essay on benefits of knowledge management

Knowledge management

Ivan Andreev

Demand Generation & Capture Strategist, Valamis

February 22, 2022 · updated April 2, 2024

14 minute read

Taking advantage of all the expertise within an organization is a great way to maximize its potential. Companies have a well of untapped knowledge within their workforce that is lying dormant or siloed to individual staff or departments.

With the proper management structures in place, this knowledge can be found, stored, and made accessible to the wider workforce, offering tangible business benefits.

What is knowledge management?

Knowledge management in practice, types of knowledge, examples of knowledge management.

• Importance of knowledge management

Benefits of knowledge management

Knowledge management process, knowledge management methods, what are knowledge management systems.

Knowledge management is the conscious process of defining, structuring, retaining, and sharing the knowledge and experience of employees within an organization.

As organizations evolve, expand into new areas, and define their approach to business, they develop significant institutional knowledge . This information is invaluable to the company. Imparting it to new or less experienced staff is vital for maintaining successful operations.

The primary goal of knowledge management is facilitating the connection of staff looking for information, or institutional knowledge, with the people who have it.

With practical knowledge management in place, organizations can spread information and raise the level of expertise held by specific individuals or teams to improve the efficiency of their practices.

It often refers to training and learning in an organization or of its customers. It consists of a cycle of creating, sharing, structuring, and auditing knowledge to maximize the effectiveness of an organization’s collective expertise.

Knowledge management can be separated into three main areas:

• Accumulating knowledge
• Storing knowledge
• Sharing knowledge

By accumulating and storing the staff’s knowledge, companies hold onto what has made them successful in the past. In addition, sharing this information throughout the organization informs staff of past approaches that improve performance or better inform new strategies.

To achieve the goal of knowledge management, companies have to enable and promote a culture of learning and development, creating an environment where employees are encouraged to share information to better the collective workforce.

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When discussing knowledge management, it is helpful to consider the different types of knowledge and how it is possible to share them within an organization.

The information knowledge management covers can generally be broken down into three main types:

1. Explicit knowledge is knowledge and information that can be easily codified and taught, such as how to change the toner in a printer and mathematical equations.

2. Implicit knowledge is knowledge that explains how best to implement explicit knowledge. For example, consider discussing a task with an experienced co-worker. They may provide explicit steps detailing how to complete the job. But they may also use their understanding of the situation to consider different options and decide the best approach for your given circumstances. The experienced employee utilizes and shares their implicit knowledge to improve how the team operates.

3. Tacit knowledge is knowledge gained through experience. Therefore, it is more intuitive and less easy to share with others. Examples of tacit knowledge are “know-hows”, innovative thinking, and understanding body language.

While knowledge management for implicit and tacit knowledge can be harder to implement, with correct procedures in place, you can ensure all relevant information is shared around the company and retained as staff retire or move on.

Utilizing all the expertise in your company benefits the business as a whole, creating best practices for everyday tasks, improving situational awareness, developing employee intuition for course corrections, and enhancing organizational capacity.

Staff retiring

An employee’s knowledge and skillset grow as they spend time with an organization. As a result, staff typically retire with a wealth of expertise that the company needs to mine using efficient knowledge management processes in order to reduce disruption and prevent workforce knowledge gaps.

This means identifying and capturing the meaningful information that needs to be retained by the organization and determining the best approach for storing and distribution.

Employee transfer or promotion

When staff change positions within a company, they must develop additional skillsets and expertise to match their new role.

Efficient knowledge management procedures simplify delivering this information to create a seamless transition from one position to another.

Why is knowledge management important?

Knowledge management is important because it boosts the efficiency of an organization’s decision-making ability.

By making sure that all employees have access to the overall expertise held within the organization, a smarter workforce is built that is more able to make quick, informed decisions, benefiting the entire company.

Knowledge management allows innovation to grow within the organization, customers benefit from increased access to best practices, and employee turnover is reduced.

The importance of knowledge management is growing every year. As the marketplace becomes ever more competitive, one of the best ways to stay ahead of the curve is to build your organization in an intelligent, flexible manner. You must have the ability to spot issues from a distance and be able to respond quickly to new information and innovations.

Companies begin the knowledge management process for many different reasons.

• A merger or acquisition could spur the need for codifying knowledge and encouraging teams to share their expertise.
• The imminent retirement of key employees could demonstrate the need to capture their knowledge.
• An upcoming recruitment drive shows the wisdom in using knowledge management to assist in training new employees.

52% of respondents in Deloitte’s 2021 Global Human Capital Trends Survey stated workforce movement as the driving force behind proactively developing knowledge management strategies.

Whatever the reason is, implementing knowledge management processes offers tangible benefits that drive value. This is backed up by research , showing knowledge management positively influences dynamic capabilities and organizational performance.

A survey of over 286 people working in knowledge management across a range of industries, locations, and company sizes found the most significant benefits to be:

• Reduced time to find information
• Reduced time for new staff to become competent
• Reduced operational costs
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Improved bid win/loss ratio

Making knowledge management a significant part of a company’s leadership approach produces a more streamlined workforce with faster onboarding and well-informed staff that provide a better experience for customers.

Knowledge management is a critical tool for any company that wants to increase its bottom line and market share .

IDC estimates that Fortune 500 companies lose $31 billion from not sharing knowledge within their organization every year. Studies estimate improving employee access to information and tools could save organizations roughly $2 million a month for every 4000 employees.

Implementing effective knowledge management requires proactive strategies and incorporating multiple new processes.

Companies have to uncover the existing knowledge available to them, understand how to spread this information to produce additional value, and plan what this looks like in action.

Knowledge management process. Credit: Valamis. ( CC BY 4.0 )

1. Discovery

Every organization has multiple sources of knowledge, from employees to data and records.

This could be the education and skillsets staff bring to the job, the experience and unique expertise they develop on the job, or hard drives of data that can positively affect the business with proper analysis.

During the discovery process, organizations must identify all the available sources of knowledge, with a particular emphasis on information that could be easily lost.

This process is simplified by a strong understanding of where and how knowledge flows around the organization.

2. Collection

Collecting all the available knowledge and data creates the foundation from which future processes build.

Sloppy or incorrect knowledge collection leads to decisions without a complete understanding of the organization and its capabilities.

Companies must audit their existing staff expertise, documentation, and external knowledge sources. A range of tools is available to help, including automated surveys, document scanning, and metadata.

Post-implementation, many organizations redefine internal processes to make capturing institutional knowledge a part of everyday processes. This could be through continual employee feedback systems or more in-depth offboarding procedures.

3. Assessment

This process involves the deep analysis of the knowledge gathered in the previous two steps. Data must be assessed and organized into a structured, searchable, and easily accessible form.

Assessment of the gathered knowledge is required to ensure it is accurate, offers value, and is up to date.

Then teams can determine how best to share information to improve company performance and give staff the knowledge they need to maximize performance.

Utilizing the right knowledge management system simplifies this process by allowing leadership to organize, assess, segment, and store a comprehensive knowledge database.

The whole point of knowledge management is to give staff the expertise and information they need to do their job to the best of their ability.

Once you have built a detailed and accurate body of knowledge related to your company, you need to plan how it will be shared.

See the “Knowledge management methods” section below for examples of how to share information around your company.

While there are many examples of sharing information, one thing that should be universal is creating a cultural shift towards learning and development .

Leadership must prioritize and reward knowledge sharing, creating an atmosphere where team members are actively encouraged to both teach each other and learn from one another.

5. Application

This is the step where organizations reap the rewards of knowledge management. Discovering and storing institutional knowledge is just the beginning.

Staff utilizing newly acquired expertise in their tasks brings a range of benefits in productivity, accuracy, decision-making, and more innovative employees.

6. Creation

The final stage of knowledge management is to create more knowledge.

It should never be considered a one-and-done process. A single audit and rollout won’t deliver the results you are looking for.

Knowledge management is a continual process that maximizes a company’s performance for the expertise available to it.

Whether it is a team discovering a new, more efficient approach to a task or a better way of capturing data related to company performance, organizations should constantly be innovating and creating new knowledge to pass on to future employees.

Depending on what the company needs, their knowledge management will look different.

Below we have listed common examples of knowledge management methods in action:

1. Tutoring & training, communities of practice, and Q&A

These examples all involve transferring information directly from the knowledge holder to other employees.

This could be through in-person tutoring, company-wide training sessions, online chats, and group discussions – or a mix of these options and others.

Many companies value building a skills matrix that maps each employee’s expertise. This simplifies finding the employee with the most experience or knowledge in a given field. In addition, it identifies knowledge gaps within the workforce and shows areas requiring focus for specific knowledge management methods and training.

Some examples of this type of knowledge management may not require a formalized structure. For example, perhaps your company is having problems with a new project, which reminds you of a previous situation. Using the company Slack, for example, you can search for similar questions and find old threads discussing how you overcame the problem last time. Prior expertise that you may not have thought about in years is stored and discovered in old communications to help you right now.

• Questions can be immediately answered
• Clarifications can be made if the material is not understood
• Brainstorming sessions can be facilitated, taking advantage of the combined power of the group’s experience and knowledge
• In-person learning tends to be remembered more clearly
• It can be time-consuming and take away from the tasks the knowledge holder is trying to complete
• A system of expertise location can be time-consuming to build and maintain
• It can be challenging to document and save for future use
• Difficulty finding the right expert with good communication skills and knowledge of the company
• You can lose the knowledge if the knowledge holder leaves the company

2. Documentations, guides, guidelines, FAQ, and tutorials

Written communications are great for storing and transferring knowledge.

With text-based knowledge management, a system to store, categorize and navigate subjects is always available.

In many cases, metadata is a great help for this.

• The company has an invaluable source of information of up to date information
• Easy to find and share online (when organized well)
• Can easily combine multiple people’s expertise into one packet
• Requires a lot of time to create and keep up-to-date
• Must be appropriately managed to ensure relevant knowledge is easily found
• Requires infrastructure (internet access, etc.)
• It takes time to consume

3. Forums, intranets, and collaboration environments

These online resources spark conversation and bring many knowledge holders into the same place.

Threads, subforums, and groups can be divided by topic, level of expertise, or any number of other classifications.

• Collaboration drives innovation
• Many experts can be brought together into one place, no matter their location globally
• Facilitating contact with remote teams helps teamwork and knowledge transfer
• It can be a chaotic, noisy environment
• Knowledge is not actively being vetted as it is added to discussions
• Searching through many messages and threads for relevant answers is time-consuming
• Messages and threads might not be archived

4. Learning and development environments

Creating an environment where learning is considered an asset will continuously drive employees to educate themselves.

Incentivizing them to take advantage of your knowledge management systems will result in upskilled employees ready to take on leadership roles in your organization.

For this to happen, there must be structured and accessible learning and development technology in place that employees can use.

• Motivated employees can develop themselves at will
• Training pathways can be set out
• Wide range of resources available to produce a constant flow of fresh content
• The structure allows for easier discovery of subjects
• Authoring tools available such that internal experts can build company-specific courses
• Analytic tools are available to help find knowledge gaps inside the company
• Requires a lot of effort to develop and maintain in house
• Readily available solutions may be too generic to add real value for your company
• Content must be created and continually updated
• Requires an influential learning culture to motivate staff to participate

5. Case studies

These in-depth studies into particular areas serve as complete guides to a subject.

Looking at the actions taken, the results they produce, and any lessons learned is extremely valuable.

• Allow for complete documentation and archiving of lessons learned
• Easily shareable
• Efficient for communicating complex information
• It takes a lot of time and skill to create
• The case study may have limitations or require approval from the parties involved
• Can be too specialized to apply the knowledge broadly
• In fast-paced fields that are constantly innovating, case studies can become out of date quickly

6. Webinars

These online seminars can be beneficial in widely disseminating ideas throughout teams, branches, or the entire company.

• Accessible for all interested employees to attend
• Potential for interactivity where attendees can ask questions specific to issues they are having
• Can be recorded and reused
• Planning, finding the right speakers, and settling on a topic is time-consuming
• Requires organization
• External experts can cost a lot
• Requires time to find answer

Knowledge management systems are IT solutions that allow for the storage and retrieval of the information stored within the company, allowing for better collaboration and more efficient problem-solving.

Depending on what your company needs, they will have different features.

Examples of knowledge management systems are:

• Feedback database – Everyone involved in a product, from designers to salespeople to customers, can share their feedback with the organization. All stakeholders can access the feedback and thus quickly make fundamental changes armed with better information.
• Research files – In developing projects and ideas, a company does market and consumer research to determine what is needed, what niches are yet to be filled in the market, and what trends can be forecasted. The files are then shared within the organization to allow all departments to benefit from the research conducted.

Shared project files – This system allows for greater collaboration and teamwork, especially across distances.

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Knowledge management (KM) is the process of identifying, organizing, storing and disseminating information within an organization.

When knowledge is not easily accessible within an organization, it can be incredibly costly to a business as valuable time is spent seeking out relevant information versus completing outcome-focused tasks.

A knowledge management system (KMS) harnesses the collective knowledge of the organization, leading to better operational efficiencies. These systems are supported by the use of a knowledge base. They are usually critical to successful knowledge management, providing a centralized place to store information and access it readily.

Companies with a knowledge management strategy achieve business outcomes more quickly as increased organizational learning and collaboration among team members facilitates faster decision-making across the business. It also streamlines more organizational processes, such as training and on-boarding, leading to reports of higher employee satisfaction and retention.

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The definition of knowledge management also includes three types of knowledge—tacit, implicit, and explicit knowledge. These types of knowledge are largely distinguished by the codification of the information.

• Tacit knowledge:  This type of knowledge is typically acquired through experience, and it is intuitively understood. As a result, it is challenging to articulate and codify, making it difficult to transfer this information to other individuals. Examples of tacit knowledge can include language, facial recognition, or leadership skills.
• Implicit knowledge:  While some literature equivocates implicit knowledge to tacit knowledge, some academics break out this type separately, expressing that the definition of tactic knowledge is more nuanced. While tacit knowledge is difficult to codify, implicit knowledge does not necessarily have this problem. Instead, implicit information has yet to be documented. It tends to exist within processes, and it can be referred to as “know-how” knowledge.
• Explicit knowledge:  Explicit knowledge is captured within various document types such as manuals, reports, and guides, allowing organizations to easily share knowledge across teams. This type of knowledge is perhaps the most well-known and examples of it include knowledge assets such as databases, white papers, and case studies. This form of knowledge is important to retain intellectual capital within an organization as well as facilitate successful knowledge transfer to new employees.

While some  academics  (link resides outside ibm.com) summarize the knowledge management process as involving knowledge acquisition, creation, refinement, storage, transfer, sharing and utilization. This process can be synthesized this a little further. Effective knowledge management system typically goes through three main steps:

• Knowledge Creation:  During this step, organizations identify and document any existing or new knowledge that they want to circulate across the company.
• Knowledge Storage:  During this stage, an information technology system is typically used to host organizational knowledge for distribution. Information may need to be formatted in a particular way to meet the requirements of that repository.
• Knowledge Sharing:  In this final stage, processes to share knowledge are communicated broadly across the organization. The rate in which information spreads will vary depending on organizational culture. Companies that encourage and reward this behavior will certainly have a competitive advantage over other ones in their industry. 

There are a number tools that organizations utilize to reap the benefits of knowledge management. Examples of knowledge management systems can include:

• Document management systems  act as a centralized storage system for digital documents, such as PDFs, images, and word processing files. These systems enhance employee workflows by enabling easy retrieval of documents, such as lessons learned.
• Content management systems (CMS) are applications which manage web content where end users can edit and publish content. These are commonly confused with document management systems, but CMSs can support other media types, such as audio and video.   
• Intranets  are private networks that exist solely within an organization, which enable the sharing of enablement, tools, and processes within internal stakeholders. While they can be time-consuming and costly to maintain, they provide a number of groupware services, such as internal directories and search, which facilitate collaboration.
• Wikis  can be a popular knowledge management tool given its ease of use. They make it easy to upload and edit information, but this ease can lead to concerns about misinformation as workers may update them with incorrect or outdated information.
• Data warehouses  aggregate data from different sources into a single, central, consistent data store to support data analysis, data mining, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. Data is extracted from these repositories so that companies can derive insights, empowering employees to make data-driven decisions.

While knowledge management solutions can be helpful in facilitating knowledge transfer across teams and individuals, they also depend on user adoption to generate positive outcomes. As a result, organizations should not minimize the value of human elements that enable success around knowledge management.

• Organizational Culture:  Management practices will affect the type of organization that executives lead. Managers can build learning organizations by rewarding and encouraging knowledge sharing behaviors across their teams. This type of leadership sets the groundwork for teams to trust each other and communicate more openly to achieve business outcomes.
• Communities of practice:  Centers of excellence in specific disciplines provide employees with a forum to ask questions, facilitating learning and knowledge transfer. In this way, organizations increase the number of subject matter experts in a given area of the company, reducing dependencies on specific individuals to execute certain tasks.

Armed with the right tools and strategies, knowledge management practices have seen success in specific applications, such as:

• Onboarding employees:  Knowledge management systems help to address the huge learning curve for new hires. Instead of overwhelming new hires with a ‘data dump’ in their first weeks, continually support them with knowledge tools that will give them useful information at any time.  Learn more
• Day-to-day employee tasks:  Enable every employee to have access to accurate answers and critical information. Access to highly relevant answers at the right time, for the right person, allows workforces to spend less time looking for information and more time on activities that drive business.  Learn more
• Self-serve customer service:  Customers repeatedly say they’d prefer to find an answer themselves, rather than pick up the phone to call support.  When done well, a knowledge management system helps businesses decrease customer support costs and increase customer satisfaction.  Learn more

Companies experience a number of benefits when they embrace knowledge management strategies. Some key advantages include:

• Identification of skill gaps:  When teams create relevant documentation around implicit or tacit knowledge or consolidate explicit knowledge, it can highlight gaps in core competencies across teams. This provides valuable information to management to form new organizational structures or hire additional resources.
• Make better informed decisions:  Knowledge management systems arm individuals and departments with knowledge. By improving accessibility to current and historical enterprise knowledge, your teams can upskill and make more information-driven decisions that support business goals.
• Maintains enterprise knowledge:  If your most knowledgeable employees left tomorrow, what would your business do? Practicing internal knowledge management enables businesses to create an organizational memory. Knowledge held by your long-term employees and other experts, then make it accessible to your wider team.
• Operational efficiencies:  Knowledge management systems create a go-to place that enable knowledge workers to find relevant information more quickly. This, in turn, reduces the amount of time on research, leading to faster decision-making and cost-savings through operational efficiencies.  Increase productivity not only saves time, but also reduces costs.
• Increased collaboration and communication:  Knowledge management systems and organizational cultures work together to build trust among team members. These information systems provide more transparency among workers, creating more understanding and alignment around common goals. Engaged leadership and open communication create an environment for teams to embrace innovation and feedback.
• Data Security:  Knowledge management systems enable organizations to customize permission control, viewership control and the level of document-security to ensure that information is shared only in the correct channels or with selected individuals. Give your employees the autonomy access knowledge safely and with confidence.

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The current understanding of knowledge management concepts: A critical review

Shahram yazdani.

1 Virtual school of Medical Education and Management, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Snor Bayazidi

Amir ali mafi.

2 Anesthesiology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Background: Higher education institutions include experts who are knowledgeable. Knowledge management facilitates institutions to enhance the capacity to collect information and knowledge and apply it to problem-solving and decision making. Through the review of related studies, we observed that there are multiple concepts and terms in the field of knowledge management. Thus, the complexity and variety of these concepts and definitions must be clarified. Considering the importance of clarifying these concepts for utilization by users, this study aimed to examine the concepts related to this filed.

Methods: The methodology used in this study was based on the Carnwell and Daly's critical review method. An extensive search was carried out on various databases and libraries. A critical and profound review was carried out on selected articles. Many wandering concepts were found. Identified concepts were classified into seven categories based on conceptual proximity. Existing definitions and evidence in relation to extracted concepts were criticized and synthesized. The definitional attributes for them were identified and a conceptual identity card was provided for each of the concepts.

Results: Thirty-seven concepts with the most relevance to the field of knowledge management were extracted. There was no clear boundary among them, and they wandered. To avoid more confusion, concepts were classified according to semantic relation. Eight categories were created; each category consisted of a mother concept and several other concepts with similarity and proximity to the meaning of the original concept. Their attributes have been identified, and finally, each of them was presented in the form of a conceptual identity card.

Conclusion: Through critically reviewing the literature in this field, we were able to identify the concepts and realize their attributes. In this way, we came to a new interpretation of the concepts. At the end of the study, we concluded that some of the concepts have not been properly defined and are not properly located in the knowledge management field; also their application is uncertain.

↑ What is “already known” in this topic:

There are numerous and complex concepts in the field of knowledge management that have not been clarified, and most of them are used incorrectly. For example, in many studies, the concept of knowledge management and knowledge translation are used interchangeably, and there is no distinct boundary among concepts.

→ What this article adds:

The identified concepts were wandering. To avoid more confusion, concepts were classified according to semantic relation. Eight categories were created, including a sentinel concept and several other neighbor concepts. Their attributes have been identified, and finally, each of them was presented in the form of a conceptual identity card.

Introduction

The organization in the age of knowledge is an organization that is based on the best available knowledge and information. To succeed in today's challenging organizational environment, organizations need to learn from past mistakes rather than repeating those mistakes. This process occurs through knowledge management ( 1 , 2 ). Knowledge management (KM) is important, especially for organizations that their successes depend on the production, use, and integration of knowledge by professionals and employees. Higher education institutions are made up of experts who are knowledgeable. KM is a new field in the academic environment, and many universities are actively involved in related activities in this field ( 3 ). Conferences and seminars are taking place at the national and international levels in this regard. In the field of education, due to the need to explore the power and intellectual capital available to share experiences, this area has been very much considered ( 4 ). All knowledge production organizations such as research, development centers and higher education institutions from colleges to universities are looking for new concepts in their favorite subject. They also help create knowledge through various programs, considered as "knowledge houses" ( 5 ). So, the knowledge of the professors flows to the students and new knowledge is produced. Information is created in various forms and sources such as books, articles, dissertations, reports, and more. Knowledge management helps these institutions to enhance the capacity to collect information and knowledge and apply it to problem-solving and decision making ( 6 ). Therefore, evidence shows that any academic institution is associated with knowledge. In these institutions, the information and knowledge gained in the scientific community's core area should be disseminated for further growth ( 5 ). But, there are challenges in this direction. Studies have demonstrated that knowledge created in educational institutions is not properly stored and obtained. Most of the time, knowledge created in that system remains unknown and is considered as gray literature ( 6 ). The academic environment is considered as the knowledge houses, but if the generated knowledge in that organization is not properly organized, it will minimize its usefulness and leads to repeat activities ( 7 ). Despite the importance of knowledge management for educational systems, there is still no awareness about its development by academics. There is a need to create a culture of sharing knowledge among professors, staff and students who are still afraid of losing their knowledge through exchange and dissemination ( 8 ). The use of information communication technology and the development of advanced skills in the training of professions for the purpose of participation, communication, acquisition, recording and dissemination of knowledge are used very poorly in universities. Therefore, they need to adopt a policy in this regard ( 7 ). New educational systems are market-oriented and are becoming entrepreneurs. They should be accountable to the academic governance system. Therefore, educational institutions and academics faced with global pressures, research, and interdisciplinary subjects. In the complexity of such as global education market, there is a need for a motivating environment ( 6 ).

We mentioned the importance of knowledge management in the educational system, as well as the existence of challenges in this direction, but although much research has been done in this regard, knowledge workers, those who are willing to do research or scientific activity in this area face difficulties. The main reason for this problem is that there are numerous and complex concepts in this area that have not been clarified, and most of them are used incorrectly. For example, in many studies and even by academics, the concept of knowledge management and knowledge translation are used interchangeably, and there is no distinct boundary among concepts. On the other hand, despite the multiplicity of concepts in this field, the research that has examined all of these concepts together has not been found. Considering the importance of clarifying these concepts for utilization by users, the first step in this direction is to identify and clarify concepts associated with knowledge management. Therefore, in this study, we intend to examine the concepts and definitions related to them through a critical review method, accordingly identify their attributes, and based on the identified attributes, concepts become clear.

The result of this study can help managers, policymakers, professors, students, and researchers who after us, intend to carry out research related to the field of knowledge management.

Our methodology was based on the critical review of the literature introduced by Carnwell and Daly. The following five steps were performed; 1- detremination the scope of the review, 2- identification relevant information resources, 3-literature review, 4-writing the review,5- application of the review results in the study ( 9 ).

The review scoop was theoretical research published in the research journals. An extensive search was carried out on various databases (google scholar, PubMed, Embase, Elsevier, Scopus, Iran Medex, SID, and online libraries and dictionaries). The main keywords in the search were: knowledge management concepts, knowledge management stages, knowledge management implementation, knowledge management in higher education, and knowledge management in medical education. As a result, numerous articles were found. To restrict the search results, we set the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were the studies and books related to knowledge management concepts without time limitation. Non-academic research was the exclusion criteria. The articles were examined superficially. Then the primary screening was done on the titles. So, a summary of the articles was studied and those articles that were most closely related to the concepts of knowledge management were selected to study the full text. Priority in reading was based on their relevance to study objectives and literature with more conceptual richness. A critical review was carried on publications with the purpose of clarifying the boundary among concepts. Thirty-seven concepts that were involved in the KM process were extracted. Since there were many wandering concepts in this path, in order to avoid confusion, they were examined based on semantic proximity in separate categories. Each category included a mother concept and other related concepts to it. Then by synthesizing existing definitions and evidence about each of the concepts, we tried to identify the characteristics on which they are defined. Ultimately each of the concepts was presented in the new classification based on these characteristics.

There were many wandering concepts in the field of knowledge management, in order to avoid bewilderment; concepts were examined based on semantic proximity in separate categories. Each category included a mother concept with related concepts to it. By critique and comparing the definitions and evidence about each of the concepts, their attributes were identified. Finally, based on these features, a conceptual identity card for each concept was presented. Our result presented in nine categories: knowledge Generation (knowledge acquisition, knowledge selection, knowledge building, knowledge creation, knowledge capture), Knowledge processing( knowledge synthesis, knowledge integration, knowledge refinement, knowledge tailoring, knowledge customization)knowledge storage (knowledge assimilation, knowledge package, knowledge documentation, knowledge indexing), Knowledge transfer( knowledge sharing, knowledge exchange, knowledge dissemination, knowledge publication), Knowledge capitalization( knowledge commercialization, knowledge valorization), Knowledge brokering, Knowledge utilization(, knowledge adoption, knowledge adaptation, knowledge reuse), Knowledge translation, and Knowledge management.

In the following, the conceptual identity of each of the concepts, which includes the specific features about that concept, is introduced.

Knowledge Generation : Knowledge acquisition, knowledge capture, knowledge selection, knowledge creation, knowledge building.

Knowledge acquisition attributes

Purpose: The purpose of knowledge acquisition is to enhance the organizations' competitive edge through increasing an organization’s operational knowledge base ( 10 ).

Source of obtaining knowledge: The source of obtaining knowledge is internal and external sources ( 10 ).

Type of acquired Knowledge: Type of acquired knowledge can be either tacit or explicit ( 10 ).

Activities: Activities related to knowledge acquisition are identification of knowledge, obtaining the identified knowledge, transferring the knowledge for immediately using or internalization ( 11 ).

Key point: Knowledge acquired can either be tacit or explicit but must add value to the organization ( 10 ).

Knowledge selection attributes

Purpose: The purpose of knowledge selection is Identification the knowledge according to organizational needs in internal sources, Provide knowledge at the appropriate place and by the appropriate form ( 12 ).

Source of obtaining knowledge: Knowledge is obtained from internal sources ( 12 ).

Activities: Knowledge selection activities include the following: identification of knowledge from internal sources, obtaining the identified knowledge from internal sources, transfer the knowledge for immediately using or internalization ( 12 )

Key point: Knowledge selection is the opposite point of knowledge acquisition ( 12 ).

Knowledge capturing attributes

Purpose: The purpose of knowledge capture is to maintain knowledge in order to organizational performance improvement, ensure that knowledge available is stored for future reference ( 13 ).

Form: Knowledge captured in the form of databases or manuals ( 13 ).

Knowledge creation attributes

Context: Knowledge creation occurs through the inference or discovery from knowledge sources ( 12 ).

Purpose: Creating or producing knowledge helps organizations gain a competitive advantage by providing valuable, rare, and inimitable resources ( 14 ). Utilization of complex and discontinuous events and phenomena to Confronting recognized organizational problems ( 15 ).

Activities: Knowledge selection activities include the following: control the organizational knowledge, Control the external environment, Creation knowledge from the existing basic knowledge, Transfer created knowledge for externalization or internalization ( 12 ).

Knowledge creation place: Knowledge is produced in the Research community, Professional Councils, Ministries and governmental organizational, Transfer and innovation centers, Science communities ( 16 ).

Form: Some scientists have defined knowledge creation as a process, output, and outcome ( 15 , 17 ).

Knowl edge building attributes

Context: The term knowledge building first appeared in the learning sciences literature ( 18 ).

Purpose: The purpose of knowledge creation is the creation or modification of public knowledge—knowledge that lives ‘in the world’ and is available to be worked on and used by other people. These pursuits should advance the current understanding of individuals within a group, at a level beyond their initial knowledge level, and should be directed towards advancing the understanding of what is known about that topic or idea ( 19 ).

Steps: Knowledge building consists of the following steps: creation, testing, and improvement of conceptual artifacts ( 19 ).

Requirements: It encompasses the foundational learning, sub-skills, and socio-cognitive dynamics pursued in other approaches, along with the additional benefit of movement along the trajectory to mature education ( 20 ).

Path: Knowledge building can be considered as deep constructivism that involves making a collective inquiry into a specific topic and coming to a deeper understanding through interactive questioning, dialogue, and continuous improvement of ideas. Ideas are thus the medium of operation in KB environments ( 20 ).

Key point: Knowledge building projects focus on understanding rather than on accomplishing tasks, and on collaboration rather than on controversy ( 20 ).

Knowledge processing : Knowledge filtering, knowledge synthesis, knowledge integration, knowledge refinement, knowledge customization.

Knowledge processing attributes

Context: Knowledge processing is a significant factor contributing to socioeconomic sustainability ( 21 ).It is a central problem of Artificial Intelligence ( 22 ).

Purpose: The purpose of Knowledge processing is to understand the relationship among data, information and knowledge and create knowledge structures ( 23 ).

Method: The knowledge processing method is Transformation of data into knowledge, changing the form of knowledge representation, deriving new knowledge from a given knowledge ( 23 ).

Steps: Knowledge processing consists of the following steps: Information storing, information retrieving, and information transferring ( 21 ).

Key point: Knowledge processing is known as the most important factor affecting economic and social sustainability, Derive value from knowledge processing ( 23 ).

Knowledge filtering attributes

Context: Knowledge filtering can be used to facilitate assimilation. Filtering tries to get the right knowledge to the right person at the right time) 24).

Purpose: Filtering is a tool to help people find the most valuable information so that the limited time spent on reading/listening/viewing can be spent on the most interesting and valuable documents. Filters are also used to organize and structure information ( 25 ).

Steps: Knowledge filtering consists of the following steps: Evaluate documents, and puts documents, which are interesting into its structured information database) 25).

Method: The knowledge filtering method is Manual filtering by people, using intelligent agents ( 24 ).

Main actors: Computer-based Approaches, publishers, editors, journalists ( 25 ).

Knowledge synthesis attributes

Context: Knowledge synthesis is the contextualization and integration of research findings of individual research studies within the larger body of knowledge on the topic ( 26 ).

Purpose: Most syntheses are conducted either for the purpose of knowledge support or for decision support ( 27 ).

Steps: Knowledge synthesis consists of the following steps: Stating the objectives of the research, Defining eligibility criteria for studies to be included, Identifying (all) potentially eligible studies, Applying eligibility criteria, Assembling the complete data set feasible including data extraction, quality appraisal of included studies, Analyzing this data set, and Preparing a structured report ( 28 , 29 ).

Method: Knowledge synthesis methods are Systematic review, Realist syntheses, Narrative syntheses, Meta-analyses, Meta-syntheses, Practice guidelines, Consensus conference, or expert panel ( 30 ).

Key point: A synthesis must be reproducible and transparent in its methods ( 26 ).

Knowledge integration attributes

Context: The integration of knowledge is the process of incorporating new information into a body of existing knowledge ( 31 ).

Purpose: The purpose of knowledge integration is to determine how new and existing knowledge interacts and how existing knowledge should be modified to accommodate the new information ( 31 ).

Steps: Knowledge integration consists of the following steps: Dynamic process of linking, connecting, distinguishing, organizing, and structuring ideas about scientific phenomena ( 32 ).

Knowledge refinement attributes

Context: The knowledge refinement process is implemented as part of an organization’s knowledge management efforts ( 33 ).

Purpose: The purpose of knowledge refinement is to optimize content quality ( 33 , 34 ).

Steps: Knowledge refinement refers to the process of evaluating, analyzing and optimizing the knowledge object to be stored in a repository ( 35 , 36 )

Key point: Knowledge refinement effectiveness is defined as the degree to which the refinement process produces quality knowledge ( 37 ). Knowledge refinement process should positively enhance the quality of refined knowledge ( 37 ).

Knowledge customization attributes

Context: Product customization is becoming an increasingly important strategic initiative in knowledge management. Product customization impacts the knowledge management processes of knowledge acquisition, sharing, and transfer ( 38 ).

Purpose: The purpose of customization is configuring a product or service to a buyer’s specifications ( 39 ). The relationships among sales, R&D, and production functions have to strengthen and the KM system has to support such a need ( 38 ).

Steps: Knowledge customization consists of the following steps: Collecting information about the customer, choosing options and/or creating new content, deliberately tailors content ( 40 ).

Key point: Customization emphasizes the user’s role in specifying content; customization is a highly user-driven process of tailoring ( 41 ).

Knowl edge transfer attributes

Context: The transfer of knowledge in the broadest sense refers to the flow of knowledge between and within organizations ( 42 ).

Purpose: The purpose of knowledge transfer is: decision-making, changing individual or organizational behavior, developing policies, problem-solving ( 43 ).

Perspectives about Knowledge Transfer: Health perspective, educational perspective, management perspective.

Health perspective: Use of scientific research findings to improve professional performance ( 44 ).

Educational perspective: Using generated knowledge in a specific context for another context ( 45 ).

Management perspective: utilization of the new knowledge for organizational behaviors ( 46 ).

Form: Knowledge transfer can be done in the form of formal and informal, planned, and unplanned ( 46 ). Planned and unplanned: Knowledge transfer as a process where knowledge is transmitted from one person to another in the form of planned or natural ( 47 ).

Formal and informal: Knowledge transfer as an informal way through networks and social interactions in the workplace or formal way in an organization ( 47 , 48 )

Level: Knowledge transfer is a macro process, at the organizational level ( 42 ).

Steps: Knowledge transfer consists of the following steps: SECI: Socialization, Externalization, Combination, And Internalization ( 49 ).

Areas: Knowledge transfer areas include: Transfer of research findings ( 50 ). Technology transfer ( 51 ). Transfer of learning, Organizational transfer. ( 45 ).

Key point: The concept of knowledge transfer is at the macro level, where knowledge is spreading across sectors, units, or subsets of an organization ( 42 ).

Knowledge sharing attributes

Context: Knowledge sharing is an activity that involves transferring or disseminating knowledge from a person, group, or organization to another.

Purpose: The purpose of knowledge sharing is discovering tools for accessing knowledge inside and outside of organizations with a view to creating more effective management and organizational system ( 52 ).

Level: Knowledge sharing can be At the Individual level and micro ( 53 ). Among researchers, policymakers, service providers, stakeholders ( 54 ).

Activities: Sharing of knowledge is entirely conscious, with a person's desire, without any obligation ( 53 ).

Place for sharing Sharing of knowledge occurs at Conferences, social media, Media relation, Scholarly collaboration networks, Journal publication ( 55 )

Direction: It is a Mono directional process: A person's knowledge transforms into a form that can be understood, absorbed, and used by others. Bidirectional: Share information, ideas, suggestions and related organizational expertise with each other ( 56 ).

Key point: Common purpose and shared experiences between individuals, and Communication with others are taking place ( 56 ).

Kn owledge exchange attributes

Context: In the exchange of knowledge, collaborative problem solving between researchers and decision-makers takes place ( 54 ).

Purpose: The exchange of knowledge is to increase the effectiveness of networks and teams in complex environments ( 54 ). The exchange of knowledge to create new knowledge ( 57 ).

Form: Knowledge exchange is an active process: Researchers make knowledge available to users, and users also transfer knowledge to researchers. It Includes knowledge sharing (what employees give to others) and knowledge search (employees are seeking knowledge from others). ( 57 ).

Direction: There are bidirectional relations between researchers or knowledge producers and users.)58).

Key point: The interactions between researchers and decision-makers take place ( 57 ).

Knowledge dissemination attributes

Means for dissemination: Knowledge can be disseminated through articles, journals, conference lectures and other outputs ( 59 ).

The type of dissemination: Dissemination of knowledge is in the form of Knowledge, interventions and existing or recent methods ( 59 )

Direction: It is mono-directional, from the top to the bottom and from the expert ( 59 ).

Form: Knowledge dissemination is a planned process ( 59 ).

Knowledge publication attribute

Con text: One of the major academic duties to share their findings, and to interact with their peers and the general populace, via literal publication ( 60 ).

Purpose: The purpose of the publication is the Making-public of new knowledge ( 60 ).

Steps: Knowledge publication includes the following steps: Find the right journal, prepare the paper, and submit the paper ( 55 ).

Form: The publication of knowledge is in the form of Letter, rapid or short communications, Review papers, Full articles, Research elements (data, software, methods, Citable articles, in brief) ( 55 )

Key point: The publication is related to academic journals ( 55 ).

Knowledge Brokering

Knowledge brokering attributes.

Context: Knowledge brokering is one of the human forces behind knowledge transfer. It is a dynamic activity that goes well beyond the standard notion of transfer as a collection of activities that helps move information from a source to a recipient ( 61 ).

Purpose: Brokering focuses on identifying and bringing together people interested in an issue, people who can help each other develop evidence-based solutions. It helps build relationships and networks for sharing existing research and ideas and stimulating new work.” ( 62 ). Knowledge brokering encompasses a wide range of processes and practices that aim at establishing relationships and facilitating effective knowledge sharing and exchange ( 61 ).

Form: Knowledge brokering takes place as either formal or informal activities ( 61 ).

Type: Types of knowledge brokers are: Information Intermediary (Help Access to knowledge), Knowledge Intermediary (Help Understand and apply the knowledge), Knowledge Brokering (Help use of knowledge in decision making), Innovation Brokering (Changing Context). ( 61 )

Activities: Knowledge brokering activities are: uncovering the needs, ideas, activities, and processes of different knowledge environments in order to identify the best research, practices and tools that research partners need to capture, transfer, exchange and collaborate around knowledge ( 61 ).

Key point: It engages with obstacles that block the transfer of research into practice ( 61 ).

Knowledge storing: Knowledge assimilation, knowledge package, knowledge indexing, knowledge documentation.

Knowledge storage attributes

Context: Knowledge can be viewed as an item to be stored for future usage ( 34 ).

Purpose: Knowledge storage is In order to facilitate the assimilation of knowledge ( 63 ).

Type: Knowledge is stored in the form of individual and organizational knowledge, soft or hardstyle recording and retention ( 49 , 64 )

Form: Knowledge store as the form of documents, rules, cases, and diagrams ( 65 )

Method: Technical infrastructure such as modern informational hardware and software, human processes are necessary for storing knowledge ( 49 ).

Steps: Knowledge storage steps are: identify the knowledge in an organization, convert the identified knowledge to code, and index the identified knowledge for later retrieval ( 49 , 64 ).

Knowledge assimilation attributes

Context: A critical aspect of knowledge management is that of assimilation ( 66 , 67 ).

Purpose: 1. To take in and incorporate as one’s own; absorb 2. To bring into conformity with the customs, attitudes, etc. of a group 3. To convert to substances suitable for incorporation.

Steps: Knowledge assimilation steps are: Storage, massaged, organized, integrate, filtered, navigate ( 66 , 67 ).

Key point: Knowledge can be captured or created, but until it is assimilated it is not likely to receive extensive use ( 64 ).

Knowledge package attributes

Purposes : The purpose of the knowledge package is culling, cleaning and polishing, structuring, formatting, and/or indexing documents against a classification scheme ( 68 ).

Activities: Knowledge package activities include Authoring knowledge content, codifying knowledge into “knowledge objects” by adding context, developing local knowledge into “boundary objects” by deleting context, filtering and pruning content, and developing classification schemes ( 68 ).

Knowledge indexing attributes

Context: Knowledge index is to provide a summary about subject content; Indexing activity should be done as a pre analyzing process ( 69 ).

Purpose: The purpose of indexing is: organizing the Information in order to effectively use of information ( 70 ).

Steps: Knowledge index steps are: Review of documentation and establishment of subject matter, identify the core concept in documents, Referencing selected concepts by the terms of the indexing language ( 71 ).

Main actors: Librarian and intermediaries are the main actors for indexing of knowledge ( 71 ).

Knowle dge documentation attributes

Context: Preservation and documentation are ways to ensure the future existence of indigenous knowledge, which today is under threat of extinction ( 72 ). Facilitating re¬trieval knowledge is to take place from an organized data set (WIPO, 2016).

Purpose: The aim of documentation is to ensure the maintenance, use, and development of knowledge by present and future generations of peoples and communities ( 73 ).

Steps: Knowledge documentation steps are Knowledge identification, Knowledge fixation, and Knowledge classification ( 73 ).

Methods: The methods for documentation are Paper files, digital databases, archives, or libraries ( 73 ).

Main actors: Librarian and information professionals are the main actors for knowledge documentation ( 74 ).

Knowledge transfer : Knowledge sharing, knowledge exchange, knowledge dissemination, knowledge publication.

Knowledge capitalization : Knowledge commercialization, knowledge valorization.

Knowledge capitalization attributes

Context: Knowledge capitalization is the most important part of KM ( 75 ).

Purpose: It aims at building organizational memories that represent several views on expertise or activity (75.)

Activities: Capitalization is the process by which members of the community can identify, locate, model, store, access, use/reuse, share, update, and know-how to communicate the knowledge of the community ( 75 ).

Steps: Knowledge capitalization steps are: Knowledge extraction and formalization, Knowledge sharing, Knowledge reuse and appropriation, Memory evolution ( 75 ).

Form: Knowledge capitalization happens in the form of: Knowledge locate (identifying, localizing, characterizing, mapping, estimating, prioritizing), knowledge preserve (acquiring, modeling, formalizing, conserving), knowledge enhanced (accessing, disseminating, sharing, using more effectively, combining, and creating), knowledge actualized (appraising, updating, standardizing, enriching, knowledge managed (elaborate a vision: promote, inform, train, facilitate, organize, coordinate, encourage, motivate, measure, and follow up) ( 76 ).

Knowledge commercialization attributes

Context: Commercialization of knowledge is the Third mission of the university, Transfer of knowledge to industry ( 77 ).

Purpose: The purpose of commercialization is: Decrease independency to the public sector, Make commercial profit ( 78 ).

Direction: At the commercialization level Corporation between education and industry, dynamic improvement of production, and the economy system is taking place ( 78 ).

Steps: Knowledge commercialization steps include flowing: Idea generation, Idea evaluation, Idea development, Commercial analysis of the product, Market assessing, Commercialization ( 79 ).

Key point: Commercialization is not a linear process; it is a complex process ( 79 ).

Knowledge valorization attributes

Context: Valorization is a word of French origin translated as a “surplus value”. Valorization was framed in the context of the discourse of academic capitalism ( 80 ).

Purpose: The purpose of valorization is to transfer knowledge from one part to another for economic benefit” ( 81 ).

Path: The process of knowledge valorization is a long route that starts at universities ( 81 ). Valorization not only contributes to the availability of the results of academic research beyond academia but also involves the co-production of knowledge by academics and representatives of business ( 80 ).

Types: Types of valorization are societal (social) and economic ( 81 ).

Main actors: “Valorization is a cooperation between higher education institutions, government, and business players to agree on targeted investments in a number of key areas of regional innovation” ( 82 ).

Steps: Knowledge valorization steps are: Knowledge acquisition; amassing the relevant internal and external information required for the transfer of knowledge is collected and quickly deploying this information to its potential users, Knowledge processing; assess the market value of the relevant research and package the knowledge with market potential for business requirements, Knowledge dissemination; delivering of the knowledge package to business and assisting in the technology deployment ( 83 ).

Areas: Knowledge valorization areas include: education, Cooperation, contract research, R&D cooperation, and knowledge, and technology transfer, “entrepreneurship, “the production of successful high-tech start-ups” ( 84 ).

Key point: Knowledge-Economy Index which takes into account whether the environment is conducive for knowledge to be used effectively for economic development and Knowledge Index which measures a country’s ability to generate, adapt and diffuse knowledge ( 52 ). Valorization is broader than commercialization that is focused primarily on making a commercial profit ( 80 ).

Knowledge utilization: Knowledge adoption, knowledge adaptation, knowledge reuse.

Knowledge adoption attributes

Context: The adoption of knowledge is carried out in the field of innovation ( 46 ).

Purpose: Adoption is taking place in order to decision making about accept or refuse of innovation ( 46 ).

Steps: Knowledge adoption steps include: awareness about new knowledge, attitude formation, and decision about accept or refuse of innovation or new knowledge, implement a new idea or confirm accepted decision ( 46 ).

Key point: User motivation for use or rejection, resistance rate about new knowledge, consistency to the policy is determining factors in the knowledge adoption process ( 85 ).

Knowledge adaptation attributes

Context: The adaptation of knowledge is related to the results of the research, and this step is critical to the success of the knowledge transfer process ( 86 , 87 ).

Purpose: The goal is to make the results accessible and understandable by the users ( 86 , 87 ).

Key point: This step affects the user's decision to accept the knowledge generated by the researchers. Also, the availability of research results does not necessarily guarantee acceptance and use by users. Many authors have argued that the form of presentation of research results can be a motivation or obstacle to accepting knowledge in the educational community ( 87 ).

Knowledge reuse attributes

Context: It is a central issue for companies in order to avoid reinventing the wheel over and over again ( 89 ). The effective reuse of knowledge is arguably a more frequent organizational concern and one that is clearly related to organizational effectiveness ( 89 ).

Purpose: Knowledge reuse is taking place for sharing best practices or helping others solve common technical problems ( 88 ).

Steps: Knowledge reuse steps include: Capturing or documenting knowledge, packaging knowledge for reuse, Distributing or disseminating knowledge (providing people with access to it), and Reusing knowledge ( 35 ).

Activities: Knowledge reuse activities are followings: recall (that information has been stored, in what location, under what index or classification scheme) and recognition (that the information meets the users’ needs), as well as actually applying the knowledge ( 90 ).

Agent: There are three major roles in the knowledge reuse process: knowledge producer—the originator and documenter of knowledge, who records explicit knowledge or makes tacit knowledge explicit, knowledge intermediary—who prepares knowledge for reuse by eliciting it, indexing it, summarizing it, sanitizing it, packaging it, and who performs various roles in dissemination and facilitation, and knowledge consumer—the knowledge reuser, who retrieves the knowledge content and applies it in some way ( 91 ).

Key point: Successful knowledge transfer or reuse requires a complete solution. It is not just a matter of providing access to information technology and repositories. It also means careful attention to the design of incentives for contributing to and using repositories and to the roles of intermediaries to develop and maintain repositories and to facilitate the process of reuse ( 89 ).

Knowledge translation attributes

Context: The translation is the process of putting research findings and the products of research into the hands of key audiences. It is the art of weaving together processes of research and practice ( 92 ).

Purpose: Knowledge Translation is impact-oriented- the overarching goal of KT is to improve systems, practices, and ultimately lead to better outcomes ( 93 ).

Activity: Knowledge Translation includes multiple activities- Researchers need to go beyond mere dissemination and publication of results to multiple engagements to effect knowledge uptake ( 93 ).

Direction: Knowledge translation is a nonlinear process- it is also a complex process with multiple players, it also needs multidirectional communications ( 93 ).

Agent: Knowledge translation is an interactive process- the interactions between knowledge producers and knowledge users should be continuous. KT requires ongoing collaborations among relevant parties- collaboration, relationships, and trust among parties ( 92 ).

Steps: Knowledge translation includes all steps between the creation of new knowledge and its application ( 93 ).

Key point: It emphasizes the use of research-generated knowledge ( 93 ).

Knowledge management attributes

Context: Knowledge management is the process of transferring information and intellectual assets to a stable value. And it is related to making knowledge suitable for the correct processor, such as a human being or a computer, at the right time and at the right cost ( 94 ).

Purpose: The purpose of knowledge management is to create the knowledge that can be used by more than one person, for example, for the organization as a whole, or sharing knowledge between its members ( 94 ). Help to promote the use and sharing of data and information in decision making ( 95 ).

Activity: Knowledge management involves planning, organizing, and controlling individuals, processes, and systems to ensure that knowledge capital is promoted and applied effectively ( 33 ).

Type: Knowledge management has multidisciplinary nature, which includes: organizational science, cognitive science, information technology, linguistics, technical writing, ethnology and sociology, teaching, Communication studies, collaborative technologies such as computer-based collaborative activities, intranets, extranets, portals, and other network technologies ( 96 ).

Path: Under the knowledge management, the information becomes applicable to the knowledge and is applicable to the people who can use it ( 97 ).

Steps: Knowledge management steps involve: obtaining, organizing, managing, and disseminating knowledge in an organization in order to perform tasks faster, reuse best practices, and reduce costs twice ( 49 ). The process of finding, selecting, organizing, importing, and providing information in order to help raise the understanding of employees in a particular area ( 98 ).

Form: Knowledge management has two main aspects: knowledge as an obvious concern that reflects on organizational strategies, policies, and practices. On the other hand, it takes into account the relationships between intellectual capital (both apparently recorded and implicit in the form of personal knowledge) and Positive business results ( 99 ).

Studies have examined one or a few concepts in the field of knowledge management. Through this study, we were able to investigate all of the concepts related to knowledge management as far as possible. By criticizing and comparing the evidence and definitions relating to them, based on semantic proximity, we divided them into related categories and, clarify the boundary among them. We realized that many concepts had not found their appropriate place in the KM process, and there are no proper definitions of them. Therefore, it is necessary to redefine some of the concepts and the correct placement in the structure and operation of knowledge management. We can use the results of this study as the basis and the first step in developing a comprehensive model that includes all the concepts related to knowledge management and for determining the relationship among them and with other educational development concepts.

This study aimed to clarify the concepts in the knowledge management area. Through critically reviewing the literature in this field, we were able to identify the concepts and realize their attributes. Therefore, we came to a new interpretation of the concepts. At the end of the study, we concluded that some of the concepts have not been properly defined and are not properly located in the knowledge management field, and their application is uncertain. Regarding the identified gaps, there is a need to comprehensively study that consider all of these in the direction of knowledge management, show their application in a comprehensive model and, if necessary, redefined them, such as study can complement our work.

Acknowledgment

This article is a part of the dissertation entitled Educational Development with Approach on Knowledge Management. The authors would like to appreciate everyone who assisted them in this research.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Cite this article as: Yazdani Sh, Bayazidi S, Mafi AA. The current understanding of knowledge management concepts: A critical review. Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2020 (28 p);34:127. https://doi.org/10.34171/mjiri.34.127

Conflicts of Interest: None declared

Funding: None

Knowledge management guide: Definition, benefits, process, and best practices

Knowledge is crucial for the functioning of an organization because it facilitates decision-making, problem-solving, and innovation. Over the years, the knowledge management process has evolved with advancements in technology and information storage methods. Establishing a successful knowledge management process requires tailoring it to unique needs, understanding the organization's structure, anticipating obstacles, and leveraging effective tools.

This guide will explore knowledge management, its benefits, challenges, and processes, and provide tips for enhancing the knowledge management process.

What is knowledge management?

Knowledge management involves a sequence of processes involving the storage, management, sharing, and usage of an organization's knowledge and information. The objective is to efficiently store organizational knowledge for optimal utilization. This continuous process emphasizes identifying and refining organizational knowledge, ensuring accessibility, and fostering a culture of continuous sharing and learning.

What is a knowledge management system?

A knowledge management system (KMS) is software designed to facilitate the creation, organization, sharing, and utilization of knowledge within an organization. It includes features that facilitate the systematic gathering, storage, retrieval, and sharing of knowledge. A KMS aims to enhance overall organizational efficiency by providing tools and processes that enable individuals and teams to access, contribute to, and leverage the collective knowledge of the organization.

What can be included in a knowledge management system?

Organizational knowledge is the collection of individual or team knowledge and experiences within a company. It serves as a repository of resources that can be shared, consumed, and applied to facilitate day-to-day activities in an organization. These resources are broadly classified into three types.

Explicit knowledge

Explicit knowledge is often referred to as "know-what" knowledge. It’s the most prevalent form of knowledge within an organization and can be easily expressed, documented, and organized.

Implicit knowledge

Implicit knowledge, also known as "know-how" knowledge, is gained through the application of explicit knowledge in practical situations. It’s acquired through hands-on experience, often without the learner consciously realizing the acquisition of knowledge. While capturing this type of knowledge might be challenging, it can be transferred within the organization from one individual to another.

Tacit knowledge

Tacit knowledge is the expertise and skills cultivated through years of on-the-job experience. This type of knowledge is complicated to document or convey verbally because it involves personal wisdom and intuition. Tacit knowledge can be gained through regular interactions with experienced employees and observation.

The benefits of knowledge management

Implementing knowledge management in an organization offers a range of benefits that contribute to improved efficiency, innovation, and overall organizational success. Below are some key benefits of knowledge management.

Improved decision-making:

Access to organized and relevant information allows for more informed decision-making processes, leading to better strategic choices and outcomes.

Enhanced innovation:

Knowledge sharing and collaboration foster a culture of innovation, as employees can build upon existing knowledge to generate new ideas, solutions, and products.

Increased efficiency and productivity:

Knowledge management reduces redundancy, streamlines processes, and minimizes duplication of efforts, leading to increased operational efficiency and productivity.

Competitive advantage:

Leveraging organizational knowledge provides a competitive edge, allowing companies to adapt to market changes, stay ahead of competitors, and respond more effectively to customer needs.

Better employee performance:

Access to shared knowledge resources, training materials, and expertise improves employee skills and performance, contributing to individual growth and success.

Knowledge retention

Knowledge management helps capture and retain critical knowledge, ensuring that valuable expertise is preserved even when individuals leave the organization, reducing the risk of knowledge loss.

Enhanced collaboration and communication:

A well-implemented KMS promotes collaboration by facilitating communication and knowledge sharing among team members, departments, and even across distributed teams.

Adaptability to change:

Knowledge management helps organizations adapt to change more effectively by enabling quick dissemination of new information, updates, and best practices across the organization.

Barriers to effective knowledge management

Despite the significance of knowledge management in organizational success, numerous barriers can affect the effective implementation of knowledge management strategies. Recognizing and addressing these barriers is essential for establishing a robust knowledge management culture. Below are some common barriers hindering effective knowledge management.

Lack of leadership support

Long-term execution of knowledge management initiatives becomes less likely in the absence of strong and committed support from leadership. Top management needs to support knowledge management efforts actively, allocate resources, and integrate knowledge-sharing practices into the organization's culture to foster a conducive environment.

Cultural resistance

Resistance to change or reluctance to share information due to competition among team members are cultural factors that can hinder the adoption of knowledge-sharing practices. Overcoming cultural resistance requires a strategic approach that involves education, communication, and incentivizing knowledge-sharing behaviors.

Inadequate technology

Effective knowledge management often relies on robust technology infrastructure, including knowledge-sharing platforms, collaboration tools, and storage systems. Insufficient or outdated technology can impede the seamless flow of information, hinder collaboration, and make it challenging to capture and share knowledge across the organization.

Poor information quality

The quality of information within a knowledge management system is critical. Inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete information can lead to misguided decisions and erode trust in the knowledge-sharing process. Establishing robust information governance practices, ensuring data accuracy, and regularly updating content are essential to maintaining the integrity of the knowledge base.

Absence of clear processes

Without well-defined processes for capturing, organizing, and sharing knowledge, efforts can become ineffective. Establishing clear guidelines and workflows for knowledge management ensures consistency and helps employees understand their roles in the process. It also facilitates the integration of knowledge management into daily operations.

Insufficient training and communication

Insufficient training on how to use knowledge-sharing tools or a lack of clear communication regarding the benefits of knowledge management can result in the underutilization of available resources. Regular training programs and effective communication strategies are essential to engage with knowledge management systems effectively.

Use cases of knowledge management

A KMS has diverse applications within an organization. It plays a pivotal role in streamlining the processes involved in different departments and improving overall operational efficiency.

Employee onboarding

An efficient onboarding process is essential for new hires to quickly adapt to their roles, reduce the learning curve, and ensure that they quickly acquire the necessary information and skills for their roles. By centralizing and organizing relevant information, organizations can streamline the onboarding of new hires and make sure they have access to the information they need before they get started with their work.

Product onboarding for customers

By maintaining a well-organized repository of product-related information, companies can help their customers easily understand their products or services. This ensures that the customers understand the product's functionality, know how to use its essential features to address their pain points, and make the most of the product or service.

Internal knowledge base

A centralized repository for internal documentation, best practices, and project-related information enhances communication among teams, breaks knowledge silos, and boosts overall organizational efficiency. Employees can access valuable insights and organizational knowledge without the need to reinvent the wheel and promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

API documentation

Effective API documentation is essential for developers to understand, implement, and integrate APIs seamlessly. Knowledge management plays a pivotal role in ensuring the development and maintenance of clear, current API documentation, contributing to a streamlined integration process, minimizing errors, and accelerating development cycles.

Customer support

Knowledge management significantly impacts the efficiency of customer support operations and enables improved customer satisfaction. By centralizing information about products, services, and common issues, support teams can provide timely and accurate assistance to customers.

External knowledge base

For external stakeholders such as partners, vendors, or contractors, a dedicated knowledge base ensures that they have access to relevant resources such as guidelines, contracts, and policies. This facilitates smooth interactions, strengthens relationships, and enhances overall collaboration in the extended business ecosystem.

Self-service customer portals

Self-service portals for customers offer a platform to find quick solutions to their queries without the need for direct assistance from customer support. This enhances customer satisfaction and reduces the number of routine inquiries handled by support teams.

The knowledge management process

Establishing knowledge management systems and procedures in your business starts with evaluating your current business processes. This assessment enables the knowledge management team to strategically integrate steps that align with your organization's needs. Below are the common steps involved in incorporating a knowledge management process in an organization.

Knowledge discovery

The initial phase of the knowledge management process is recognizing valuable sources of information, both internally and externally. This involves systematically gathering data from diverse channels, consulting with experts, identifying information that resides in employees' heads, determining which information requires documentation, and identifying any duplicates or irrelevant data.

Knowledge capture and organization

After gathering information, it must be documented in a manner that’s accessible to all. The content in the resources should be formatted and organized into categories and stored in a hierarchical structure. This ensures ease of retrieval, navigation, reuse, and sharing among employees.

Knowledge sharing

After curating the knowledge base, the next crucial step involves sharing the information with those who require it. It’s important to identify the intended users and grant the appropriate levels of access. Tailoring access permissions ensures that information is distributed systematically. It provides the right amount of access to users based on their roles and responsibilities within the organization to enhance efficiency and avoid information leaks.

Assessment and optimization

The next step involves evaluating the effectiveness of knowledge management processes. Existing content in the knowledge base should be regularly updated based on new insights, relevance, and validity of information. You can establish key performance indicators and implement feedback mechanisms to gather insights. Continuous monitoring of knowledge usage and relevance helps identify areas for improvement, which will optimize knowledge management processes and enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness.

Best practices involved in implementing a knowledge management system

Understanding the most efficient and effective methods to harness a knowledge management framework within your business guarantees the optimal utilization of your organization's collective knowledge. Below are some best practices that can help you implement a KMS and maximize its benefits.

Define clear objectives and goals

It’s crucial to define the objectives and goals of the knowledge management system before diving into the implementation process. Understand what you want to achieve with your knowledge management process to guide the implementation process and ensure that the KMS aligns with organizational priorities.

Involve stakeholders from the beginning

Successful implementation of a knowledge management system requires active involvement from key stakeholders across the organization. Engage employees, managers, and other stakeholders from different departments to gather diverse perspectives to foster a sense of ownership and promote knowledge sharing across all levels.

Conduct a knowledge audit

Before establishing a process, conduct a thorough knowledge audit to identify existing sources of information and areas where knowledge gaps exist. This audit will help determine the types of information to be included in the system, ensuring that it addresses the specific needs of the organization.

Choose the right technology

Analyze the different knowledge management tools available in the market and select the right one that aligns with your organization's infrastructure and technological capabilities. Consider user-friendly platforms with collaboration, tracking, and customization capabilities to improve the knowledge-sharing experience.

Provide training and support

A successful KMS relies on the active participation of employees. Provide comprehensive training to employees on how to use the system effectively and offer ongoing support to address any issues or concerns.

Promote a culture of knowledge-sharing

Encourage a culture where knowledge sharing is valued and recognized. Incentivize employees to contribute their insights and experiences to the system. Recognition programs, rewards, and a positive work environment can motivate individuals to actively participate in knowledge sharing.

Ensure data security and compliance

Implement robust security measures to safeguard data within the knowledge management system. Ensure compliance with relevant regulations and industry standards to build trust and maintain integrity.

Monitor and evaluate

Regularly monitor the usage and effectiveness of the KMS. Gather feedback from users and make necessary adjustments to enhance its performance. Continuous evaluation allows the organization to adapt to changing needs and improve the system over time.

Integrate with existing workflows

To ensure seamless adoption, integrate the knowledge management system with existing workflows and tools. Make it easy for employees to access and contribute information without disrupting their daily tasks to enhance efficiency and encourage continuous usage.

Elevate your knowledge management process with Zoho Learn.

Strategic knowledge management: theory, practice and future challenges

Journal of Knowledge Management

ISSN : 1367-3270

Article publication date: 10 October 2018

Issue publication date: 12 March 2020

Ferreira, J. , Mueller, J. and Papa, A. (2020), "Strategic knowledge management: theory, practice and future challenges", Journal of Knowledge Management , Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 121-126. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-07-2018-0461

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

Theoretical background

The current knowledge economy requires companies to create new business structures and new concepts for the management of its resources to remain competitive. The latest approaches to strategic management ( Ferreira et al. , 2016 ) tend to consider strategic alliances (as sources of knowledge) and intellectual capital (human, structural and relational capital) as the main sources for a sustainable competitive advantage. In an increasingly globalized world, the survival of business management depends on their organizational intelligence, which is the result of information and knowledge systems they have, the skills of its employees and how they relate to its stakeholders ( Durst and Edvardsson, 2012 ).

Strategic knowledge management (SKM) relates to the processes and infrastructures organizations use to attain, create and share knowledge for formulating strategy and making strategic decisions ( Zack, 2002 ). A knowledge strategy defines the overall approach an organization intents to take to align its knowledge resources and capabilities to the intellectual requirements of its strategy. A strategic attitude is necessary to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

From a practice perception, businesses are seeing the prominence of managing knowledge if they are to persist competitive and grow. Consequently, several firms everywhere are starting to dynamically manage their knowledge and innovation ( Ferreira et al ., 2015 ). Knowledge does matter, but the question is when, how and why? ( Carayannis and Campbell, 2009 ). Today, knowledge matters further and in forms that are not always predictable or even controllable. Knowledge systems are so highly complex, dynamic and adaptive ( Carayannis and Campbell, 2009 ).

Numerous views on knowledge are discussed in several different scientific areas, such as strategy, management, organization theory literature and philosophy. Different views on knowledge lead to different conceptualizations of (strategic) knowledge management. Our starting point is knowledge as a strategic resource. This is in accordance with the business strategy theory, specifically the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm. The main proposition of the RBV is that competitive advantage is based on valuable and unique internal resources and capabilities that are costly to imitate for competitors ( Wernerfelt, 1984 ; Barney, 1991 ).

What resources can be used to create, acquire and integrate knowledge in knowledge-intensive processes?

How can knowledge-intensive processes be designed, redesigned and adapted to changing technological and market conditions?

What resources and capabilities can be used to design the processes?

In this regard, a key aspect of the process of knowledge creation and innovation is the ability of the organization to absorb external knowledge – absorptive capacity. Absorptive capacity has emerged as a concept that connects across the literature on dynamic capabilities and organizational learning ( Teece et al ., 1997 ; Zollo and Winter, 2002 ). Absorptive capacity was defined by Cohen and Levinthal (1989 , p. 569) as “the firm’s ability to identify, assimilate and exploit knowledge from the environment.”

Later, seeking to analyze the multidimensional nature of the concept, Zahra and George (2002) visualize absorptive capacity as a set of dynamic capabilities through which companies acquire, assimilate, transform and apply to external information and therefore constitutes a pre-requirement needed to implement innovation processes. Absorptive capacity could enhance organizations’ capabilities to facilitate knowledge exchange processes, which can increase innovation performance ( Patterson and Ambrosini, 2015 ) and competitive advantage ( Zahra and George, 2002 ; Carayannis et al. , 2016 ).

SKM considers the interaction between technological and intellectual resources essential for organizational survival ( Heisig et al. , 2016 ). This interaction is based on the distinction between the “old world of business” and the “global knowledge networking.”

Overview of the contributions to the special issue

Following those premises, this special issue took inspiration from the observation of this scenario, and it widely focused on the application of strategic patterns and innovative practices of knowledge management within the organizations by emphasizing a holistic research question based on: “How knowledge management becomes the real matter of competitiveness for modern organizations and what are the challenges for the future?”

Based on the discussion thus far, the purpose of this special issue of the Journal of Knowledge Management (JKM) was to seek together scholarly thoughts from different disciplines to extant paradigms and/or to develop new theoretical conceptualizations.

Conscious of many underexplored phenomena that should be scientifically and practically addressed, this special issue aimed at analyzing empirical and practical applications of best practices, comparative analyses, cross-studies, network analyses and synthesize the prior theoretical literature.

With this in mind and based on the interesting research offered for this special issue, this volume aims at collecting both theoretical and empirical research papers.

Several research questions stemmed out from the articles selected, and we may hardly summarize them. Submitted papers consisted of theoretical and applied research in topics addressing the benefits and criticalities of business management worldwide.

The selected papers witness research collaborations between scholars from different nations, include contributions worldwide and discuss empirical findings across multiple levels of analysis from a wide range of organizational archetypes. The research methodologies used for gathering empirical data vary from quantitative surveys to exploratory case studies based on qualitative data. Several rounds of blind peer review resulted in the final form of this volume for publication here. We aimed at selecting papers reporting on the application of innovative methods to real world problems. We were looking for studies containing both some form of novel innovation and a documented application. We looked for contributions, which should widely focus on the application of innovative methods to practical problems of the modern enterprise. Nevertheless, all the selected articles demonstrated predictable applications coming from cross-cultural management aimed at discovering the phenomenon of innovation within the business organizations. Readers of this special issue should be technically savvy, scientifically demanding and drawn to practically relevant phenomena.

This volume opens with a quantitative research by Guillermo Ruiz-Pava and Clemente Forero-Pineda titled “Internal and external search strategies of innovative firms: the role of the target market.” This study finds that search strategies of firms are more effective for innovation depending on the target market. Firms searching for both internal and external ideas generate ideas leading to products new to international markets. The researchers developed the concept of internal search of ideas to show the contrast between search strategies adopted by firms that introduce new products into local and international markets. Based on data from 2,652 innovative firms, the paper uses factor analysis to explore and confirm appropriate groups of sources of innovative ideas. The analysis differentiates between internal and two types of external sources. Logistic and bivariate regressions reveal different search strategies for innovation in local and international markets. In conclusion, firms reporting products new to international markets exhibit search strategies combining ideas from internal sources with ideas from other firms. Firms reporting products new to the local market reveal a search strategy centered on ideas from other firms. From a practical side, managers and policymakers wishing to promote innovations for international markets should concentrate their resources on developing the organizations’ capacity to generate ideas internally while monitoring other firms’ ideas. Managers targeting local markets may focus their efforts on intelligence over ideas coming from other firms.

The second article, by an Italian team, entitled as “Dual relational embeddedness and knowledge transfer in European multinational corporations and subsidiaries,” is written by Alberto Ferraris, Gabriele Santoro and Veronica Scuotto. The research emphasizes the relevance of the knowledge transfer process in multiple directions, evoking the central role of dual-embedded subsidiaries. The authors are able to investigate the relationship between the level of subsidiaries’ internal and external relational embeddedness and the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer. More specifically, they empirically explore dual embeddedness of subsidiaries involved in the knowledge transfer process within multinational corporations’ (MNCs) networks by analyzing 165 European subsidiaries to demonstrate the crucial role of dual relational embeddedness in the transfer of knowledge within MNCs. Results show that internal embeddedness directly and positively influences the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer, whereas external embeddedness does not. Notwithstanding, a higher level of both types of embeddedness – known as dual embeddedness – generates multiplicative and positive effects on the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer. Best practices and relevant knowledge follow a reverse transfer of knowledge from the subsidiaries to the internal MNC network that is facilitated by the relational embeddedness of subsidiaries. This has resulted in developing a dual embeddedness, which introduces new routines and scripts, as well as more relational links.

“A holistic model for inter-plant knowledge transfer within an international manufacturing network” is the third article selected for this special issue, written by Farhad Noruzi, Daniel Stenholm, Peter Sjögren and Dag Bergsjö. This study addresses a deep literature review that is able to support the choice of an appropriate strategy for conducting a knowledge transfer (KT) project in an international manufacturing network (IMN) environment. Despite the abundant research in KT area, not many research projects provide holistic views on the KT process. The focus has rather been sectional and concentrated on specific aspect within the KT. In this regard, scholars propose a model that includes multiple aspects of a KT project along with guidelines on each aspect. The results of this paper detail the key issues of five KT projects. The proposed learning network model improves the performance of KT projects by providing a holistic view including several factors that the organization should emphasize to succeed with inter-plant KT. Furthermore, an aggregated model comprising the main aspects and strategies for a KT project within an IMN has been proposed to compromise and identify the main aspects and strategies for a KT that will eventually increase the odds for successfully performing such projects. Following these assumptions, a multiple case study method was adopted. Data have been collected by conducting semi-structured interviews regarding five KT projects in three multinational corporations. Data were triangulated by means of comparisons to complementary data acquired through observations and archival documents.

The fourth article in this volume is authored by Ying Guo, Pavlina Jasovska, Hussain Gulzar Rammal, Elizabeth L. Rose, and it is titled “Global mobility of professionals and the transfer of tacit knowledge in multinational service firms.” This study takes the unique approach of studying barriers to the movement of professionals and a firm’s strategic response. It identifies the pressures and barriers that companies face in the global economy and highlights the role of government agencies and other stakeholders in facilitating or restricting the transfer of knowledge within a firm’s international network. The paper articulates the implications for policy and practice and a future research agenda. The use of expatriates to transfer individual and organizational know-how and knowledge is a practice widely used by multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, for service firms, the mobility of employees across national borders depends on the commitments made by countries under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). In particular, the Mode 4 form of supply under GATS can limit the ability of professionals to enter a particular country and can restrict the intra-organizational transfer of knowledge in multinational service firms. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how MNEs attempt to overcome these barriers and transfer knowledge through their global network. As Nonaka and Takeuchi’s SECI model of knowledge transfer, the authors study the intra-organizational knowledge transfer practices of an Indian multinational service firm. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 key informants involved with the organization. As a result, the company uses global teams to transfer tacit knowledge and facilitates impatriation through an internship program that helps the firm overcome nationality requirement that restricts the movement of their managers to other countries, which in turn limits their ability to transfer knowledge in the intra-organizational setting by also facilitating the relationship with the Indian Government.

“A Jack of all trades or a master of none: the performance effects of balancing exploration and exploitation within vs across alliance portfolio domains” is the fifth paper selected for the special issue authored by Jennifer Sexton Jennifer, Christopher Peneny, Jim Combs and Nolan Gaffney. This study predicts a balancing of exploratory and exploitative learning (i.e. ambidexterity) across alliance portfolio domains (e.g. value chain function and governance modes) increases firm performance, whereas balance within domains decreases performance. Prior empirical work, however, only assessed balance/imbalance within and across two domains. To ensure that theory generalizes beyond specific domain combinations, we investigate across multiple domains whether alliance portfolios should be imbalanced toward either exploration or exploitation within domains and balanced across domains. We also extend prior research by exploring whether the direction of imbalance matters. Current theory only advises managers to accept imbalance without helping with the choice between exploration vs exploitation. An alliance portfolio that allows for exploration in some domains and exploitation in other domains appears more difficult to implement than prior theory suggests. Firms benefit mostly from using the alliance portfolio for exploratory learning. With respect to the balance between exploration and exploitation within each of the five domains investigated, hypotheses are tested using fixed-effects GLS regression analysis of a large 13-year panel sample of Fortune 500 firms from the years 1996 to 2008. The results show imbalanced alliance portfolios had higher firm performance, while no evidence was found that balance across domains relates to performance. Instead, for four of the five domains, imbalance toward exploration related positively to firm performance.

A team composed of Leyland Pitt Leyland, David Hannah, Michael Parent and Pierre Berthon have authored a conceptual research framework, and it is titled “Secrets and Knowledge management strategy: the role of secrecy appropriation mechanisms in realizing value from firm innovations.” The purpose of this research is to explore in depth the mechanisms that organizations use to keep their innovations secret. This paper examines how, when and why secrecy appropriation mechanisms (SAMs) can enable innovators to appropriately value from their innovations. The authors aim at adding a new view to previous research that has identified secrecy as an important appropriation mechanism for firms by exploring the origins, characteristics and effects of secrecy appropriation mechanisms. Building on the innovation and secrecy literature, the authors provide that SAMs can have both positive and negative effects on a number of organizational dynamics. SAMs involve tradeoffs, and the key to understanding whether they create value for organizations lies in understanding that these tradeoffs exist and the nature of these tradeoffs. While most managers recognize the importance of secrecy in innovations, many struggles with the practical challenges of doing so. The paper presents guidance that managers and theoreticians can use to meet these challenges as a form of testable propositions and recommendations for practitioners.

“Assessing the relationship between market orientation and business performance in the hotel industry – the mediating role of service quality” is the seventh quantitative article accepted for the special issue, and it is coauthored by Carlos Sampaio, José Hernández-Mogollón and Ricardo Rodrigues. This study seeks to explore the nature of the relationship between market orientation and business performance in the Portuguese hotel industry and to evaluate the mediating role of service quality in this relationship. On one hand, research on the hospitality sector has been conducted mainly using tools developed for the manufacturing and consumer goods sectors. On the other hand, little has been done to explore the nature of the mediating effect of service quality on the relationship between market orientation and business performance in the hotel industry. Moreover, despite the contribution of the tourism industry to the Portuguese GDP, research on the hotel industry is scarce. A literature analysis on market orientation, service quality and hotel business performance was conducted. The structural model was developed, and the measurement scales’ items were generated. Working data were obtained by sending a survey to Portuguese hotel managers. A purification process was conducted, and the convergent and discriminant validity, as well as the reliability of the measurement models, were assessed. The structural model was tested by conducting a path analysis, as well as by evaluating the coefficient of determination ( R 2) and the predictive relevance indicator ( Q 2). Research results show that market orientation has a positive direct effect on business performance. Moreover, the results indicate that market orientation effects on business performance are mediated throughout the hotels’ ability to provide service quality.

In conclusion, the last article, “Improving innovation performance through knowledge acquisition: the moderating role of employee retention and human resource management practices,” developed by Armando Papa, Luca Dezi, Gian Luca Gregori, Jens Mueller and Nicola Miglietta aims to fill research gaps in the existing literature, evaluating the effects of knowledge acquisition on innovation performance and the moderating effects of human resource management (HRM), in terms of employee retention and HRM practices, on the aforementioned relationship. This starts from the assumption that the knowledge base of the firm resides in the people who work for the firm and that some HRM factors can influence innovation within firms. According to an increasing proclivity toward engaging in open innovation, firms are likely to face some tensions and opportunities leading to a shift in the management of human resources. Despite this, there is a lack of research investigating the link between knowledge acquisition, HRM and innovation performance under the open innovation lens. This paper intends to fill this gap and nurture future research by assessing whether knowledge acquisition influences innovation performance and whether HRM moderates such a relationship. More specifically, for testing these hypotheses a sample of 129 firms operating in a wide array of sectors has been used to gather data through a standardized questionnaire for testing the hypotheses through ordinary least squares regression models. As a result, the authors show that knowledge acquisition positively affects innovation performance, and HRM moderates the relationship between knowledge acquisition and innovation performance.

Concluding thoughts

In this special issue, we have been able to combine different perspectives of thought and develop new theoretical conceptualizations within this complex and amazing research area. The authors have demonstrated much innovativeness and rigor, as well as commitment and resilience through the review rounds. However, they embody only a small portion of a large cast of scholars that was involved in bringing this special issue into success. Furthermore, this essay provided some empirical and theoretical issues that will generate future academic debates.

The limitations found in our papers in this special issue also yield additional gaps for future research. We wish to encourage scholars from strategy and knowledge management to focus on these gaps to help fill them and suggest a wider and multidisciplinary perspective on what constitutes SKM will lead to better theory and more insights in the field. Future studies might also pursue other opportunities unearthed in this special issue by testing construct measurements and models across different SKM contexts and relationships.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Manlio Del Giudice, reviewers at JKM for their efforts in making this special issue possible and authors who tirelessly worked under time pressure to improve the quality of the submitted manuscripts.

About the authors

João Ferreira is based at the University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal.

Jens Mueller is Professor at Waikato Management School, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Armando Papa is Post Doc Research Fellow in Management at Department of Informatics, University of Turin, Italy.

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Knowledge Management 101: Knowledge Management Cycle, Processes, Strategies, and Best Practices

By Becky Simon | August 28, 2017 (updated August 11, 2023)

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Regardless of industry or product, all companies rely on the knowledge of their employees to be successful. Organizations must treat knowledge as an asset, but it’s not enough to simply hire skilled employees. Instead, successful companies should build in processes to store, grow, and share knowledge to increase the knowledge base of the overall workforce. This concept is known as knowledge management.

In this article, you’ll find everything you need to know about knowledge management: what it is, types of knowledge, and the history and evolution of the field. Then, we’ll break down the benefits and challenges of implementing knowledge management, and discuss multiple models of the knowledge management life cycle. Finally, we’ll look at the rise of knowledge management systems, and offer free, downloadable templates to get you started building a knowledge management plan.

What Is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge management (KM) is the process(es) used to handle and oversee all the knowledge that exists within a company. Knowledge management relies on an understanding of knowledge, which consists of discrete or intangible skills that a person possesses.

The field of knowledge management identifies two main types of knowledge. Explicit knowledge is knowledge or skills that can be easily articulated and understood, and therefore easily transferred to others (this is also called formal or codified knowledge). Anything that can be written down in a manual - instructions, mathematical equations, etc. - qualify as explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge , by contrast, is knowledge that is difficult to neatly articulate, package, and transfer to others. These are usually intuitive skillsets that are challenging to teach, such as body language, aesthetic sense, or innovative thinking. (A third knowledge type is implicit knowledge , which is information that has not yet been codified or transferred, but that would be possible to teach. Implicit knowledge is different from tacit knowledge, which is unlikely to be able to be codified. For this article, however, we will primarily discuss explicit and tacit knowledge.)

You can break these knowledge types down further into four categories:

• Factual Knowledge is measurable, observable, and verifiable data.
• Conceptual Knowledge relates to perspectives and systems.
• Expectational Knowledge is knowledge rooted in expectations, hypotheses, or judgments.
• Methodological Knowledge deals with decision-making and problem-solving.

Knowledge management enables organizational learning, a concept where companies are invested not only in the reliable, expert production of a product or service, but in the knowledge that underlies these production processes. Companies devoted to organizational learning are interested in maintaining and building upon internal knowledge at an organizational level - not just helping individuals accrue special skills, but ensuring that this knowledge is available to and dispersed throughout the workforce.

As one Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) paper states, the core goal of knowledge management is to connect “knowledge nodes” - those with knowledge and those seeking knowledge - to ultimately increase the knowledge within an organization. Within that goal, the authors identify four objectives of KM: to capture knowledge, to increase knowledge access, to enhance the knowledge environment, and to manage knowledge as an asset.

Ultimately, knowledge management is an integrated system of accumulating, storing, and sharing knowledge within a team or organization. KM consists of several components, as well as strategies to implement it successfully - we’ll delve deeper into these later in the article.

Who Uses Knowledge Management?

Knowledge management can be implemented enterprise-wide across a number of industries. However, the way you implement KM might change depending on factors such as industry and company size.

KM is often used differently for small vs. large organizations, however. Small (and/or young) companies must carve out a competitive market advantage early on, and therefore benefit from KM by codifying and storing internal knowledge from the get-go. Large organizations - even those with unwavering strength in their market - use KM to act quickly in the digital age, where business changes constantly and often without warning. Without a reliable system to store existing knowledge and accumulate new knowledge, it would be difficult to react to these market changes. However, both large and small companies can benefit from KM because it treats the knowledge that every individual brings as an asset, so employees feel respected for their skills in the workplace.

For those looking to implement knowledge management in a specific department, you can also tailor the practice to sub-fields. Other than enterprise KM, knowledge management is most commonly implemented in IT/information systems and science, organizational management, business administration, human resources management, content management, or for personal use.

History of Knowledge Management

Efforts to formally manage knowledge have been in place for most of the past half century. In the late 20th century, however, with the evolution of computers, organizations began implementing more reliable storage systems. In the 1990s, the Swedish financial service provider Skandia created the first Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) position, which paved the way for other companies to treat knowledge management as an integral part of their structure.

In fact, several academics have formalized the topic, and knowledge management is now regarded as a scientific discipline. In the mid-1990s, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi published the first academic research on knowledge management, and coined the SECI model (socialization, externalization, combination, internalization) as a path of knowledge transfer. Since then, Nonaka and Takeuchi have studied several other aspects of knowledge within a company, as have other academics. The knowledge management life cycle, which details how to store and disseminate knowledge throughout an organization, was also set forth by business academics in the l990s and early 2000s; the four most popular models are Wiig (1993), Zack (1996), Bukowitz and Williams (2000), and McElroy (2003).

In general, knowledge management has evolved from a loose tendency to accumulate, store, and teach (and therefore increase) knowledge within a team or organization into a prioritized method of building a knowledgeable workforce - all with the goal of gaining a competitive advantage. As we will discuss later on, there are several theories of how to best store knowledge and stimulate knowledge transfer within an organization. Skeptics say that today’s knowledge management is simply a “fad,” while others argue that its principles are here to stay: its strategies, methods, and implementation systems will simply continue to evolve as technology and business does, too.

What Is the Primary Benefit of Knowledge Management?

While it may not seem directly related to the tactics of knowledge management, the primary goal is to increase company efficiency to improve business decision-making. The idea is that building expertise into your organization - and dispersing it amongst employees - empowers you to make more informed, faster, and ultimately more profitable decisions.

Of course, there are several secondary benefits. Successful KM will enable you to:

• Increase collaboration and idea generation
• Optimize a culture of knowledge sharing
• Protect intellectual capital
• Treat human capital as an asset (which makes employees feel respected for their knowledge)
• Capture and store knowledge for the future workforce

Kevin D. Murray, CPP, CISM is a technical surveillance countermeasures (TSCM) specialist with an extensive career in information security and counterespionage consulting for business and government. He breaks the benefits of KM into four value areas:

Control: Not knowing where your information is is the first step to losing it.

Security: ‘You gotta keep the bait in the bucket, not in the pond.’

Access: When you need your information, you will get it faster.

Responsibility: With all the eggs in one basket, one is forced to carry the basket more carefully, meaning you provide better protection for your information.  

RELATED:  [Infographic] How Much Time Are You Wasting on Siloed Information?  

What Are the Challenges of Knowledge Management?

There are many challenges that businesses face when implementing knowledge management. Here is a list of some of the most common ones:

• Creating a culture of flexibility and collaboration: This is one of the most significant and enduring challenges of KM. Companies already struggle to implement new policies, because people naturally tend to resist change. However, KM can be especially difficult because employees might want to protect their skills and knowledge, or be reluctant to learn from their peers.
• Security: You have to design a knowledge transfer system that makes it easy for the appropriate people to access information, while protecting sensitive or private  intelligence from outsiders.
• Measuring knowledge: It can be difficult to define metrics to measure the knowledge within your organization, especially for tacit knowledge that cannot be easily quantified. To overcome this, some experts recommend focusing on the purpose of knowledge, rather than the efforts or results (which are often also unquantifiable).
• Identifying an expert: There won’t always be a single “keeper” of every knowledge type, but you will still have to identify who within the company possesses certain knowledge, and use them as the base level of knowledge from which you want to build. This process is difficult tactically, but can also be delicate among employees who might feel competitive about their skill levels.
• Document storage and management: While not all knowledge makes for straightforward documentation, it will have to be stored and organized in some form. Document management is a challenge for many companies, but organization is a vital aspect of KM - otherwise, it will be impossible to locate and use the knowledge you have stored. Consider using a dedicated document management system to keep everything organized.
• Disseminating knowledge throughout an organization: You’ll need to devise a process where, once you store the knowledge, other team members can access it. This is complicated both theoretically and tactically, so many organizations opt for a software system designed specifically for this purpose. We’ll take a closer look at KM systems later on.
• Continual improvement: Like most process-driven strategies, you should continually improve upon the knowledge management system you implement. Stage periodic reviews or, if possible, dedicate resources to continually optimize your process.
• Determining where KM is housed: If KM serves your entire organization, decide which department will “own” the strategy. Companies most commonly house KM in HR or IT. Remember, this department is not only responsible for effectively managing the knowledge itself, but also for maintaining the community of knowledge sharing and organizational learning.

How Does Knowledge Management Work? Basic Components and Strategies

As we’ve discussed, the theory behind knowledge management is that in order to make the best business decisions, the workforce must be as educated and skillful as possible. One way to ensure an educated - and continually learning - workforce is to stimulate organizational learning, which companies can do by implementing knowledge management. This practice ensures not only that existing knowledge (both explicit and tacit forms) is codified and stored, but that it can be dispersed among other employees so that people can continue to amass skills. Another benefit is that KM evenly distributes knowledge so no one is contributing in silos.

As Nonaka and Takeuchi first stated in their seminal academic papers, there are three main ways that people approach knowledge management:

• People-centric: Centered on people, relationships, and how people form learning communities and other informal ways of knowledge sharing. This idea is also known as ecological KM theory .
• Tech-centric: Focused on the technology that facilitates knowledge storage and transfer, and aims to create technology systems that encourage knowledge sharing.
• Process-centric: Interested in how the organizational structure and processes accommodate and encourage knowledge sharing and organizational learning. This concept includes the production processes, the organizational hierarchy, and the cultural framework.

The approach you take will depend on how your company currently functions. Organizational structure, politics, management style, and existing processes all create parameters around what kind of KM implementation is workable. Regardless of the approach you choose, however, implementing KM will inevitably affect your organization’s people, technology, and processes. Therefore, it’s best to keep all three in mind when enacting a knowledge management strategy.

Theoretical approaches aside, there are some common tactical ways of handling knowledge. The common strategies include:

• Storing knowledge vs. sharing knowledge: Storing knowledge involves accumulating, codifying, and maintaining knowledge in a reliable storage system. This is a good first step, but successful knowledge management also requires a system to disperse that stored knowledge.
• Codification vs. personalization: The difference between these strategies are similar to the previous example. Codification is any activity where you are collecting knowledge (creating and maintaining databases, content architecture, training to support software storage systems), and creating awareness of these collection systems. Personalization, is connecting people to this codified knowledge by forming learning communities, promoting active discussion and knowledge transfer, and facilitating group interaction.
• Push vs. pull: These represent two opposing strategies. In a push strategy, individuals actively encode their knowledge to make it available for others. In a pull strategy, team members seek out experts to request knowledge sharing, so you only transfer knowledge on an as-needed basis.
• Socialization: Tacit to tacit, where knowledge is transferred intuitively through observation, guidance, and practice.
• Externalization : Tacit to explicit, which codifies intuitive, intangible knowledge in order to be taught. This type of knowledge transfer is the most difficult because tacit knowledge is extremely difficult to break down into digestible directives.
• Combination: Explicit to explicit, where codified knowledge is transferred or combined with other codified knowledge. This type of knowledge transfer is the simplest.
• Internalization: Explicit to tacit, where an organization follows and practices codified knowledge so that it becomes intuitive.

Data mining is a process of discovering data patterns based on algorithms, and is another common element of sophisticated knowledge management programs. Because codifying all of your internal knowledge will result in a huge knowledge library, data mining can help identify patterns and extract data. It still uses qualitative methods of data analysis, but automated programs will likely rely on algorithmic work.

The Knowledge Management Life Cycle

As we’ve discussed, the process of knowledge management follows general steps. Today, this progression has been formalized by several scholars, along with how knowledge should be stored and disseminated throughout an organization. This includes the processes, tools, and technologies that make up the knowledge management life cycle.

While each life cycle differs in specific steps, this infographic shows the basic steps.

There are multiple, semi-competing theories of the knowledge management life cycle. However, despite the nuanced theoretical and syntactical differences, the top four all follow a similar pattern. Here are the top four KM life cycle models:

• Wiig Model (1993): This model relies on the principle that in order for information to be useful, it must be organized. Therefore, this model is primarily concerned with organizing all data once it is codified, but also outlines how knowledge is built, stored, pooled (with other stored knowledge), and then extended into the organization. The phases of the Wiig model are creation, sourcing, compilation, transformation, and application.
• Zack Model (1996): While the phases here are similar to the Wiig model, the Zack model prioritizes a logical, standardized process when advancing to each new stage. The phases of the Zack model are acquisition, refinement, storage/retrieval, distribution, and presentation.
• Bukowitz and William Model (2000): This model builds upon the previous two by expanding the definition of knowledge storage to include the infrastructure that supports this learning community (such as communication, hierarchy, and working relationships). Bukowitz and William also emphasize the need for not only maintaining your knowledge repository, but also building it over time. The phases here are: get, use, learn, contribute, and assess.
• McElroy Model (2003): Building upon the process focus of the Bukowitz and William model, McElroy is concerned with knowledge production and integration. It creates ways for team members to submit “claims” when they fail to receive or understand knowledge, all in an effort to improve group learning. The phases in the McElroy model are learning, validation, acquisition, integration, and completion.

Here’s how all the different phases of these model relate to each other:

The integrated knowledge management cycle, proposed by Kimiz Dalkir, Ph.D., combines several of the concepts we’ve discussed into one general framework. Dalkir identifies three key stages in her model: knowledge capture and/or creation, knowledge sharing and dissemination, and knowledge acquisition and application. In this model, Dalkir emphasizes the cycle aspect in order to ensure continual improvement - not only in the amount and quality of knowledge stored, but of the underlying processes, as well

How to Improve Knowledge Management

Even with an understanding of the KM life cycle, knowledge management can be difficult to implement. Below are a few tips on how to improve knowledge management:

• Understand the flow of knowledge in your organization: While the various KM life cycle models list phases to follow, they are merely a blueprint. Knowledge management will only be successful if you understand how your organization already naturally gains, stores, and shares knowledge, so use the existing flow of information to structure your formal knowledge management process.
• Clearly define your goals and how you will measure them: Just like any project, you won’t be able to judge your success without clearly defined goals. Choose objectives and how you will measure them before you implement KM.
• Encourage socialization: One way to foster an environment of knowledge transfer is to let it happen naturally, by talking and casually sharing. Allow team members to talk and form relationships in-office, which will make them more likely to turn to each other for information or advice, or to learn new skills.
• Generate new knowledge: Remember that knowledge management is not only concerned with storing existing knowledge; rather, you need to create processes to manage the ongoing stream of new information. Actively generate new knowledge within your organization not only to create a robust knowledge stream, but also to show your employees that you treat new knowledge - and their knowledge - as an asset. This will make workers more apt to adopt KM.
• Employ technology: Technology can play a huge role in standardizing and organizing the KM process. However, remember that technology itself is not knowledge management, but simply a tool to enhance your processes. We’ll discuss knowledge management technology in depth in the next section.

What Is a Knowledge Management System?

A knowledge management system is any technology that is used to store and manage knowledge - essentially, a tool to oversee knowledge management. However, a successful knowledge management system also taps into the underlying goals of KM: codifying knowledge, retrieving knowledge, improving collaboration, and stimulating overall organizational learning.

Knowledge management systems have evolved from a useful tool to optimize KM processes to an integral component of KM itself. Today, organizations rely on KM systems to perform many of the functions of knowledge management - data storage is an obvious example, but technology systems can also help foster collaboration and group learning, among other objectives.

There are several emerging features in contemporary knowledge management systems. Here’s a look at some of the most prominent ones:

• Content and document management: This is a critical component because codifying knowledge almost always results in documentation (or another form of created content). When choosing a KM system, make sure the platform can support the file size, type(s), and volume that you need. This is especially important for enterprise companies who will need to store massive amounts of data, and scale regularly. (For this functionality, look for enterprise portals.)
• Lessons learned databases: These are systems that aim to make intangible (often tacit) knowledge clear and available to other users. The focus with lessons learned databases is as the name implies: on lessons learned by experts that others should follow (think of it as best practices). The key here is to find a database that can house this kind of qualitative information and make it accessible.
• Groupware: As we’ve discussed, collaboration is a key component of KM. Groupware refers to any collaborative work platform, and is usually intended for workers who need to communicate remotely. Groupware is broken down into two categories: synchronous groupware (collaborate and update in real time) and asynchronous groupware.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): The adoption of AI (as telepresence) into KM systems replaces the human consultants that had been analyzing the data and monitoring the KM processes. Today, cognitive computing, adaptive technology, and intelligent filtering tools, in particular, have huge implications for codifying knowledge, and will likely be adopted by more KM systems. However, the importance of human quality assurance (QA) in much of today’s data work has raised concerns about AI’s ability to fully take over this space.

Although KM systems can help automate and standardize knowledge management, there are several challenges when implementing a system. Security, data accuracy, and changes in technology (cost, implementation, usability) are focused difficulties that you should keep in mind from the get-go. A much more pervasive and ongoing challenge, however, is creating a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing via technology. People may already be reluctant to share information with their peers, and technology can create even more barriers for doing so. Therefore, you’ll need to build in processes that support and stimulate this type of knowledge transfer.

Kevin Murray offers four key things to look for when choosing a KM system:

• Security: Information is valuable. Like any other valuable, there are people who will steal it.
• Accountability: Information is valuable only when it is accurate. Limit access. Log intensively. Test for accuracy.
• Backup: Everyone knows the value of backing up. Not everyone knows how to do it. Hiding a backup drive in the CEO's desk won't help if the building floods or burns. Creating, maintaining, and correctly storing back-ups should be an automatic functionality.
• Ease of Use: If the system is too difficult or demanding to use, people will take shortcuts. Shortcuts usually reduce security and the integrity of the information you're managing.

When discussing the future of KM systems, many critics claim that knowledge management itself is a fad. However, others think that KM and KM systems will simply evolve to meet the demands of today’s business world - likely incorporating more AI-driven systems. Murray agrees with the latter camp.

“It's no fad. It's an imperative. The amount of information being created grows each year. It has to be managed, if you want it to be useful,” he says. “KM systems will continue to increase in popularity, functionality, and ease-of-use, just like the evolution of typewriters and word processing software. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will blend into the mix even more.”

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BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Related Papers

kadal pushpam

Kiran Nuthanapati

Glenn Fellows

Knowledge and Business Process Management

The content of the essay can be considered as divided into three parts. The first part refers to the key issues around the concept of knowledge and KM, and the second part refers to the topic around the relationship among KM, KMS and IT. The final part refers to the empirical applications of KM in PBOs. This essay will firstly discuss the basic definition of knowledge and KM, and then focuses on the important features of KM, the basic process of KM, some criticisms about KM, the concept of KMS, relationship between IT and KM, some disadvantages of using KMS and adopting IT into KMS. Then the essay will focus on some empirical applications of using KM strategies in the construction industry and in consulting firms. This essay has analysed and concluded some important arguments. The concept of Knowledge can be regarded as the learning process of master new skills or understanding of new ideas. When referring to corporate firms, knowledge is close related to business practice and inventories. KM is used by firms to gain profits based on the approach of sharing knowledge effectively. The basic features of KM can help us to further understand the concept of KM. The first feature, which is strategy, is mainly based on the effective application of intellectual capital within the firm, and the second characteristic, which is culture, is mainly about workforce diversity that also related to equal pay issues. The third feature organizational learning refers to the exploitation and exploration of corporate knowledge. The first step of KM process, which is the knowledge creation theory, is closely associated with tacit and explicit knowledge and knowledge storage is based on organizational memory. The unsuccessful management of corporate culture is the main reason for the fails of western firms that use KM theories. The concept ‘KMS’ can be defined in terms of technological aspects or business strategies aspects. KMS can be a good platform for firms to integrate human capitals, technological software and corporate resources in order to gain profits. IT plays a significant role in KM since it relates to the search, the presentation, the integration, the transform, the communication and administration of knowledge. However, firms should carefully identify the target users and specific aims for using their KMS, and their employees’ learning behaviours. Consulting companies apply different KM strategies that based on two main different knowledge types: codified and personalized knowledge. Specific strategies for these firms have close relationship with filed include economic models of corporations, IT systems and human resource management.

International Journal of Knowledge Management

Dr Suraj Kumar Mukti

Over of the past several years, there have been rigorous discussions about the significance of knowledge management (KM) within the organization and the society. The management of knowledge is endorsed as a significant and essential factor for organizational existence and maintenance of ambitious strength. This article provides an in-depth knowledge of factors affecting KM. Literatures from 1992 to 2018 are covered in this article, 169 research papers have been explored which are related to classification of knowledge, factors affecting KM, KM tools and its planning & application. Various frameworks related to the successful implementation of KM and KM implementation tools proposed by previous authors are presented in this research article. KM is defined, classification of KM is presented, factors affecting KM are shown and its implementation strategies & tools are elucidated in available literatures in discrete manner.

American Journal of Economics and Business Administration

WAN HUSSAIN WAN ISHAK

john mwangi

Emilia Bonilla

Knowledge is one of the organization’s most valuable assets. In the context of software development, knowledge management can be used to capture knowledge and experience generated during the software process. In this process, collaboration technologies also play a central role.

Digital Libraries in Knowledge Processing: Proceedings of the 7th MALIBNET annual national convention, ESS ESS Publication ISBN: 81-7000-442-X

Appasaheb Naikal

Today’s turbulent business environments, the conventional base of competitive strategy are increasingly being eroded. In such environment the ability to possess and disseminate knowledge is an essential prerequisite to success. This paper provides an understanding of an emerging paradigm of business where knowledge and knowledge sharing has become the singular basis not only for competitive success but also for corporate survival. It also describes how business organizations can use knowledge and knowledge sharing tools as strategic enabler to transform their operation paradigm. Beginning with discussion on the radical changes taking place in knowledge sharing (KS) platforms with the help of information technology and its vast application to business activities. It also depicts that even though most of the business organizations aware of this competitive strategy and its benefits there are still lot of hurdles to share the knowledge. To overcome these knowledge sharing (KS) barriers lot of researches and efforts have been on the screen to arise as successful organization. This paper basically concentrates on KS and its various kinds of platforms. We also emphasized on the KS tools, which are inseparable

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