Theorizing Knowledge in Organizations

Chapter 3^rd of the book, “Knowledge Management (KM) in processes in Organization : Theoretical Foundations and Practice” that written by Claire R. Mc Inerney.

Theorizing Knowledge in Organizations

This chapter explain about how knowledge have been developed by Organizations. In this section, knowledge assume as a resource and a learning process. The knowledge as a resource means that knowledge is an object that written or get in a formal documents or online artifact that can be manipulate and organize. And then, knowledge as a process means that knowledge always useful in routine organization activity, and outcomes, that use experience and interaction of people in the organization.  

The importance of knowledge makes firms treat it as a good result from activities commensurate between organization’s central mission and core competencies. And now, knowledge is known as source of competitive advantages for the firms, that get with a strategy resource, that extracting from experience and process that being held in organization. Baumard in his book, “Tacit knowledge in organization” in 1999, explains four quadrans for getting and situating the knowledge. This table will be showing us, how the knowledge gets as Baumard said :

	Individual	Collective
Tacit	Intuitiveness, it means that person while did their jobs, always learn everythings in their work’s environment as an experience. So they know, what conditions that they have to do or not their job, and how to handle all of problem that block it as habitual.	Social practice, it means that everybody in the organization have learned and known their activities and how to take the risk and finish the problem in their jobs. It means that any knowledge sharing process between everyone in the organization from their each individuals experience.
Explicit	Expertise, it means that person in organization, while do his jobs, he also learn the process and think, what thing suppose to cut the process be more easily and need few times. And then he write all of knowledge that he know to share to the other people that need this knowledge in same jobs.	Rules, are a written procedures or protocols that’s made by the organization to increase the effectiveness and efficiency in the process of the organizations.

From the table above, we know that any interaction between individual to the organization, or from each individual in the organization, as a way to increase their ability and to successing the organization. So, participation from the group’s member in organization is more hopely in the increasing organization objectiveness. As the result, each members have to get an interaction to help their job finishing. Nonaka and Takeuchi in their book, “The knowledge creating company : How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation” in 1995, explain that knowledge can be more easily to develop and find with SECI (Socialization, Externalization, Combination, Internalization) models.

Knowledge Management Literary Growth

In Chapter 2 of Knowledge Management (KM) Process in Organization that was writen by Claire R. McInerney

In this chapter, the author present some graphic that shows some fact about increasing of literature of knowledge management that proof ,that many organization take their concern in knowledge management, moreover, with a serious program, some organization hold a special divition that handling knowledge management. This phenomenon, risen since 1991.

According to stage in this picture, knowledge management has a stage to reach their knowledge maturity.

 Source from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2002_2/gottschalk/

In this chapter, the author also explain the knowledge management growth in amount of article, dissertation has increased since 1991 until 2006 in so highly. But in 2008 until 2009 this situation change to be decline situation. And in this century, much hopeful from the author that many people use their account in social media, or social networking such as facebook, twitter, blog, or other media to sharing and capturing the knowledge. Because this tools, is more helpful things for knowledge lover and organization especially to increase their knowledge.

But it need more powerful support from teacher in education scope or stakeholder in other organization that need knowledge to increase their income, as a result for apply the knowledge as an innovation and increase their productivity.

In this picture I want to show you, how high the increase of knowledge management literary until 2006.

Source from  http://informationr.net/ir/13-4/paper386.html

And the different of the knowledge management growth in some industries.

Source from C.J.(Neels) Kruger, Assessment of knowledge management growth: a South Africa perspective (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1823980&show=html)

What is Knowledge Management

In Chapter 1 of Knowledge Management (KM) Process in Organization that was writen by Claire R. McInerney

Knowledge Management can be concluted as a process to manage information from people experience, that have collected, analized, evaluated, stored, retrieved and shared by people as an effeort to increasing people knowledge. In this process, there are some rules, policies, procedures, and captured or uncaptured experience that had by individuals roles at organization. So they can share it to other in organization.

In this era, it’s wise to use technology to doing this process. The function of technology is useful to capturing, stored, analyze, and share the knowledge. With some application like DSS we able to capture the knowledge from last experience of organization. And the internet, is useful for sharing and help to increasing knowledge. Internet can linked inter organization and extra organization to share the knowledge, so knowledge make a cycle of link between both of them. 

There are two amazing thing about knowledge, first, if we apply the knowledge from do a task that usually done, it called productivity. Second, if we apply the knowledge from do a new task, it called innovation.

In this chapter, the book was explained about four stage to development a management knowledge.

Stage 1 : “By the internet out of intellectual Capital” it means every problem about inter organization can be finished by information exchange with extra or out of organization.

Stage 2: “Human and cultural dimension, the HR, Human Relation stage”, it means human factorial in organization can be controlled by the implementation of knowledge management and using knowledge creation as well as knowledge sharing and communication.

Stage 3: “Content and Retrievability”, it means the knowledge have to be important in content, structure, description and retrievability so we know which good and which one that not good.

Stage 4: “Access to External Information”, it means, in this stage knowledge reach this maturity, because in this stage, knowledge have been combinated by other information. And it have to awareness that the importance, the usability and the value of information relates by other information as a product from Management Information System and Decision Support System in organization case.