Module 1.1: Assignments Part 2
What is knowledge and how does it compare to the concepts of information and data.
Data is raw and does not make meaning until we connect it to something to create meaning. All information is then is the understanding of how two pieces of data relate to each other. The understanding could be extended to relationships between data and information. When this occurs, data can be transformed into information. Knowledge is the ability of a human being to use the information. In order to understand this I tend to think of these terms as being a hierarchy: Data is the concrete part and lowest part of the hierarchy, information is the combined data to make meaning and knowledge is the abstract concept as one attempts to make use of the information.
What is knowledge management?
Knowledge management is the managing of an organization’s knowledge that is held collectively by its team members.
On a individual level, knowledge is what happens when an individual makes use of information to solve problems or construct new meaning. When a team of individuals get together the collective knowledge they hold will be varied and be at different levels. Donna Bible raises another good point: "Knowledge management is the attempt to secure the experience as well as the work product of the individuals of a corporation. The following, real life, scenario will place this statement in its proper context for us. When I was working in a music store as a salesperson. I was told by a senior salesman of the time when all of the employees that worked for Gibson Guitars quit and formed their own company (Segal I believe). Gibson was left with all the data and all the instructions (not to mention the copyright) for producing the various models but it lacked the expertise (the tactic knowledge if you will) required to produce the top of the line product that people were used to. This knowledge left with the employees that were making the guitars for years. It was a long time before the quality of the Gibson guitar returned to its former greatness. Proper knowledge management may have secured the quality of the Gibson guitar and retained their large share of the upper prices guitar market.
According to the experts there are different levels of knowledge to manage, here are the three main ones:
1. Tacit knowledge: represented by individual or group experience and expertise, is implicit: used for sense making, problem solving & gaining of perspective, and is personal: held within us and rarely documented.
Source: Choo (1998b)
2. Explicit knowledge: based on policies, procedures, instructions, standards and results, readily communicated, often through written documentation, and provides a record of "organizational or institutional memory" .
Source: Choo (1998b)
3. Cultural knowledge: the basis for what we deem to be fair and trustworthy, an underlying comprehension of how we treat new truths and situations, and is often tied to an organization¹s vision, mission and overall philosophy.
Source: Choo (1998b)