Can Knowledge Management Work in Healthcare?

Can Knowledge Management work in Healthcare

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Can Knowledge Management work in Healthcare

Knowledge Management defined

Barnes (2001 ) defines Knowledge Management as an attempt to improve or maximize the use of knowledge that exists in an organization . He bases his definition of knowledge on the sequential definitions of data and information . Data , he states , is observations of facts outside any context information is data within a meaningful context and knowledge is `information plus ' or information combined with experience , context

interpretation , and reflection within a very highly contextual environment . Knowledge is a high-value form of information that is ready for application to decisions and actions within organizations (Davenport , 1998 . Knowledge is therefore a type of value-added information

A further distinction is made between two categories of knowledge - tacit or implicit and explicit knowledge . Tacit Knowledge is defined as the type of knowledge that is both understood and applied at the subconscious level . It is knowledge difficult to deliberately expressed manifested or articulated , and said to be developed , again subconsciously or involuntarily , through personal interactions conversations , storytelling and shared experience . Explicit knowledge on the other hand is more precisely and formally articulated , although removed from the original context of creation or use (Zach , 1999

The concepts of explicit and implicit knowledge lead to the definition of what is termed as Organizational Knowledge . According to Brown Duguid (1998 , pp . 40 , organizational knowledge exists in a `core competency ' comprising both explicit and implicit knowledge . Explicit knowledge...