The Ways of Knowledge Management

This paper summarizes the experience of an R&D Center: the Center for Knowledge Systems (CKS) at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico. The CKS ́s mission is to study the knowledge economy and to develop systems which enable individuals and organizations to develop sustainable strategies within that economy. Our work consists mostly of contracted industry projects. From the income of those projects, we fund our own basic research. The purpose of this paper is to share our experiences and gain fresh inputs from colleagues working on the understanding and management of knowledge. The CKS focuses on three major areas of knowledge management: organizational learning, intellectual capital and value addition. These areas show an increasing level of complexity and innovation. As we progress on this path, we find newer territories and less points of reference. We have drawn a map of the knowledge systems field in order to navigate our way forward. We constantly redraw this taxonomy, based on an action-research approach to our own knowledge construction. A basic CKS tenant is the committment to experimentally apply to ourselves the most progressive management principles we assert. Since the virtual organization is one of the most comprehensive of such principles, we operate through an intentional virtual design. Knowledge exchange in virtual teams, management of virtual learning networks and the very concept of virtuality are part of our dayto-day concerns. Through this article, our structure and function is described and, in doing so, some conclusions on the development of knowledge systems for industry will be drawn. Rather than reading, we are interested in sustaning a dialog with those having similar interests and experiences.