Siddartha, bt Herman Hesse

This book is not directly related to knowledge management but it was one of my favorite books of all time and having spent the entire semester posting about KM related materials I simply wanted to talk about something I truly enjoy. Also, in a way the is a level of knowledge management going on with the protagonist. The story centers around a young man who is raised with a level of wealth and status but chooses to give it up in order to discover who he really is and his purpose. Throughout the novel he experiences many different things, encounters a wide variety of people, and has to process and sort through a wide range of knowledge on his path to his own enlightenment. Not to give anything away, he eventually uses everything he has learned and all the knowledge he has acquired along his path to find himself and what he is meant to do. Read it. Now.

The Tacit Dimension, Polyani

This book really doesn't need an introduction for most people familiar with knowledge management, but for those who are not Polanyi is the one that pretty much coined the term 'tacit knowledge.' I still probably would benefit from reading this book a few more time as it is a lot to digest, but it is what really introduced me to the concept of tacit knowledge. I have used the word knowledge since I was a child but it was not until I took this class that I started to really understand all the different meanings that knowledge can have. I also had never given much thought to a type of knowledge that can not really be fully expalined by the person who possess it unless they are able to show another through actions. It really is a great book and I would highly suggest anyone who has not read it to do so.

Tremblay, Jones & Mahon, and Rule & Besen

TREMBLAY, G. The Information Society: From Fordism to Gatesism: The 1995 Southam Lecture. Canadian Journal of Communication, North America, 20, Apr. 1995

"The information society model claims that the new information hegemony is transforming industrial society. But is it not the case that the major change has to do with the increasingly greater integration of information and communication into the functioning of the economy and society, in the submission of information and communication to the operative rules of industrial society, in sum, in the commodification of information, culture, and communication? Rather than a "post-industrial society," the period of transition which we are experiencing consists more modestly in the shift from one industrial mode of organization to another mode of industrial organization, that is, from Fordism to Gatesism."

That is the abstract from the paper. I really have no better way of explaining it. There is a lot to take in but I really liked at how it examined what this 'information society' we are apparently living in is. I also like the terms he coined 'Fordism' and 'Gateism'. Very interesting read although don't start it unless you have some time to spend on it. It is not something you are going to just sit down and run through will quick. Worth the time if you have it though.

Jones, N.B. & Mahon, J.F.  Nimble knowledge transfer in high velocity/turbulent environments Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 16, No. 5. (2012), pp. 774-788

This article looks at the differences between explicit and tacit knowledge and the relationship the exists between the two in specific organizational environments. It uses the military as an example and examines the practices they use in terms of how knowledge is utilized. Using them as an example they then look at how some of those methods could be implemented in  large organizations. Ultimately they conclude that tacit knowledge is the more valuable of the two in regards to decision making. 

The Once and Future Information Society
Author(s): James B. Rule and Yasemin Besen. Theory and Society, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Aug., 2008), pp. 317-342Published

To summarize this article looks at the term 'information society' as it has become to be known today.  The author brings in social sciences and social scientist and also examine the history behind the term and how it became to be this prominent idea and concept that it is today. Very interesting article. I have heard this term used a thousand times before and have even used it myself. It was nice to finally fully understand what all it actually implies and how the term came into existence in the first place.

Huber, Levy and Nonaka

Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures

George P. Huber

Organization Science, Vol. 2, No. 1, Special Issue: Organizational Learning: Papers in Honor of (and by) James G. March (1991), pp. 88-115 

Basically this article looks at organizational learning. The author notes that there are four constructs to this; knowledge acquisition, informational distribution, information interpretation, and organizational memory . There is a lot of literature that is discussed in this article and it is very thorough in its explanation and description of what organizational knowledge is and the four concepts that are discussed along with it.

Levy, Moria WEB 2.0 implications on knowledge management Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 13, No. 1. (2009), pp. 120-134

 I enjoyed this article because it addresses the internet, specifically WEB 2.0 and how it has and is affecting knowledge management and information sharing. The author observes that with the WEB 2.0 people are now sharing information and knowledge at an extraordinary rate. She goes on to discuss how organizations can use this to their advantage as well as how it has been affecting knowledge management and what some of the potential values and implications that should or could arise from it. Very entertaining article and it really shines a light on how much knowledge and information is reall being created and floating around out there in cyberspace.

A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation

Ikujiro Nonaka

Organization Science, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Feb., 1994), pp. 14-37 

This article is very theoretical in nature but it presented some really good ideas. The author states that, "organizational knowledge is created through a continuous dialogue between tacit and explicit
knowledge." He goes on to say that new knowledge is created by individuals in an organization but the organization itself can greatly articulate and amplify that knowledge. Good article although I found it a little abstract at times, but it was interesting and made me think.

Nahapiet & Ghoshal, Blackler, and Cowan, David & Foray

Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage

Janine Nahapiet and Sumantra Ghoshal

The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Apr., 1998), pp. 242-266 

 

This article looks at how social capital can hep create new intellectual capital for organizations. From my understanding of their explanation, social capital is the relationships, knowledge, and information that is shared and utilized by a group of people within an interactive setting such as a community or business. This article looks at how organizations are at an advantage for creating and sharing this social capital which could in turn create new intellectual capital. The article was interesting but I found it rather dull. I was intrigued by the idea of social capital though as this was the first time I had ever really come into contact with that term. Initially I thought they were in some way going to discuss finance, but instead the capital they were referring to exists between individuals or a group of individuals hat comes from sharing the same experiences and environment. 

 

Knowledge, Knowledge Work and Organizations: An Overview and Interpretation

Frank Blackler   Organization Studies  1995 16: 1021

 

This was a fairly long article that went into quite a bit of detail, but it brought up some interesting thoughts. The author first looks at how knowledge and its value is currently viewed and utilized within an organization. From here is offers a different approach to the way knowledge should be handled. As opposed to simply looking at what knowledge is already their Blackler believes that focus should instead be placed upon the cultural influences and the things that help create the knowledge. To him the process of how the knowledge comes into being is just as valuable as the knowledge itself.

 

 

 

Cowan, R., David, P., & Foray, D. (2000). The explicit economics of knowledge codification and tacitness. Industrial & Corporate Change, 9(2), 211. 

 

This article looks at how tacit and codified knowledge are used and understood in economics. The authors make the point that the two types are at times confused in regards to their actual meaning. This article went on and on and I really have no interest in economics so it was hard for me to sit through. Not to end on a bad note though I will say that the authors were very clear in their definitions ad descriptions of tacit ad codified knowledge respectively.

 

 

Trkman & Desouza, Lam & Chua and Massingham

Knowledge risks in organizational networks: An exploratory framework The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Vol. 21, No. 1. (March 2012), pp. 1-17,

by Peter Trkman, Kevin C. Desouza..

 

This article looks at how knowledge is shared between organizations, but instead of looking at the benefits that can result from this type of collaboration, it focuses on the risks that can present themselves if the knowledge sharing is not done carefully. The article shows that there can be many disadvantag3es that can occur as well with knowledge sharing between organizations. A company could potentially lose it competitive advantage or its intellectual property may suffer because due to poor usage of it by another organization. I actually really enjoyed this article and found myself agreeing with many of the things that were being presented. I think that it is okay form companied to help each other to an extent but not all knowledge that exists within an organization needs to be shared with other organizations.

 

 

Knowledge risk management: a framework Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 14, No. 3. (2010), pp. 464-485,

by Peter Massingham

 

This article looks at knowledge risk management. I enjoyed this article because it keeps the responsibility of knowing what is going on within an organization on those who are running it. The article acknowledges that many times in the past corporate leaders have denied and deflected the blame when a serious situation arises. This article focuses on way in which knowledge can be accumulated and shared to help prevent or deal with high risk situations. The articles findings suggest that current knowledge risk management strategies are ineffective and implies that other methods need to be developed.

 

Knowledge outsourcing: an alternative strategy for knowledge management Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 13, No. 3. (2009), pp. 28-43,

by Wing Lam, Alton Y. K. Chua

 

This article looks at "knowledge outsourcing as an alternative strategy for knowledge management." This basically means from my own understanding that as opposed to knowledge being extracted from inside an organization and outside source is contracted to create new "knowledge assets." I am not sure how much I agree with it but it is an interesting idea. I think it would be foolish to overlook the valuable knowledge that already exists within an organization, but I can understand the benefits of also utilizing an outside source for new knowledge. I personally would not choose one over the other but rather combine both options in a way that was most useful to my organization.

Wang & Lu, McLure & Faraj and Schultze

A Confessional Account of an Ethnography about Knowledge Work

MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 1. (March 2000), pp. 3-41

by Ulrike Schultze

 

Read this article a couple times through and still do not fully understand what it is about. I know that the author looked at how information is produced rather than how it is used. He looks at three different information professionals and the informing practices that they relied upon. I guess this is a good study but I was bored out of my mind both times I read it.

 

 

 

Why Should I Share? Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice

MIS Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1. (March 2005), pp. 35-57

by Molly McLure and Samer Faraj

 

This article looks at why people contribute their own knowledge to online networks when there is no apparent benefit to them. It is surmised that people do it to enhance their own professional reputation or when they are already "structurally embedded" in the network. I found the article interesting but from my own life experiences people like to know things, and when they do they feel a need to share it with others. There is a personal satisfaction that comes with showing others how much you know. I enjoyed the article but I had already come to the conclusion that it is just human nature to have a desire to appear as if you are well versed in any particular field. And in many instances the person feels some level of superiority for knowing something that someone else doesn't.

 

 

 

Knowledge transfer in response to organizational crises: An exploratory study Expert Systems with Applications, Vol. 37, No. 5. (May 2010), pp. 3934-3942,

by Wei-Tsong Wang, Yu-Cheng Lu

 

To begin with I really liked this article because it involved motorcycles. I have a motorcycle and love them, so I was interested before I had even finished reading the abstract. The article itself looked at how a crisis situation was handled during a product recall for a motorcycle manufacturer. The authors evaluated the effectiveness and influence of knowledge transfer and knowledge transfer channels during the incident. The conclusion was that there were a variety of different channels that were used and there was an overall positive influence on the performance of the organization while handling the crisis because of the knowledge transfers that were taking place.

Hemsley & Mason, Chakarabarti, and Lucas

Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce Volume 23, Issue 1-2, 2013Special Issue: Knowledge Management and Social Media: The Challenges and Benefits

 This article looks at how viral events on social media platforms affects knowmledge management systems. It begins with a story of a band that had a guitar broken during the handling of their luggage by United Airlines. In the ensuing aftermath the band posted a YouTube video about the incident and it quickly became a viral event. The main jist ofg the article was how organization need to be aware of how social media can affect knowledge management and knowledge management systems. The article also looks at how viral events can be used as the "stimulus in forming interest networks." They go on to say that organizations that adhere to the older bureaucratic method of controlling knowledge will be at a disadvantage.

The impact of trust and reputation on the transfer of best practices Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 9, No. 4. (April 2005), pp. 87-101, doi:10.1108/13673270510610350 by Leyland M. Lucas

This article examines how knowledge is transferred within an organization and why problems exist in the transferring process. The author examine one organization and looks at its knowledge transferring process. The author claims that for knowledge transferr to happen successfully their has to be an understanding by those who use it on how the process works, what knowledge is available and the acceptance of failure as a possibility in the process of helping themselves and others. There also has to be a level of cooperation between those who use it along with the ability to change the way the normally do things tho ensure that the knowledge transfer process will continue to work and be effective. The author concludes that there must be cooperation and trust between the users if knowledge transfer is to happe successfully. 

Bounded awareness and tacit knowledge: revisiting Challenger disaster Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 16, No. 6. (2012), pp. 934-949, doi:10.1108/13673271211276209 by Ajith Kumar, Amaresh Chakrabarti

This article primarily focuses on 'bounded awareness', which is described by the authors as:  "bounded awareness essentially manifests as ‘‘focusing failures’’ that result from the misalignment between information ideally needed for a good decision and the information actually included in the decision-making process. Useful information – though readily available – remains out of focus of the decision maker." The authors follow this overview of 'bounded awareness' by looking at what factors make a manager's awareness bounded. The study done by the authors attempts to establish "... a link between trust, reputation, and knowledge transfer." The author's conclude that it is individual tacit knowledge that can create bounds on the knowledge they posses. The authors urge organizations to be aware of what tacit knowledge they posses along with how that very knowledge can negatively effect their ability to recognize new and different knowledge when it is required.

 

 

 

 

Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations
and Research Issues): Maryam Alavi and Dorothy E. LeidnerSource: MIS Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Mar., 2001), pp. 107-136

This article was very in depth and provided review for much literature done on KM and KMS. While the information provided in the article was good, and the reader was presented with a good deal of background information on knowledge management and knowledge management in the organization, I still found myself loosing interest and concentration. The article itself is rather lengthy and I find it hard sometimes to maintain a focus when reading these long research articles. I had to re-read many sections but overall this may be the most comprehensive knowledge management article I have read so far.

A Confessional Account of an Ethnography about Knowledge Work

Ulrike Schultze

MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Mar., 2000), pp. 3-41 

 

I like this article because it focused on what professionals do as opposed to just what they know. I enjoyed this view point because it really focuses in on the actions of tacit knowledge. By focusing on the work practices of professionals a glimpse of how their knowledge is put to use can be obtained. How these professionals go about their day-to-day performance is a great indicator of what they know and how they use it. While I do not believe that all knowledge can be transmitted or shared, paying closer attention to how people operate and the actions they take can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of their individual knowledge.

 

 

Yuan, Y. C., Zhao, X., Liao, Q. and Chi, C. (2013), The use of different information and communication technologies to support knowledge sharing in organizations: From e-mail to micro-blogging. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci., 64: 1659–1670.

I enjoyed this article quite a bit. The authors conducted 21 interviews with employees from a multinational corporation about media technologies and how they are applicable to knowledge management. What I found most interesting was their acknowledgment that while I CT's are valuable assets, without the proper planning and implementation the tools are never able to reach their full potential. My one gripe with this article in spite of the fact that I enjoyed it, was that I did not feel like I was necessarily being presented with much new information. I did find the interviews to be very intriguing though and how others perceived these KM tools and how to best use them.

 

 

Goggins, Wasko and Chua

Context Matters: The Experience of Physical, Informational, and Cultural Distance in a Rural IT Firm 

The Information Society, Vol. 29, No. 2. (27 February 2013), pp. 113-127 

Sean P. Goggins, Christopher Mascaro

This article looks at how factors such as informational, cultural and distance can effect the business practices and operating procedures of a rural based IT firm. I found this article and study to be very interesting and practical as well. With this class being my first experience and in depth look and knowledge management I constantly found myself being presented with new, exciting information. In regards to this paper, I enjoyed it because of how it focuses on and looks at how distance and other factors attributed to it effects and can in some cases dictate how information is shared and transmitted. I know that I personally would not have thought about these things right off the bat, and would not have noticed how these things can effect an organization until problems arose. A study like this can greatly help future business be able to best utilize informatio sharing that cover physical, international and cultural distance to improve how the operate and share knowledge. 

  Why Should I share? Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice 

MIS Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1. (2005), pp. 35-57 

Molly McLure Wasko and Samer Faraj

While I enjoyed this article I did not find that I was being presented with new and interesting information. I understand the value of the study, and it is important for organizations to understand why their employees and constituencies use and share knowledge but I did not feel that this particular study made any advances with the subject in question. The electronic network they discuss made me immediately think of a chat room or forum which have been around and used by a large number of people for many years now. I also did n ot feel that why the employees share information to be that informative. I thought that it went without saying that the majority of people who would use this type of resource would do so only if they thought that it would in some way benefit them.

A tale of two hurricanes: Comparing Katrina and Rita through a knowledge management perspective

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 58, No. 10. (1 August 2007), pp. 1518-1528, 

Alton Y. K. Chua

This has been one of my favorite articles that I have read so far. For some reason I find myself to be vastly interested in how KM practices work during a crisis. I find all of the reasons that pop up dealing with why people still do not share information at these times to be very intriguing and what these decisions can tell us about the human character and how we think. One of my favorite aspects of the article was how the author compared knowledge management efforts during two different major natural crises.