Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil.
There have been numerous approaches to Knowledge Management (KM) over the past number of
years. In addition there is also confusion amongst enterprises and enterprise management as to the
role and contribution of KM, the differences between information management, information technology
and KM.
There has been an overflow of information and “knowledge” in large enterprises and this situation will
only worsen if not managed appropriately. Knowledge is now universally accepted as a factor of
production and similar to other factors of production viewed as being scarce and expensive. The
knowledge inventory of an enterprise should thus be managed in a similar manner as physical
inventory – kept at the essential minimum level and to be provided at the time that it is required.
The challenge to creating a successful knowledge enterprise is more reliant on the people aspects
than technology per se and this view is supported by recent research. This situation is exacerbated by
the diversity of participation amongst knowledge workers who as a “grouping” speaks a different
language based on their perspectives of issues within and external to the enterprise.
Because knowledge is not synonymous with information, information technology cannot deliver
knowledge management, yet a large proportion of managements view information technology as the
panacea for their failure at implementing successful KM or what they consider to be KM.
Another concern of management is that current management approaches cannot handle imperfect
information with certainty. Enterprises are thus faced with the situation of not being able to deliver the
right information to the right person at the right time because enterprises are unable to predict what is
the right information to distribute, who the right recipients of that information should be and all of this
may take place under conditions of uncertainty – as found in today’s dynamic business environment.
Defining knowledge from an enterprise management perspective or in terms of an organisational
context present a number of issues. The most important being that there is no single all encompassing
definition of KM. However, in terms of the objectives of this research a definition which relate the
dimensions of time, delivery, the right information and the right recipient is applied.
KM varies from the perspective of controlling knowledge processes within the enterprise to methods
applied to the extraction of knowledge from the flow of information, internal and external to the
enterprise. Recent thinking on KM distinguishes between demand-side KM and supply-side KM. The
supply-side of KM is associated with the “delivery-oriented” assumptions that valuable knowledge
exists within the enterprise and that it is the task of management to find it, codify it and place it into a
repository. This is then followed by an approach which “decrees” and determine how it is to be
distributed, e.g. via learning, databases, documents, etc. and to whom. Demand-side KM is initiated
with an approach requiring a view of where does valuable knowledge exist within the enterprise, is
what is required in existence, does it support the enterprise's strategies and how can the use thereof
benefit the enterprise's competitive advantage? Obviously the proponents of both of these sides do
see the need for closing the gap between supply and demand and that they are in fact complimentary
activities.
A view is taken on the KM approach / practices undertaken by the enterprise. There are a number of
KM taxonomy approaches based upon the process applied in the enterprise to extract knowledge. An
understanding of the different approaches employed is necessary to locate the role of the knowledge
worker in the overall KM value chain. The knowledge processes approach is considered to be a factor
of production where the person is central to the process as the carrier or owner of knowledge.
Communication amongst individuals is of primary importance, especially in respect of the
management of the enterprise and its outputs. This approach also considers an enabling culture in the
enterprise to be a pre-requisite to the successful management of knowledge. The focus of this
approach is on knowledge transfer through human interaction. Technology is recognised as playing a
supporting role in this approach. Knowledge is more than information and also considers experience,
skills, competencies and attitudes as part of knowledge created in the process of human interaction.
The term Just-in-Time (JIT) can be defined as a production or inventory scheduling technique found
within the more complex production logistics disciplines. JIT is more appropriately thought of as a
philosophy as it is more than a mere set of management and production principles. KM JIT is an
endeavour to provide the right knowledge at the right time to the right person. This requires an insight
into the knowledge demand and supply process as well as the time horizon applicable to the
knowledge required. Over the longer term business forecasts, environmental scans, strategic
planning, etc. can be applied to close the gap between these variables. However, it is in the short term
and immediate requirements that the present systems fail and management concerns are
emphasised. To summarise the relationship: JIT KM searches for an optimisation of the matching
process between demand and knowledge supply within enterprises, i.e. it endeavours to translate the
logistic concept of JIT to the knowledge management field.
In addition to JIT KM the concept of real-time KM is introduced as an alternative since present
research indicates that the implementation of JIT KM presents major issues in terms of cost and
development effort, restricting its use to mission critical applications. A more generic application for JIT
KM need to be developed and it is contended that real-time KM fits the requirements of enabling the
enterprise to be agile in respect of its ability to respond to present and future knowledge demands.
The major difference between JIT KM and real-time KM being the latency of information concept
which applies to the latter.