Knowledge is a broad and abstract notion that has defined epistemological debate in western philosophy since the classical Greek era. In the past few years, however, there has been a growing interest in treating knowledge as a significant organizational resource. Consistent with the interest in organizational knowledge and knowledge management (KM), IS researchers have begun promoting a class of information systems, referred to as knowledge management systems (KMS). The objective of KMS is to support creation, transfer, and application of knowledge in organizations. Knowledge and knowledge management are complex and multi-faceted concepts. Thus, effective development and implementation of KMS requires a foundation in several rich literatures.

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Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research issues

How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

Social Network Analysis

Knowledge Management

The knowledge-based theory of the firm suggests that knowledge is the organizational asset that enables sustainable competitive advantage in hypercompetitive environments. The emphasis on knowledge in today’s organizations is based on the assumption that barriers to the transfer and replication of knowledge endow it with strategic importance. Many organizations are developing information systems designed specifically to facilitate the sharing and integration of knowledge. Such systems are referred to as Knowledge Management System (KMS). Because KMS are just beginning to appear in organizations, little research and field data exists to guide the development and implementation of such systems or to guide expectations of the potential benefits of such systems. This study provides an analysis of current practices and outcomes of KMS and the nature of KMS as they are evolving in fifty organizations. The findings suggest that interest in KMS across a variety of industries is very high, the technological foundations are varied, and the major

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Knowledge management systems: issues, challenges, and benefits

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a definition of KMS success., – The paper uses a consensus‐building approach to derive the definition. An expert panel was used to generate a list of possible KM success definitions. A survey was used to identify a likely definition from this list. A second survey was used to further refine the proposed KM success definition. Finally, analysis of the survey comments was used to finalize the proposed definition., – KM success is a multidimensional concept. It is defined by capturing the right knowledge, getting the right knowledge to the right user, and using this knowledge to improve organizational and/or individual performance. KM success is measured by means of the dimensions: impact on business processes, impact on strategy, leadership, and knowledge content., – An additional survey should be performed that tests the constructs of the proposed KM success definition. Additionally, future research should focus on identifying a set of measures that can be used to measure KM success and determining whether KM and KM System (KMS), success are the same or different constructs., – The proposed definition of KM success provides practitioners with four dimensions that can be used to construct organization‐specific measures for indicating when their KM initiative is successful., – This is important, as the literature, while providing much support for identifying KM critical success factors, does not provide a definition of when KM can be considered successful. Knowing when a KM initiative is successful is important for organizations and practitioners.

Towards a consensus knowledge management success definition

This issue's look at learning organizations begins with a brief overview of the basic components of a learning organization – learning, memory, and organizational learning – and how they can be supported by today's information technologies.

It's Role in Organizational Memory and Learning

Discussions at previous HICSS conferences have shown that there is no general agreement on definitions of knowledge management (KM) and knowledge management systems (KMS) success. A deep understanding of these concepts would help to design and implement efficient KM initiatives and systems. We present an exploratory research study to begin and facilitate a debate that will hopefully lead to a consensus definition of KM and KMS success. We chose an expert panel approach followed by two exploratory surveys to approach the KM and KMS success definition. The research shows only a few points of consensus. We present areas of agreement as well as of disagreement, which serve as a good starting point for further discussions on KM and KMS success

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Towards Defining Knowledge Management Success

Discussions at previous HICSS conferences have revealed that there is no general agreement on definitions of knowledge management (KM) and knowledge management system (KMS) success. We developed these concepts and presented them earlier this year. Using an expert panel approach followed by two exploratory surveys, we identify KM success measures. The research demonstrates that measures for KM success are required on multiple dimensions. This paper thus also presents a set of dimensions with measures that can be used to determine if KM in an organization is successful.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stefan_Smolnik/publication/221184537_Towards_Measuring_Knowledge_Management_Success/links/00b7d51b600aa737ef000000.pdf

Towards Measuring Knowledge Management Success

Purpose – Increasing enrollments in colleges of business have not been matched by women majoring in the field of information systems (IS). This paper aims to explore reasons why women choose not to major in information technology disciplines and to suggest potential solutions.Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a behavioral model based on the theory of reasoned action and a survey of the students enrolled in six sections of a college‐wide MIS course to help them answer the fundamental question “Why don't more women major in information systems?” They also used partial least squares analysis to estimate the parameters of the model and the results of several open‐ended survey questions to validate their statistical findings, leading to a richer triangulation of study results.Findings – The study found that a “genuine interest in IS” and the “influence of family” most account for a woman's decision to major in information systems. Equally important are those items that did not appear to attract fe...

David T. Croasdell

Papers

Towards a consensus knowledge management success definition

It's Role in Organizational Memory and Learning

Towards Defining Knowledge Management Success

Towards Measuring Knowledge Management Success

Why don't more women major in information systems?