Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations

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 raging interest in treating knowledge as a significant organizational resource. The heightened interest in organizational knowledge and knowledge management stems from the transition into the knowledge economy, where knowledge is viewed as the principle source of value creation and sustainable competitive advantage. Consistent with the growing interest in organizational knowledge and knowledge management (KM), recently IS researchers have been promoting a class of information systems, referred to as knowledge management systems (KMS). The objective of KMS is to support construction, sharing 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. We believe that to be credible, KMS research and development should preserve and built upon the significant literature that exists in different but related fields. We have promoted this view in this paper by providing a review and interpretation of knowledge management literatures in different fields with an eye towards identifying the important areas for future research. Next, we have presented a detailed process-view of organizational knowledge management with a focus on the potential role of IT in this process. The paper concludes with a discussion of major research questions that emerge from the review of literature as well as the process-view of KM. It is our contention that in large and global firms information technologies (in form of KMS) will be interlaced with organizational knowledge management strategies and processes. We therefore believe that the KMS should and will receive considerable scholarly attention and will become a focal point of inquiry. It is our hope that the ideas, discussion, and the broad research issues set forth in this paper contributes to future work in the knowledge management area by IS researchers. Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues "In post-capitalism, power comes from transmitting information to make it productive, not from hiding it." (Drucker, 1995)