Developing a Model of Next Generation Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management exploded into visibility as a management topic in the mid-1990s with a significant impact in the IT applications area. It has had high visibility for the last decade and, in recent years, has come under some critical scrutiny questioning the success of many of the attempts to manage knowledge, especially those with an IT focus, as well as some suggestion that it was merely the latest management fad, now facing inevitable decline. As a counter to this, some experts have proposed the emergence of a "next" generation that both resolves the limitations of the previous generation and offers additional understanding that could lead to more successful ventures. A view of the evolution of Knowledge and Knowledge Management through four stages is presented and a composite model for Next Generation Knowledge Management (NGKM) is proposed, derived from the theories presented by several prominent authors.