Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
One of the greatest challenges facing knowl-
edge organizations is the problem of knowledge
transfer, extracting the tacit knowledge that their
knowledge employees possess so as to apply the
right knowledge at the right place when needed
and to encourage innovation (Nonaks, 1986;
Holsapple & Joshi, 2003). Barriers to KM initia-
tives include the separation between the work and
KM processes and the focus on meeting deadline
requirements that causes KM tasks to be avoided
(Davenport & Prusak, 2000).
KM and decision-making are related and ef-
fective KM is considered essential for decision
making (Bolloju et al., 2002; Nicolas, 2004; Raghu
& Vinze, 2007). In this spirit, several decision
support systems (DSS) incorporate the knowledge
creation model (Nonaks, 1986; Nemati et al.,
2002) that occurs through the synergy between
tacit and explicit knowledge, based on a four-step
process of socialization, articulation, integration,
and internalization (Bolloju et al., 2002; Nemati
et al., 2002; Raghu & Vinze, 2007).
The proposed KW-CM seeks to embed KM
activities within the business process. This could
lead to better knowledge transfer and to overcom-
ing identified barriers towards KM initiatives.
Furthermore, KW-CM allows decision makers to
get a comprehensive view of DW reports and to
establish decision-maker networking throughout
the organization.
eral barriers that prevent IS from accessing OM.
First, while knowledge can be understood in its
creation context, it is often misinterpreted when
it is de-contextualized. Another problem relates
to the difficulty in combining different types of
knowledge that reside in diverse locations (e.g.
individuals; procedures, and rules; structure and
roles; and physical settings of the workplace).
Other problems concern management of tacit
knowledge, knowledge volatility and reliability.
Therefore, instead of a IS layer intended to sup-
port the processes involved in using OM, Nevo
and Wand (2005) propose a conceptual model for
managing and using OM. Their approach is based
on examining, via transactive memory system
concepts, the processes which support the sharing
of collective knowledge assets within small groups
that establish communities of practice. Extending
this approach to the whole organizational memory
context is possible with IS support.
The transactive memory approach is based on
the various ways human encode knowledge: inter-
nally, in the mind; externally in an external reposi-
tory of some kind; or through linkage to someone
who holds the knowledge. This linkage resembles
a meta-memory, hence memory on memory, con-
sisting of a label of the knowledge and a linkage
to its location. In addition, the meta-memory is
managed with a directory which supports such
information operations as updating, allocation, and
retrieval. While humans can establish a naturally
transactive memory system within small groups,
in an organizational context it is impossible. This
is because the required meta-memory is too large
for the individual's memory capacity and it is
not always clear who holds specific information.
To overcome these difficulties, Nevo and Wand
(2005) suggest using information technology to
support an organization-wide transactive memory
system. Their concept views the organization as
a group of practice-based communities where
each community has established a transactive
memory system. These various communities can
be linked through an organizational system which
organizational knowledge
Organizational knowledge is often referred to
as the collective or organization memory (OM).
OM can leverage organizational effectiveness
and work coordination by providing knowledge
processes that acquire, retain, maintain, search
and retrieve (Jennex & Olfman, 2003; Nevo
& Wand, 2005). OM resides in various IS and
in implementing these processes, organization
employees are required to retrieve the relevant
knowledge needed in their work context. However,
Nevo and Wand (2005) claim that there are sev-
Search WWH ::
Custom Search