Tutorial. 2. What is Knowledge

K.T. Lam

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• Publié par: Kocuj
• Nombre de lectures: 35
• Langue: English

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2. What is Knowledge
ETL525 Knowledge Management
Tutorial One
5 December 2008
K.T. Lam
[e-mail]
Last updated: 4 December 2008Data, information, knowledge
• Data can be defined as raw number, images, words,
sounds which are derived from observation or
measurement.
• Information represents data arranged in a meaningful
pattern, data where some intellectual input has been
added.
• Knowledge emerges from the application, analysis and
productive use of data and/or information. It provides
the means to analyze and understand data/information,
provides beliefs about the causality of events/actions,
and provides the basis to guide meaningful
action/thought.
Source: Hislop (2005)An example
• Raw data in a log file capturing “who logged in
to (or logged out from) which computer and
at what time”:An example (cont.)
• Raw data processed by a computer program to
generate statistical information on usages:An example (cont.)
• Knowledge expressed in written report
produced by a staff based on the statistical
information:
• Does this written report represent knowledge or
information?Interrelationship of
data, information and knowledge
• While data and information can provide the
building blocks of knowledge, equally
knowledge can be used to generate data and
information, therefore the relationship
between them is dynamic and interactive.
• People with different knowledge bases may
develop different interpretations of the
significance of the same event/results.
Source: Hislop (2005)Group discussion
What is knowledge?
• Questions:
– What is knowledge?
– Is knowledge a “separable entity”?
– What knowledge can be captured and what
cannot?
– Are skills and experience knowledge?
– Can knowledge be shared? How? Or, can we only
share information?Explicit knowledge
• Explicit knowledge is knowledge that has been articulated.
It is usually captured in the form of text, tables, diagrams,
product specifications and so on. (Nickols 2000)
• Explicit knowledge refers to knowledge that can be
expressed, captured, and documented in form of
publications. (Al-Hawmdeh 2003)
• Examples
– repositories/databases
– Intranets
– staff manuals, procedures, policy documents
– yellow pages, directories
– reports, papers, documents, books
[Are they really knowledge, or information?]Tacit knowledge
• Tacit knowledge is knowledge that cannot be
articulated. Knowledge that can be articulated but
hasn‟t is implicit knowledge. (Nickols 2000)
• The concept of tacit knowledge draws our
attention to the fact that people know more than
they realize. (Davidson and Voss 2002)
• For Polanyi (1958), tacit knowledge is that part of
what we know that we cannot tell, because it is
inaccessible to our consciousness. (Wilson 2005)Modes of knowledge conversion
From Mode of To
Knowledge Conversion
Implicit Socialization Implicit
Implicit Externalization Explicit
Explicit Internalization Implicit
Explicit Combination Explicit
Source: Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995)