[What is Knowledge Management?]
Working Knowledge: An interview with Tom Davenport and Larry Prusak
Interview coordinated by Harvard Business School Publishing
Tom Davenport at Babson College
[ A Working Definition That Has Withstood the Test of Time]
[ Foundations of Global Systemic Risk Management Practice]
[ Concepts, Issues, and Industry Applications]
[ Seminars in Systemic Risk Management] [ Complexity, Complex Systems & Chaos Theory]
[ Practice Focused Interviews & Articles] [ Fundamental Research & Quantitative Analysis]
[ A Short Glossary of Knowledge Management Terms]
[ In-Depth Research Articles and Research Portals]
Business of KM · Technologies of KM · KM Processes · KM Systems
Sociology of KM · Creativity · Psychology of KM · Philosophy of KM

The presented research was originally motivated by 80% failure rate of large scale systems in the early 1990s. Inspired by the research of complexity theory scientists at the Santa Fe Institute, the motivating problem was framed as the design and management of self-adaptive systems that can withstand radical discontinuous change events. Such events cannot be predicted or foreseen in advance and hence defy the predictive and deterministic logic of all computerized information systems and related computational probabilistic models based upon predictive logic. As such events cannot be predicted based upon past data, logic, and assumptions when using commonly held notions of probability, they are also known as highly improbable events. About a dozen years after the first conference paper in this stream of research was published, such highly improbable events have become popularly known as 'black swans' given their recognized role in the recent worldwide failure of global financial systems. Presented research also proposed overcoming limitations inherent in the mechanistic and deterministic design of computational systems and models by advancing beyond focus on prediction based on historical data, logic, and assumptions to the design of socio-technical systems adept in anticipation of surprise.

Alternative interpretations of Knowledge Management that are more focused on data and information management focused notions are available in the article published in the Journal of Knowledge Management which is the focus of next section.

"Knowledge management refers to the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival and competence against radical discontinuous environmental change. Essentially it embodies organizational processes that seek synergistic combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings." "Knowledge management is more about the pragmatic and thoughtful application as it is not in the theoretical definition but in real world execution wherein lie the greatest opportunities and challenges. Any 'definition' therefore must be understood within the specific context of expected performance outcomes and value propositions that answer the question 'Why' about relevance of KM." more...

Lessons learned from the world's greatest organizations show that even simple technologies can generate great performance when empowered by smart minds of motivated and committed humans. Conversely, 'intelligent' technologies may produce dumb results if those smarts are missing as evident from the cases of companies once considered great in the past era. Importantly, unless data and information are translated into 'meaningful' decisions and actions for sustained performance, there is no point of the whole exercise... whether you call it knowledge management, wisdom management, creativity management, or something else! more...

Our following summary interpretations of the above 'working definition' of Knowledge Management are also popular among corporate strategists and military, airforce, and navy commanders. KM is: 'Knowing what you know and profit from it' and 'Making obsolete what you know before others obsolete it.' more...

"The focus of Knowledge Management is on 'doing the right thing' instead of 'doing things right'. It provides a framework within which the organization views all its processes as knowledge processes and all business processes involve creation, dissemination and application of knowledge towards organizational sustenance and survival." more...

Clearly the goal of knowledge management is sustained individual and business performance through ongoing learning, unlearning, and adaptation. Technologies of computing have inherent limitations. They have difficulty in generating meaningful insights from data as they can’t question or re-interpret their programmed logic and assumptions. Given inherent limitations of the technologies of computing, human users of such 'systems' have at least an equally important role in knowledge management. more...

Knowledge Management is a new branch of management for achieving breakthrough business performance through the synergy of people, processes, and technology. Its focus is on the management of change, uncertainty, and complexity. It evolved from the need for advancing beyond the failing paradigm of Information Technology Management that accounts for 70%-80% system failures. As 'IT' becomes more of a commodity and endowed with more complex 'potential' capabilities, there is need for re-focusing on strategic execution. As we transition from an era of information scarcity to information glut, there is need for re-focusing on human sense-making processes underlying decisions, choices, and performance. In this new paradigm for increasingly uncertain and complex business environments, dynamically evolving performance outcomes are the key drivers of how 'smart minds' use 'smart technologies' to leverage strategic opportunities and challenges.