.

7.3.2 The Delphi method

Burnes (2004: 254) suggest that “this uses a panel of experts, who are interrogated about
a number of future issues within their area of expertise. In the classic application, the
interrogation is conducted under conditions whereby each respondent is unknown to
others, in order to avoid effects of authority and the development of a consensual
bandwagon. After the initial round of interrogations, the results are reported to the panel
and round of interrogations is conducted. Several rounds may be carried out in similar
manner. Results, produced from these interrogations may be amenable to statistical
treatment with a view to yielding numbers, dates and ranges from them. At the end of the
process, depending on whether a quantitative or qualitative approach is taken, either
detailed numerical forecast of the future is obtained, or more descriptive and richer
picture.

7.3.3 Data warehousing and data mining

Schultheis and Summer (2004:239) assert that data warehousing “is a term for any
system that stores, retrieves, manages or otherwise mapulates massive amounts of data.
The data warehouse may contain data from the organisation’s databases as well as data
obtained from external sources. The purpose of a data warehouse is to make large
amounts of data available to organisational personnel to support them in their decisions.
The key to a successful warehouse is that it brings together information from many
different and diverse company and external database systems into an integrated resource
available to the company.

A data warehouse is a relational database that is designed for query and analysis rather
than for transaction processing. It usually contains historical data derived from
transaction data, but it can include data from other sources. It separates analysis workload

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from transaction workload and enables an organization to consolidate data from several
sources. In addition to a relational database, a data warehouse environment includes an
extraction, transportation, transformation, and loading (ETL) solution, an online
analytical processing (OLAP) engine, client analysis tools, and other applications that
manage the process of gathering data and delivering it to business users.

[http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10500_01/server.920/a96520/concept.htm].

Data mining which is sometimes called data or knowledge discovery is the process of
analyzing data from different perspectives and summarizing it into useful information -
information that can be used to increase revenue, cuts costs, or both. Data mining
software is one of a number of analytical tools for analyzing data. It allows users to
analyze data from many different dimensions or angles, categorize it, and summarize the
relationships identified. Technically, data mining is the process of finding correlations or
patterns among dozens of fields in large relational databases.
(http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/jason.frand/teacher/technologies/palace/dataminin
g.htm). For example, one Midwest grocery chain used the data mining capacity of Oracle
software to analyze local buying patterns. They discovered that when men bought diapers
on Thursdays and Saturdays, they also tended to buy beer. Further analysis showed that
these shoppers typically did their weekly grocery shopping on Saturdays. On Thursdays,
however, they only bought a few items. The retailer concluded that they purchased the
beer to have it available for the upcoming weekend. The grocery chain could use this
newly discovered information in various ways to increase revenue. For example, they
could move the beer display closer to the diaper display. And, they could make sure beer
and diapers were sold at full price on Thursdays. .
(http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/jason.frand/teacher/technologies/palace/dataminin
g.htm).

7.3.4 The knowledge library

Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (2009:62) come out with the idea of a knowledge library.
They propounded that “the focus of the initiative is to establish a corporate knowledge

83
base, most typically for the capture and dissemination of best practices and project-
related knowledge”. For example, Booz Allen and Hamilton, the international
management and technology consulting firm, have linked its 6700 staff members in more
than 80 offices around the globe via its intranet-based knowledge solution, called
Knowledge On-line (KOL)”. KOL facilitates the exchange of ideas between the
company’s 6 700 worldwide employees. It provides internal staff in 80 offices around the
globe with easy and immediate access to that company’s current information and best
thinking as well as to the company’s current information and best thinking as well as to
the company’s experts on various topics. The Booz Allen and Hamilton knowledge
library is segmented and strategic applications are concentrated into three key areas:
 A knowledge repository
This collection represents more than 4000 knowledge content documents cross-filed by
topic, industry and geography where the information originates.

The research done by Bouthillier and Montreal (2002:2) shows that tacit knowledge is
shared through communities of practice by making people working together or
interacting in the workplace, explicit knowledge is made available through expert
systems and by mapping experts and their knowledge resources. Pharmaceutical
companies focus clearly on one objective related to time reduction for approving new
products. For the public sector institutions, the objectives include sharing knowledge not
only within the organisation but also outside it with partners and the general public.

Owens and Abell found out that “the expert knowledge of individuals within the
company is communicated to other members of staff in three ways.
 The e-mail
Although the e-mail is used extensively to communicate information, the company relies
more on the traditional hierarchical structure of the organization for vertical knowledge
transfer. There is hierarchy of supervisory, for example, branch managers and assistant
branch managers, whose role is to train, develop and pass knowledge to their staff.
 Train and Development
 Substantial documentation of procedures and product knowledge

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Sanchez (2001:15) is of the opinion that “managers need a toolkit of methods for
removing impediments individuals sharing reliable knowledge with other individuals in
their work groups and at the same time containing important knowledge within their own
organization. Managers can create individual incentives for knowledge sharing and
promote various socialization processes to encourage individuals to convey what they
know more freely to their coworkers. At the same time, to prevent people for saying more
than they know or hearing something other individuals in their work groups and at the
same time containing important knowledge within their own organisation.

7.3.5 Knowledge Mapping

Knowledge Mapping is all about keeping a record of information and knowledge one
needs such as where one can get it from, who holds it, whose expertise is it, and so on.
Say, one needs to find something at home or in a room, one can find it in no time because
one has almost all the information/knowledge about -what is where- and -who knows
what- at your home. It is a sort of map set in your mind about the home. But, to set such a
map about the organisation and organisational knowledge in the mind is almost
impossible. This is where K-map becomes handy and shows details of every bit of
knowledge that exists within the organisation including location, quality, and
accessibility; and knowledge required to run the organisation smoothly - hence making
one able to find the your required knowledge easily and efficiently.
(http://ezinearticles.com/?Knowledge-Mapping&id=9077).

Grey (2010: 3) propounds that knowledge mapping is an important practice consisting of

survey, audit, and synthesis. It aims to track the acquisition and loss of information and
knowledge. It explores personal and group competencies and proficiencies. It illustrates

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or "maps" how knowledge flows throughout an organization. Knowledge mapping helps
an organization to appreciate how the loss of staff influences intellectual capital, to assist
with the selection of teams, and to match technology to knowledge needs and processes.

7.3.6 Personalised on-line marketing

Gadner et al (2004:126) calls for a personalized on-line marketing as the practice of

tailoring information. Burk (2009:3) observes that “a real emphasis of the community has
been the continuous gathering and sharing of information through informal, person-to-
person contacts; professional conferences; cooperative projects, and committees and task
forces of all types”.

7.4 The internet

The Internet is named after the Internet Protocol, the standard communications protocol
used by every computer on the Internet. The Internet can powerfully leverage your ability
to find, manage, and share information. Never before in human history has such a
valuable resource been available to so many people at such little cost
http://www.livinginternet.com/i/i.htm. However there are some challenges associated
with the use of the internet which need to be taken care of for example false websites.

7.5 Global Organisational Knowledge Creation and Management

Bartlett and Ghoshal (2002: 3) states that “the world’s largest companies are in flux and
that new pressures have transformed the global competitive game”. Thomas (2002: 3)
adds that “indeed, virtually all business conducted today is global business”. National
economies have become increasingly deregulated and have opened up opportunities for
international trade and competition so that it has become the norm for organizations to
compete for market share not only with their national competitors but also with
international ones (Trompenaars and Woolliams, 2004: 27). Ambos and Schlegelmilch
(2005: 23) argue that “besides, in such an era of ever faster innovation cycles combined
with an increasing convergence of industries and intense and global competition,

86
advantages tend to erode quickly”. “These rapid changes in the nature of global
competition have driven international managers and management researchers to search
innovative ways to approach new challenges, tackle problems and answer questions as to
how to manage complex multinational corporations most effectively” (Tseng, 2006: 120).
Holden (2002: 81) posits that “one of the problems in the knowledge management
literature is that authors give the impression that knowledge management operates in a
kind of unitary vacuum, in which diversity in terms of language, cultural and ethnic
background, gender and professional affiliation are compressed into one giant
independent variable, which is in any case pushed to the side”.

Bresman et al. (2000: 2) have found certain factors like the lack of personal relationships,
the absence of trust, and cultural distance all combine to create resistance, frictions, and
misunderstandings in international acquisitions. Cultural differences and the cross-
cultural context play an important role for and influence global knowledge creation and
management. (Holden, 2002) for instance questions the popular claim that KM is
becoming a universal management concept and correctly notes that such a universal
concept would not only be unrealistic but even counter productive and thus undesirable
as well. However, the problem how cross-cultural differences influence KM has received
too limited research attention so far (Zhu, 2004:4). “The literature is almost silent on
knowledge management in its cross-cultural dimensions” (Glisby and Holden, 2003: 29).

7.6 Artificial Intelligence

Kumar (2011:1) posits that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is in one way an endoavour to
protoype human mind. It is the robotic way of doing things. Kumar (2011:1) defines
artificial intelligence as a “rapidly evolving field of engineering with an ultimate
objective to build machines capable of acting and thinking like human beings”. Nilsson
(2009:1) posits that understanding intelligence involves understanding how knowledge is
acquired, represented and stored as well as how intelligent behaviour is generated and
learned, how motives, emotions and priorities are developed and used. It involves sensory
signals are transformed into symbols, how symbols are manipulated to perform logic, to
reason about the past and plan for the future. Nilsson (2009:1 ibid) goes on to say that

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artificial; intelligence (AI) and somewhat circularly defined is concerned with
intelligence behaviour in artifacts. Intelligent behaviour in turn involves perception,
reasoning, learning, communicating and acting in complex environments. Artificial
intelligence has as one of its long term goals the development of machines that can do
things as well as humans can, or possibly even better. The other goal of AI is to
understand this kind of behaviour whether it occurs in machines or in humans or other
animals. AI is one way, an endeavour to protype human mind. It could only be man who
could think of building something about which he hardly had enough knowledge initially,
because it is only the man who since inventing fire among the first things invented fire
among the first things invented by him/her thousands of years backup to inventing his
protype robot till today, can boast of inventing so many great and wonderful things. The
most important use of AI is to develop expert systems to help human beings for solving
real world problems easily, effectively, efficiently and economically. Expert systems are
developed using knowledge. Kumar (2011:107) observes that the salient points to be
noted in context of knowledge are:
 Use or understand knowledge
 Use knowledge for decision making
 Recognise objects through vision and interpret situations
 Plan strategies

Activity 7.1
1. What are the strategies of capturing and transferring knowledge?
2. Discuss different knowledge networks?
3. What is the role of communities of practice in knowledge transfer?
4. Discuss the global organizational knowledge creation and management?
5. Discuss the concept of Artificial Intelligence> How cam you use it in your
organisation.
5. How can you use knowledge mapping in your organisation?

7.6 Summary

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The strategies for capturing and transferring knowledge were given. Different knowledge
networks were discussed. The global organizations knowledge creation and management

was explained. The subsequent unit will discuss knowledge and learning.

References
Ambos, B., & Schlegelmilch, B. B. (2005). In search of global advantage. European
Business Forum, 21(Spring): 23-24.

Bartlett, C. A., & Goshal, S. (2002) Managing Across Borders: The Transnational
Solution (2nd ed.). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Bresman, H., Birkinshaw, J., & Nobel, R. (1999) Knowledge Transfer In International
Acquisitions .Journal of International Business Studies, 30(3): 439-462.

Burk, M (2009) Knowledge Management: Everyone Benefits by Sharing Information.

November/December 1999· Vol. 63· No. 3.

Burns, B (2004) Managing Change. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Gadner, J et al (2004) Organising Knowledge: Methods and Case Studies. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.

89
Grey, D (2010) Obtained from [http://ezinearticles.com/?Knowledge-Mapping&id=9077.

http://www.livinginternet.com/i/i.htm [accessed 30/4/11]

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10500_01/server.920/a96520/concept.htm.
[accessed 15/04/11]

Holden, N. (2001) Knowledge Management: Raising the Spectra of the Cross-cultural

Dimension. Knowledge and Process Management, 8(3): 155-163.
Kumar, E (2011) Artificial Intelligence. New Delhi: I.K International Publishing House

Pvt. Ltd.

McCormick, R and Paechter, C (2009) Learning and Knowledge. London: Paul

Publishing Ltd.

Nilsson, N.J (2009) Artificial Intelligence: A New Synthesis. Burlington : Morgan

Kaufmann Publishers.

Schultheis, R and Summer, M (2004) Management Information Systems. New Delhi:

Tata McGraw- Hill Publishing Company Limited.

Thomas, D. C. (2002) Essentials of International Management: A Cross-Cultural

Perspective. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Trompenaars, F., & Woolliams, P. 2004. Marketing Across Cultures. Chichester:

Capstone.

Tseng, Y. M. 2006. International Strategies and Knowledge Transfer Experiences of

MNC's Taiwanese Subsidiaries. The Journal of American Academy of Business, 8(2):
120-125.

90
Zhu, Z. 2004. Knowledge management: towards a universal concept or cross-cultural
contexts? Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 2(2): 67-79.

UNIT 8

Knowledge and Learning

8.0 Introduction
Learning is very important in Knowledge Management as it brings in a change in
behaviour. This unit relates organizational learning to Knowledge Management. It gives
different learning cycle and theories of learning.

8.1 Unit objectives

By the end of the unit students should be able to:
 Define organizational learning
 Discuss the role organizational learning in Knowledge Management

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  Give different learning cycles
 Explain the theories of learning.

8.2 Organisational Learning and Knowledge management

Organisations as human beings also learn. The learning organization is an approach
connected to the purpose and strategy of the organization which seeks to identify and
learn from its corporate experience. The objectives are to create a flexible, agile
organization able to handle uncertainty, using learning to generate new ways of working,
to build on success and learn by mistakes (Abell and Oxbrow 2001:49). Lucifer and
Torsilieri (1997:13) observe that when assessing the business impact of knowledge and
learning organization programmes came out with the view that “a focus on knowledge
and learning makes sense: knowledge is increasingly an important source of competitive
advantage, the vision of the learning organization is seductive and several prominent
companies have achieved spectacular results”.
Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (1999:40) assert that “In most learning organisations, the
tests of information and information systems are simple:
 How does this information add value to the decision process?
 How can it get to the people who need it?
Koulopoulos and Frappaolo (1999:60) observe that “the learning organisation focuses on
team-learning through exchange of the tacit knowledge which each of the members
possess. In this way, they are able to develop a “team knowledge”, less susceptible to
damage through loss of key employees”. The objectives of the learning organisation are
to improve levels of innovation throughout the organisation”. The approach requires an
emphasis on generative learning. Generative learning comes into play when we discover
that a problem or gap in our understanding requires new ways of perceiving and thinking.
The process of identifying new problems, seeing new possibilities and changing the
routes by which we adapt or cope will require rethinking and redesign of our mental
models. As a result, the smart manager in the learning organisation focuses on and values
metal skills as importantly as the base skills in many roles in the organisation.

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Krogh et al (2008) postulates that “organizational learning is an increase of the
organizational knowledge base which leads to the enhancement of the problem-solving
potential of a company. Dawson (2000:4) adds that “the concept of organizational
learning in fact encompasses the ongoing development of all meta-capabilities within an
organisation. Organizational learning is the process by which organisations and the
individuals within them continually develop their ability to further develop their own
capabilities”. Senge (2000:140) observes that “organisations learn only through
individuals who learn. Individual learning does not guarantee organisational learning. But
without it no organizational learning occurs. Roper et al (2003:1) posits that the learning
organization associated with Peter Senge is pragmatic in that it focuses on how
organisations successfully acquire, and use knowledge to achieve organisational goals.
There is a strong emphasis for creating knowledge for action not knowledge for its own
sake. Further, it recognises that organisations are part of complex social systems, systems
over which they can exert control rather than trying to isolate or protect an organisation
from its environment, an organisation aught to be closely attuned to it, embrace the
opportunities that can change circumstances.

Roper (2003:2) observes that the approach of learning organisation is normative in the
sense that there is a strong set of underlying values that inform practice within a learning
organisation, which include a commitment to:
 Valuing different kinds of knowledge and learning styles and creating a; learning
environment so each organizational member can realize his/her potential;
 Encouraging dialogue and the exploration of different perspectives and
experiences to generate creative thinking;
 Working collectively and breaking down traditional barriers or blinders within
organizations so as to release creative potential;
 Fostering leadership potential throughout the organisation and reducing
distructions, such as those between management and staff, between strategist and
implementers, between support and professional staff.

8.3 The Individual Learning Cycle

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This is described by Sanchez (2001:12) as the process of internal simulation that draws
on past experiences in trying to understand the significance of current events and to
predict future events and circumstances.

8.4 The Group Learning Cycle

Sanchez (2001:12) observes that “to make sure transferred capabilities take root and are
implemented effectively in a new group, however, managers may also have to transfer
new strategic logics and methods of coordination that enable a group to integrate the new
capability in creating a new organizational competence.

8.5 Organisational Learning Cycle

Knowledge moves upwards through the five learning cycles as the knowledge of
individuals becomes understood and adopted by their work groups and as the knowledge
of one works shared with other groups. Although visionary or persuasive individuals may
have profound impacts on what an organization comes to believe and accept as
knowledge, the research reported in this volume strongly suggest that the knowledge of
individuals must first pass the test of acceptance by formal or informal groups of people
within the organization. Thus, in our five learning cycle’s model, the creation of
organizational knowledge occurs when the knowledge of one or more groups is accepted
as valid and adopted widely throughout an organization. (Sanchez, 2001:18).

Sanchez (2001:70) postulates that in “managing the articulation of knowledge, the use of
socialization and education stand in our analysis. However, in a study done by Ericson
(2006:1) “executives noted that while professional communities enhance interdisciplinary
learning, they often inhibit interdisciplinary learning. Several managers added that
Engineers often do not want to be socialised into new functional roles. A reason for this
tendency may be that they want to avoid “identity crises” and a perceived lack of identity
if they move to a new expertise domain”. Sanchez (2001:77) calls for strategic alliances
and collaborative partnerships with clients as potential sources of firm-addressable
knowledge. Thus customer relationship is a form of new organizational knowledge.

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8.6 Theories of Learning
Freire (1970:1) advocacy for problem solving to raise awareness of social issues and to
stimulate action by disadvantaged groups. Using a process of problem analysis, reflection
and action, his approach to learning was based on the belief that community members
need to be encouraged to think critically about problems in their daily lives in order to
make decisions and take action.

8.6.1 Pavlov’s Dogs

The web site (http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/skinnerbox.html) reports that that
during the 1890s, Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist, studied the secretory activity of
digestion. In a now classic experiment, Pavlov first performed a minor operation on a dog
to relocate its salivary duct to the outside of its cheek, so that drops of saliva could be
more easily measured. The dog, which was food deprived, was then harnessed in an
apparatus to keep it steady in order to collect saliva.

Periodically, a bell was rang, followed shortly thereafter by meat being placed in the
hungry dog's mouth. Normally, meat causes a hungry dog to salivate, whereas rings have
little effect. The dog’s salivation to meat is an unconditioned reflex - it is in-born, in that
dogs do not have to learn to salivate when food is placed in their mouths. Initially, the
dog shows little responsiveness to the bell rings. Over time, however, the dog comes to
salivate at the sounding of the bell rings alone. When this occurs, Pavlovian conditioning
or classical conditioning has occurred, in that a new, or conditioned, reflex has
developed. This confirmed Pavlov theory that the dog had associated the bell ringing with
the food. In 1904 Pavlov was awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology for his work on
digestive secretion. This shows that human behaviour is learnt. Magaramombe et al
(2003:94) propounded that “human behavior is a product of its social and physical
environments. All human behaviour is learned”.

8.6.2 Skinner Box

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Frederic Skinner's work was influenced by Pavlov’s experiments and the ideas of John
Watson, father of behaviorism. He especially was interested in stimulus-response
reactions of humans to various situations, and experimented with pigeons and rats to
develop his theories. He took the notion of conditioned reflexes developed by Ivan
Pavlov and applied it to the study of behaviour. One of his best known inventions is the
Skinner box (operant conditioning chamber). It contains one or more levers which an
animal can press, one or more stimulus lights and one or more places in which reinforcers
like food can be delivered. In one of Skinners’ experiments a starved rat was introduced
into the box. When the lever was pressed by the rat a small pellet of food was dropped
onto a tray. The rat soon learned that when it pressed the lever it would receive some
food. In this experiment the lever pressing behaviour is reinforced by food.

If pressing the lever is reinforced (the rat gets food) when a light is on but not when it is
off, responses (pressing the lever) continue to be made in the light but seldom, if at all, in
the dark. The rat has formed discrimination between light and dark. When one turns on
the light, a response occurs, but that is not a Pavlovian conditioned reflex response. In
this experiment Skinner demonstrated the ideas of “operant conditioning” and “shaping
behavior”. Unlike Pavlov's “classical conditioning”, where an existing behavior
(salivating for food) is shaped by associating it with a new stimulus (ringing of a bell)
operant conditioning is the rewarding of an act that approaches a new desired behaviour.
Skinner applied his findings about animals to human behaviour and even developed
teaching machines so students could learn bit by bit, uncovering answers for an
immediate reward. Computer-based self-instruction uses many of the principles of
Skinner’s technique. (http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/skinnerbox.html).

8.6.3 Cognitive learning theories

Magaramombe et al (2003:97) assert that cognitive learning theories developed as a
response to what was perceived as inadequacies of behaviorist psychology. Cognitivists
argue that human behavior is too complex to be reduced to simple stimuli-responses
patterns. They believe that there are activities which occur between stimuli and
responses, which are vital to an understanding of behaviour. Cognitive theories are

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characterized by such words as “understanding”, “thinking”, memory, cognitive
structures” and processes. Cognivists accept that the behaviourist viewpoint that
behaviour is the product of its social and physical environments. However, cognivists
believe that behaviour can only be adequately understood in the context of the interaction
between individual mental processes and the physical social environments
(Magaramombe et al, 2003:97).

8.6.4 Social Learning Theory (Bandura)

Bandura’s social learning theory posits that people learn from one another, via
observation, imitation and modeling. The theory has often been a bridge between
behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory
and motivation. (http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html).
Knowledge can therefore be attained through observation, imitation and modeling.

Activity 8.1
1. What is organisational learning?
2. Discuss the role of organisational learning in Knowledge Management?
3. Give different learning cycles?
4. Explain the theories of learning and how do they relate to Knowledge
Management?
5. Distinguish Pavlov classical conditioning from Skinner’s operant conditioning.
How can these be associated with Knowledge Management.

8.7 Summary
This unit discussed organizational learning in relation to Knowledge Management.
Different learning cycles were explained. Theories of learning were to explain how

people learn. The next unit will explore knowledge management and new

communication and information technologies (ICT).

97
References
Abell, A and Oxbrow, N (2001) Competing with Knowledge. London: Library
Association Publishing.

Bouthillier, F and Shearer, K (2002) Understanding knowledge management and

information management: the need for an empirical perspective Information.

Dawsom, R (2000) Developing Knowledge –Based Client Relationships. Boston:

Butterworth.

http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html [accessed
23/05/11]

http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/skinnerbox.html [accessed 23/05/11]

98
Freire, Paulo.(1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed. [New York]: Herder and Herder.

Kulopoulos, T. M and Frappaolo, C. (2000) Knowledge Management : Smart : Things to

know about. Milford: Capstone.

Krogh, G, Johan, R and Kreine, D (2008) Knowing in Firms: Understanding, Managing

and Measuring Knowledge vol.12. no.2.

Lucifer, C. E and Torsilieri, J.D (2008) Why Knowledge programs fail: a CEO’s Guide to
managing learning. Obtained from http://www.strategy-business.com/strategy.

Magaramombe, M et al (2003) Human Resources Management. Harare: Zimbabwe Open

University.

Roper, L, Pettit, J and Eade, D (2000) Development and learning Organisation. Oxfam:
Oxford.

Sanchez, R (2001) Knowledge Management and Organizational competence. New York:

Oxford.

Senge, P.M (2000) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice if The Learning
Organisation. New York: Broadway.

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UNIT 9
Knowledge Management and New Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT)

9.0 Introduction
Knowledge is not an Information and Communication Technology although ICT acts as
an enabler. This unit relates information technology to Knowledge Management. It
distinguishes information technology from knowledge management. The role of the
internet in Knowledge Management is give. The challenges of the Information and
Communication Technologies are given together with solutions (ICTs).

9.1 Unit objectives

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By the end of the unit students should be able to:
 distinguish information technology from Knowledge Management
 discuss the role of the internet in Knowledge Management
 give the challenges that can be found in ICTs.
 prove solutions to ICT challenges.

9.2 Information and Communication technology vs Information and

Knowledge Management
Gilbert et al (2001:vi) note that “the revolution in information technology and the
triumph of the internet have caused many decision-makers to forget the need to allow for
the human factor when structuring data and information systems. If basic rules of
psychology are disregarded, attempts at knowledge management will fail. Much of the
material that is sold today under the title “knowledge management” relates only to the
informational base of the organization. Knowledge, however, is the whole body of
learning and skills that individuals not machines use for solving problems. Knowledge is
always tied to people, and is therefore not reproducible in information systems.
Companies that content themselves with adjusting the structure of their intranets and data
banks do not deal adequately with most of the knowledge problems that arise in
organisations”.

The research done by Sasikala and Patnaik in 2000 on improving the existing information
facility in special libraries recommended extensive computerisation of library activities to
improve efficiency and effectiveness of the information and knowledge services. The
Ohio Virtual Finance Library (2008) is an example of a fully computerised special library
and has received numerous awards for being the best financial resource available on the
internet. Thus its effectiveness has been enhanced by the computerisation processes.

“As ICT enables organizations to increase their horizons, globalisation has emerged as a
major concern for many chief executives. Large corporate bodies may have offices in
many countries. The interaction of different cultures, the integration of processes and
procedures, of values and commitment, of knowledge and best practice, whilst nurturing

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a sense of corporate identity, present practical and philosophical problems (Abell and
Oxbrow,2001:4).

Sanchez (2001:222) observes that “information technologies greatly affect the flows of
data within and across organizations. Following the convergence of computing and
telecommunications, information technology can greatly increase both data processing
and communication processes, imparting both how knowledge is structured in an
organization and how it is disseminated within and between organizations.

Burk (2009:3) expounded that “It’s clear that technology like the World Wide Web can
greatly enhance the sharing of knowledge both within and outside organizations. But
knowledge management means more than databases and networks. Companies that have
undertaken such initiatives have found that only 20 percent of their efforts involve
technical issues; the remaining 80 percent of their time is taken up with institutional
matters to create an environment for sharing and open exchange”.

Al-Hawamdeh (2002:1) reports that technology plays an important role in knowledge

management, although knowledge management is not about technology. Technology
facilitates the process of transmitting and exchanging information. It can be used to
manage uncertainty and complexity, where information is more factual and a high degree
of interaction is not required. Marwik, (2001:2) assert that technology enables individuals
to coordinate the logistics of face-to-face meetings. It can also be used to catalogue
expertise of organizational members and as a result facilitating access to the right people
and enhancing knowledge sharing. Computer-mediated communication such as electronic
mail or computer-conferences can help to maintain continuity and connection between
conversations, especially for those in different locations. He goes on to say that one of
the key technologies that is driving knowledge management is collaborative technology.
Collaboration tools enable a company’s professionals to work together and work virtually
regardless of the geographical location. Web technology allows organizations to build
Web and knowledge portals that can handle substantial amount of information and made
it accessible to users anywhere anytime.

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Drucker (2005:96) observes that “executives have become computer-literate. Few
executives yet know how to ask “what information do l need to do my job?.When do l
need it?. In what form? And from whom should l be getting it? Still fewer ask “what new
tasks can I tackle now that l get all these data? Which old tasks should l abandon? Which
tasks should l do differently? Practically no one asks “what information do l owe? To
whom? When? In what form?”

9.3 The Role of the Internet in Knowledge Applications

The internet plays a crucial role in knowledge applications:

 Enhance knowledge sharing
 Facilitates researches
 Altering the life cycle of products
 Increasing the speed of distribution
 Creating new products and services
 Creation of new jobs
 Erasing limitations of traditional geographic markets
 Changing the historical trade off between production standardisation and
flexibility
 Economies of scale
 Changing entry barriers
 Redefining the relationship between industries and various suppliers, creditors,
customers and competitors
 Results in e-commerce, e-business, e- banking, e- library. E-education and
e-knowledge
 Cutting boundaries resulting in a global village hence facilitates globalisation.
 Creates social networks for example face book.
 Video conferencing
 Group Decision Support Systems.

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9.4 The Challenges of ICTs
 Loss of jobs
Due to ICTs, many offices support positions are gone. A boss who is computer
and information literate might sometimes not need an administrative assistant.
Multiple bosses can share a single worker. It has resulted in downsizing and
outsourcing. This means that a lot of lower and middle level jobs have been done
away with causing more people to become unemployed. In publishing, a lot of
jobs are gone, many in layout and production, since computers do layout and
design faster and more accurately. However though there is loss of some jobs
there is creation of new jobs for example web designing.

 Expensive to the developing countries and the have not-The ICT hardware and
software are expensive to buy and maintain. Accessibility is also expensive in
developing countries. However with the cellphone internet connectivity this has
been made easier.

 Created a digital divide

Digital divide is a term coined for the disparity between the "haves" and the
“have-nots” in the technology revolution. Those in the developing countries find
it expensive to access the internet. Many have feared grave consequences for
those unable to access the power of the Internet; however, recent reports suggest
that this divide is narrowing, rather than expanding (National
Telecommunications and Information Administration, 2000:1).
 Existence of false websites-There are some false websites on the internet which
end up stealing people’s money for example thorough credit cards. They can be
false universities.
 Viruses
The internet has brought in with lots of viruses which damages information and
ICTs.
 Difficulty to implement laws

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 It has become difficulty to implement some of the laws as one can unlawful trade
on the internet. Copyright act is now difficult to implement as one can download
the whole book at no cost and possess it.
 Information and knowledge need to be often updated -Failure to often update
the websites can results in false data and information.
 Ergonomics
Ergonomics is such a word derived from the Greek ergon (work) and nomos (law)
and has been defined as the scientific study of the relationship between man and
his working environment and the application of anatomical, physiological and
psychological knowledge to the problems arising from them (Appleby, 1994:333).
These problems can be sitting arrangements while on computer which results in
back arch, too much light affecting eyes and fatigue.
 Power cuts in developing countries-In Zimbabwe for example there is always a
power cut which affects the functioning of the internet.

 Lack pf electricity distribution in developing countries -There is lack of electricity

distribution in developing countries which then limits the utilization of this
facility.
 Information overload-The internet has come with the information overload.
People can have as much information as they need and most of the information
may be irrelevant.
 Dangerous information-Dangerous information is shared for example
information on how to rob, kill and abort and use of dangerous drugs.
 Internet dependent syndrome
One can develop an internet dependent syndrome which affects the natural
socialization process and work. The face-book has also facilitated this syndrome.
One instead of doing work or physical socialization with others and the family
members can be always busy on the internet. According to Johnson (2003:20)
“objects or environments have certain properties that lead to different types of
behaviour. Just as importantly whenever technology is used to mediate
communication or behaviour in some way, the tool not only affords certain

105
 behaviours, but also removes the need for, or opportunity to conduct other aspects
of behaviour”. The internet affords new patterns of interaction but with the
accompanying cost for instance a loss of non-verbal cues during the interaction
except in video conferencing and other technologies whereby you will be able to
see the non-verbal cues.

9.5 Solutions to Challenges

 Use of passwords
The use of passwords hinders unauthorised users. A Password is a secret word or
code, which a user must supply during login to demonstrate that he/she in fact, the
person he/she claims to be. Good passwords are an important part of ICT security.
Some intruders enter system simply by guessing passwords.
 Antivirus software- Antivirus or anti-virus software is used to prevent, detect,
and remove ICT viruses.
 Encryption
Encryption is a technique for limiting access to the data carried on the ICT. It
encodes the data in a form that can only be read by systems that have the key to
the encoding scheme. The original text called clear text is encrypted using an
encryption device (hardware or software) and an encryption key. This produces
encoded text which is called the cipher. To recreate the clear text the cipher must
be decrypted using the same type of encryption device and key. Some valid
reasons for encrypting data are given below:
i, Prevent casual browsers from viewing sensitive data files
ii, Prevent accidental disclosure of sensitive data
iii, Prevent privildeged users for example system administrators from viewing
private data files.
iv, Complicate entry by intruders who attempt to search through a system ‘s file.
 Firewall

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 The term firewall implies protection from danger. A firewall computer system
protects your network from the outside world. A firewall computer provides strict
access control between your systems and the outside world.
 Provision of proper sitting setups and lighting
There is need for the provision of proper sitting and adequate lighting to avoid
back arches and eye problems and other healthy problems.
 Backups- Backups are usually copies of data stored on other storage media
 Increase of information literacy- Information literacy would minimise the
challenges of information overload
 Continuous computer training- The staff should be continuously trained for all
the changes that will be occurring in ICTs.
 Use of other electricity substitutes
There is always need for electricity substitutes in the case of electricity power cuts
for example generators and solar in the case of electricity power cuts.

Activity 9.1
1. Distinguish Information and Communication Technology from Knowledge
Management
2. Discuss the role of the internet in Knowledge Management
3. Give the challenges that can be found in ICTs.
4. Prove solutions to ICT challenges
5. The internet creates new winners and buries the laggards. Discuss

9.4 Summary

The distinction between Information Technology and Knowledge Management was

made. The role of the internet in Knowledge Management provided. The challenges in
ICTs were given as well as their solutions. The subsequent unit will dicuss the
Intellectual Capital.

107
References
Abell, A and Oxbrow, N .2001. Competing with Knowledge. London: Library
Association Publishing

Al-Hawamdeh, S. 2002. Knowledge management: re-thinking information

management and facing the challenge of managing tacit knowledge. Singapore:
School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University.
Information Research, Vol. 8 No. 1, October 2002.

Burk, M (2009) Knowledge Management: Everyone Benefits by Sharing Information.

November/December 1999· Vol. 63· No. 3.
Drucker, P. F .2005. Managing in a Time of Great Change. Oxford: Butterworth
Heinemann.

Gilbert et at (2001) Managing Knowledge: Building Blocks for Success. Wiley: John
Wiley and Sons, LTD.

108
 OHIO Virtual Finance Library. [internet] Available from
"http://fisher.osu.edu/fin/cerns.htm"http://fisher.osu.edu/fin/cerns.htm. [accessed
10/02/08].

Marwick, D. (2001). Knowledge management technology. IBM Systems Journal.

40(4),814-830. Available at:
http://researchweb.watson.ibm.com/journal/sj/404/marwick.html[accessed
22/04/2010]

Sanchez, R .2001. Knowledge Management and Organizational competence. New

York: Oxford.

Sasikala, C and Patnaik, Rama. K. Dec, (1999). Improving The Existing Information
Facility In Special Libraries in Vishapatnam using a Marketing Approach. Malaysian
Journal of Library Science, Vol.4,no.2.

UNIT 10

The Intellectual Capital

10.0 Introduction
This unit introduces the students to the concept of Intellectual Capital (IC) in the
management of knowledge. Explanations are made on the meaning of intellectual capital
and intellectual property. The unit shows the management of intellectual capital. The
aspects of patent and copyright are explained in this unit.

10.1 Unit objectives

By the end of the unit, you should be able to:
 define intellectual Capital and Property
 discuss Intellectual Capital Management
 give the meaning of patent and copyright
 explain the difference between design patent and utility patent.

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10.2 What is Intellectual Capital?
Intellectual capital is collective knowledge of individuals in the organisation whether or
not documented. This knowledge can be used to produce wealth. It can also be used to
multiply wealth, output and physical assets and gain competitive advantage. Intellectual
capital is knowledge that can be exploited for some money-making or other useful
purpose. The term combines the idea of the intellect or brain-power with the economic
concept of capital, the saving of entitled benefits so that they can be invested in
producing more goods and services. Intellectual capital can include the skills and
knowledge that a company has developed about how to make its goods or services;
individual employees or groups of employees whose knowledge is deemed critical to a
company's continued success and its aggregation of documents about processes,
customers, research results, and other information that might have value for a competitor
that is not common knowledge. http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/intellectual-
capital.

The website http://www.cpavision.org/vision/wpaper05b.cfm reported the following

story on Netscape:

When Netscape went public in 1995, it was a $17 million company with fifty employees.
Yet after only the first day of trading, the stock market valued Netscape at $3 billion.
What were investors buying? Certainly not fifty telephones and the company’s inventory
of software.

In fact, what investors “bought” were the people who had built Netscape — their
knowledge, skills, ideas and talent. They were also investing in the company’s
demonstrated ability to innovate, create, and bring to market a product that makes the
Internet accessible to the public at large. In short, they were paying an enormous
premium for Netscape’s intellectual capital.

As technology continues to transform the workplace and markets, intellectual capital will
undoubtedly become one of the most critical issues that CPAs must grapple with in order

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to continue providing clients and employers high-quality, value-added services and
advice.

10.3 The intellectual capital management

Some organizations have adapted or transformed their management styles and business
models to manage intellectual capital (IC) and respond to the IC-enabled dynamics of the
knowledge economy. Many of these organizations have done it without even realizing
that they are adopting an Intellectual Capital Management (ICM) approach. A top
executive of a leading consumer products company commented that his company is not
interested in ICM. "Show me the money, “he said”. All I see are the circles and pyramids
that ICM people draw in conferences." What this executive did not realize is that he was
already managing IC in one way or another on a daily basis to make money. If it were n't
for this executive's daily reliance on his gut feeling and tacit knowledge to manage his
employees' innovation, the company he works for wouldn't be a market leader. If the
company's employees did not care about the management of customer and structural
capital, it wouldn't invest millions of dollars in its interactive Web site to solicit
consumers' feedback 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Successful managers and businesses have been managing intellectual capital one way or
another all along, whether consciously or intuitively. This however, does not mean that
they have an ICM programme or strategy. Managing IC as a matter of common business
sense is not sufficient for the development of ICM as an organizational competency. It is
only when a management style moves from being intuitively applied to a planned and
systemized process that it can be perfected. Only then can it be substantially transformed
from being an art to becoming a science. Once it transitions into a science, it becomes
testable, measurable, more predictable, and, most importantly, repeatable. Though
organizations that apply ICM advance this goal, there is still a long road of
experimentation and applied research ahead for the emerging field of ICM to become
more of a "science." (http://www.wdc-econdev.com/the-intellectual-capital-model.html).

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10.4 Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is the creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works,
symbols, names, images, and designs. Intellectual Property is divided into two
categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks,
industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes
literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic
works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural
designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their
performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in
their radio and television programmes.

10.4.1 Patents
A patent is a form of protection that provides a person or legal entity with exclusive
rights for making, using or selling a concept or invention. Only an inventor may apply for
a patent on his or her idea. If two or more people participate in the creation of an
invention, the law requires that all participants apply for a patent as joint inventors. A
person applying for a patent on an idea he or she did not directly invent is subject to
criminal penalties and invalidation of the patent, if one was issued. A person making only
a financial contribution to an invention can not be named as a joint inventor. There are
actually several different type of patents, but the design and utility patents are used most
often.

10.4.1.1 Design patent

A design patent provides protection on the appearance or ornamental design of

someone’s invention.

Advantages of design patent

 On average a design patent cost less to obtain

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  It takes substantially less time to obtain

 Provides companies with a relative quick and effective method of preventing a

competitor from copying and producing each other’s products

To receive a design patent that invention must pass through the following tests:

 It must have a new, original and ornamental design

 The novel features of your design must not be obvious.

10.4.1.2 Utility patent

A utility patent protects the function or method of someone’s invention. This patent is
more complicated than a design patent because it requires the inventor to explain how the
invention is used. A utility patent is usually more expensive to obtain, requires more
input from an attorney, and is more difficult to have issued. Its protection is greater than
that of a design patent, however, because patenting a method or function provides
stronger, broader coverage. A person trying to make a product similar to your patented
one must avoid all the claims of your patent.

To receive a utility patent the invention must pass four tests:

 Statutory-class test -The invention can reasonably be classified as a process,

machine, manufacture, composition or a "new use" of any one or more of these
classifications.

 Utility test -The invention is considered useful.

 Novelty test -The invention has a feature that sets it apart from previous
inventions and is unknown to the public.

 "Unobviousness" test –The invention's novelty must not be obvious to someone

who has ordinary skill in the area of the invention. For example, if the invention is

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 a hoe, the uniqueness of its design must not be obvious to someone who uses a hoe
every day.

There is need to investigate if the idea has already been patented through having a search
performed on all existing patents. This patent search will tell whether other patents have
already been issued that may disclose or suggest the invention. You can perform a patent
search on your own, use the Internet or hire a patent researcher. There are libraries
designated as a Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries which can be used to do the
search.

10.4.2 Copyright

Copyright is a type of legal protection for people who express ideas and information in
certain forms. The most common forms are: writing, visual images, music and moving
images.

Copyright protects the form or way an idea or information is expressed, not the idea or
information itself. http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/page/Copyright. Copyright
protection subsists in original works of authorship, including pictorial, graphic, and
sculptural works, fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which they can be
perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated.

Activity 10.1
1. What is Intellectual Capital and Intellectual Property?
2. Define patent and copyright.
3. Distinguish between design patent and utility patent.

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 4. Discuss the copyright law in Zimbabwe. What are the challenges in implementing
the copyright law?

10.5 Summary
The unit defined the Intellectual Capital and Property. The management of Intellectual
Capital was explained. The meanings of patents and copyright were given. A distinction
was made between design and utility patents.

References
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act in Zimbabwe
http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/page/Copyright.[accessed 13/0611]
http://www.cpavision.org/vision/wpaper05b.cfm [accessed 15/06/11]
http://www.wdc-econdev.com/the-intellectual-capital-model.html [accessed 12/0/11]

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