What do IT managers need to know about knowledge management in our days?

What do Information Technology Managers

need to know of Knowledge Management in our days

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What do IT Managers need to know of Knowledge Management in our days

Information Technology (IT ) managers in any organization are expected to manage IT infrastructure and projects . The scope of Information Technology , or Information and Communication Technology (ICT ) as it is known today , encompasses creation , organization , management and communication of information . When we speak of Knowledge Management (KM we are pushing the concept a

step further from the domain of information to the domain of knowledge . The crucial question at this juncture is whether management or handling of knowledge is within the jurisdiction of the IT or ICT manager . The first step that the IT manager has to take in this regard is acquire a clear understanding of the difference between information and knowledge . In other words , the IT manager has to know in very clear terms what knowledge exactly is , its properties and its qualities

Barnes (2001 ) 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

Barnes (2001 ) defines Knowledge Management as an attempt to improve or maximize the use of knowledge that exists in an organization . The point here is however different . How does one handle , process or manipulate tacit knowledge that exists only at the subconscious level ? Tacit knowledge would not be amenable to IT tools and would therefore be entirely out of the domain of IT . The saving grace for IT turns out to be explicit knowledge that can be processed or handled by IT , and would therefore be the concern of the IT manager . Seen in this context , tacit knowledge management would be more in the field of expertise of human resources management than in the scope of the IT management and it would be only explicit knowledge management that would be the concern of the IT manager

It however does not end at that . Wilson (2002 ) is of the firm opinion that Knowledge Management as it is being applied today , is nothing more than a...