Knowledge Management

The importance and value of tracking and sharing the dispersed knowledge resources of contemporary organizations have received widespread recognition in recent years. It is widely believed that with the transition from the industrial to information-based economies, organizational knowledge has emerged as the single most critical resource at both macro- and microlevels. A major challenge for most organizations during this transition and beyond is to learn to deal with the intricacies of discovering knowledge from the vast amounts of data being generated, identifying pockets of important knowledge in various forms, to devise strategies and techniques to formalize parts that lend themselves to codification, and to nurture technical and other solutions with which useful knowledge can be shared among relevant participants. This has the potential to produce greater knowledge utilization leading to multiplier effects in organizational performance. This calls for an approach in which both the organizational and technological dimensions of the challenge are better understood and effectively integrated.