Knowledge Management: Systems and Processes in the AI Era, Third Edition
Irma Becerra-Fernandez, Rajiv Sabherwal, and Richard Kumi
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introducing Knowledge Management 1
PART I
Principles of Knowledge Management 11
2 The Nature of Knowledge 13
3 Knowledge Management Foundations: Infrastructure, Mechanisms, and
Technologies 34
4 Knowledge Management Solutions: Processes and Systems 54
5 Organizational Impacts of Knowledge Management 72
PART II
Knowledge Management Technologies and Systems 89
6 Knowledge Application Systems: Systems that Utilize Knowledge 91
7 Knowledge Capture Systems: Systems that Preserve and Formalize
Knowledge 116
8 Knowledge Sharing Systems: Systems that Organize and Distribute
Knowledge 145
9 Knowledge Discovery Systems: Systems that Create Knowledge 187
PART III
Management of Knowledge Management 225
10 Factors Influencing Knowledge Management 227
11 Leadership and Assessment of Knowledge Management 245
PART IV
Emergent Trends in Knowledge Management 271
12 Knowledge Management through Cloud Computing 273
13 Knowledge Management through Communities and Crowds 289
14 Knowledge Management through Artificial Intelligence and other
Emergent Technologies 307
15 Knowledge Management during Global Crises 340
16 The Future of Knowledge Management 358
Index 374
Preface
Knowledge Management: Systems and Processes in the AI Era is for students and managers who seek detailed insights into contemporary knowledge management (KM). It explains the concepts, theories, and technologies that provide the foundation for KM; the systems and structures that constitute KM solutions; and the processes for developing, deploying, and evaluating these KM solutions. We hope this book will help readers acquire the relevant suite of managerial, technical, and theoretical skills for managing knowledge in the modern business environment.
The purpose of this book is to provide a thorough and informative perspective on the emergent practices in knowledge management. Information technology has been, and will continue to be, an important catalyst of this innovative field. Web-based technologies including Web 3.0, artificial intelligence, expert systems, cloud computing, analytics, and social media continue to support and transform the field of KM. However, these technologies would not be effective without the day-to-day social aspects of organizations such as “water-cooler conversations,” brainstorming retreats, and communities of practice. To further complicate matters, the current business environment renders new skills obsolete in years or even months.
Knowledge management is defined in this book as doing what is needed to get the most out of knowledge resources. KM is an increasingly important discipline that promotes the discovery, capture, sharing, and application of the firm’s knowledge. Indeed, we are witnessing a new era with advanced industrial economies being revolutionized with the advent of the knowledge age and highly skilled knowledge-based workers replacing industrial workers as the dominant labor group. Although the benefits ofKM may be obvious, it may not necessarily be so obvious to know how to effectively manage this valuable resource. In this book, the discussion of KM reflects the intimacy the authors have with this topic from a theoretical as well as a practical standpoint and through their substantial and diverse experiences.
The book is divided into four parts:
Part I Principles of Knowledge Management—This section provides a more detailed discussion of the concepts of knowledge and knowledge management and describes the key constituents of KM solutions including infrastructure, processes, systems, tools, and technologies. Four types of KM processes are described and illustrated: knowledge application, knowledge capture, knowledge sharing, and knowledge discovery systems. The section also examines and provides examples of the ways in which KM impacts contemporary organizations.
Part II Knowledge Management Technologies and Systems—This section is devoted to a discussion of the underlying technologies that enable KM systems associated with viii Preface
the above four types of KM processes. Accordingly, four types of KM systems are discussed in this section: knowledge application systems, knowledge capture systems, knowledge sharing systems, and knowledge discovery systems. The mechanisms and technologies to support these KM systems are discussed, and case studies related to their implementation are presented.
Part III Influencers of Knowledge Management—Effective KM systems and processes depend on several factors. Hence, this section examines the factors that affect KM and identifies the specificeffects of these factors. Some of the issues related to management practices and direction of knowledge management are presented in this section. Furthermore, this section evaluates KM processes and describes leadership and assessment of KM. Part IV Emergent Trends in KM—Advances in technology are driving the innovative application of emerging technologies. This section describes how emerging technologies support and facilitate KM systems and processes. It explains how KM can benefit from emergent practices and technologies, including social networks, virtual community platforms, crowdsourcing, business intelligence, and cloud computing. Additionally, this section reviews the role of KM in the management of crises. This section and the book conclude by examining aspects that are likely to be important in the future of KM, including crowd sourcing and collective intelligence and concerns related to privacy and confidentiality.
This book may be adopted in several different ways, depending on the course and the students. It can be used as a one-semester course on KM for graduate students in management information systems by covering selected topics from Parts I, II, III, and IV. A professor teaching a course for engineering or computer science students may opt to concentrate on KM technologies and systems by covering Chapters 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and chapters in Part IV. Alternatively, if the course is being taught to students in a master’s in business administration (MBA) program, a number of case studies could be assigned to complement the discussions presented in the book, and the discussion of Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 could be emphasized less. Additionally, the illustrative examples and case studies from the text should be useful to MBA students.
Instructors adopting the book are encouraged to share with the authors any relevant material that could be included on the Web site to reinforce and enhance the students’ experience.