The framework of knowledge management

¶ … knowledge management: Knowledge flow

Knowledge management is a four-part process, beginning with the identification of needed knowledge; the collection of relevant knowledge; the adaption (categorization and organization) of knowledge; and then finally the storage of knowledge. After the acquisition and classification of knowledge in a useful fashion, knowledge can be disseminated in a synchronous or asynchronous fashion. A synchronous technique might take the form of a meeting or discussion (knowledge is acquired by all at the same time, in the same place). An asynchronous technique would constitute a bulletin or notice board, in which everyone reads the knowledge in the same area, depending upon their schedule (knowledge is acquired by all at a different time, but in the same place). In the age of electronic communication, new methods of knowledge dissemination are possible in the form of distributed synchronous collaboration. This might include video conferencing (recipients are in different places, but acquire knowledge in the same time frame) or live chats. It can also be disseminated through distributed asynchronous collaboration like email (recipients acquire knowledge at entirely different times and in different places) (Abdullah et al. 2005).

All knowledge, whether synchronous or asynchronous, flows through a set of "processes, events and activities through which data, information, knowledge and meta-knowledge are transformed from one state to another" (Newman & Conrad 1999:1). The General Knowledge Model "organizes knowledge flows into four primary activity areas: knowledge creation, retention, transfer and utilization" (Newman & Conrad 1999:3). The knowledge disseminated within theories of knowledge management is known as 'artifacts.' Knowledge artifacts are usually classified as explicit, implicit or tacit. Explicit artifact's meanings are evident from the actual, literal text, while implicit artifacts have hidden meanings not immediately comprehensible to an outside observer, but are likely comprehensible to an insider (Newman & Conrad 1999:5). For example, when employees sign a confidentiality agreement before being hired, the terms of employment are explicitly conveyed, as is the desire of the company to conceal certain trade secrets. In contrast, implicit knowledge must be understood in its context: for example the expectation that investment bankers receive a bonus at the end of the year, as part of the terms of their employment. References to the upcoming bonus are not necessarily spelled out specifically, but the assumption is there, based upon the nature of the industry, the salary of the workers, and the pay structure of the job.

Tacit knowledge is even more subtlety disseminated -- it may not be explicitly articulated; the knowledge is found in between the lines of documents or conveyed socially in a nonverbal manner. For example, within some organizations there may be the tacit knowledge that no women with children are promoted past a certain level. This is never stated explicitly, as to do so would be illegal, but it is obvious from the leadership of the organization, the corporate culture in which employees are forced to work many long hours into the night, and the unstated expectation that employees will direct most of their personal efforts towards advancing the firm rather than to personal pastimes.