Knowledge Definitions Knowledge Management

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2.2 Knowledge Management

Knowledge management is developing strategies and processes to identify, capture, structure, value, leverage and share an organization’s intellectual assets to enhance its performance and competitiveness. Therefore, knowledge management can contribute to organizations’ success. Using knowledge management organizations possess the capability to capture the knowledge that is critical to them, improve it and make it available in the most effective manner. Therefore, knowledge is a valuable asset for organizations which should be well managed. As a result, knowledge is an essential concept which has to be inspected more deeply. Through the next sections different definitions for knowledge, its typology and other related concepts are investigated.

2.2.1 Knowledge Definitions

An organization must strive to maintain its most valuable resource and knowledge, in order to be more productive and competitive. There are different definitions for Knowledge. Turban and Frenzel 1992 defined knowledge as information that has been organized and analyzed to make it understandable and applicable to problem solving or decision-making. Wiig 1993 agreed that knowledge is different from information, which consists of facts and data that are organized to describe a particular situation or condition. He believed that knowledge is accumulated and integrated and held over longer periods to be available to be applied to handle 24 specific situations and problems. It is subsequently applied to interpret the available information about a particular situation and to decide how to manage it. According to Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995, knowledge is a vital organizational resource that gives market advantage. For Davenport and Prusak 1998, knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight. Drucker 1998 also stated that knowledge, by definition, is specialized: in fact, truly knowledgeable people, whatever their field, tend toward overspecialization, precisely because there is always so much more for them to know. Giannetto and Wheeler 2000 explained that knowledge involves beliefs and values, creativity, judgment, skills and expertise, theories, rules, relationships, opinions, concepts, and previous experiences. It is more than data or information. Based on the abovementioned literature we found out that knowledge consists of facts and data that are organized to describe a particular situation or condition. Knowledge can be a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information and expert insight. Furthermore, knowledge is a vital organizational resource that gives market advantage. Ibrahim 2005 also has argued that different forms of knowledge are dominant during different facility development life cycle phases. She defined knowledge as selected information, which enables action by either the source or recipient. She agreed with Nonaka 1994 who defined knowledge as a set of commitments and beliefs of its holder that enables the holder to undertake certain action. 25

2.2.2 Knowledge Typology