Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

The Essence <strong>of</strong> Knowledge Management
Emmanuel Innocents Edoun and Valdenisa Norris
The University <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
edounsen@hotmail.com
norrisnisa@hotmail.com
Abstract: Recent studies have shown that, over <strong>the</strong> past decade, Knowledge Management (KM) has been <strong>the</strong>
center <strong>of</strong> many debates. This study infers that knowledge management is an audit <strong>of</strong> human capital that
highlights unique sources, critical functions and potential bottlenecks which hinder knowledge flows to point <strong>of</strong>
use. This study argues that it protects human capital from decay, seeks opportunities to enhance decisions,
services and products through adding intelligence, increasing value and providing flexibility. Therefore a number
<strong>of</strong> organisations have been reminded that <strong>the</strong>y will not survive in <strong>the</strong> “Modern Knowledge Village” unless <strong>the</strong>y
have a strategy for managing and leveraging value from <strong>the</strong>ir human capital. However, it has become clear that
<strong>the</strong> term "Knowledge Management" has been used in a wide range <strong>of</strong> activities designed to manage, exchange
and create or enhance human capital within an organisation, and that <strong>the</strong>re is no widespread agreement on what
KM actually is. Information Technology (IT) applications that are termed "knowledge management applications"
range from <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> highly codified help desk systems to <strong>the</strong> provision <strong>of</strong> video conferencing to
facilitate <strong>the</strong> exchange <strong>of</strong> ideas between people. The objective <strong>of</strong> this paper is to survey a number <strong>of</strong> different
knowledge management strategies and a range <strong>of</strong> driving forces for knowledge management activities. These
are syn<strong>the</strong>sised using an extended version <strong>of</strong> an existing “KM spectrum”. The methodology used in this study is
qualitative in nature. For <strong>the</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> current study it is applied to provide direction for <strong>the</strong> KM spectrum
and <strong>the</strong>n gives a description <strong>of</strong> a simple classification approach that relates to KM strategies. The methodology
fur<strong>the</strong>r uses a case study to apply <strong>the</strong> above approach and discuss its usefulness. The findings reveal that KM is
a powerful tool that stimulates success in any working environment if it is subjected to adequate leadership where
good governance is taken into consideration. In a school environment successful knowledge management
involves different aspects such as accessibility <strong>of</strong> information technology, strong leadership, cultural influences,
organisational structure and human characteristics. Leaders have to ensure that, <strong>the</strong> necessary measures are in
place and <strong>the</strong>y should lead by example to sustain <strong>the</strong> successful implementation <strong>of</strong> knowledge management
strategies in order to continuously empower human capital.
Keywords: Essence, knowledge management, modern knowledge village, human capital, information
technology, leadership
1. Introduction
Knowledge Management (KM) has been <strong>the</strong> center <strong>of</strong> many debates. Even though past studies are
still questioning <strong>the</strong> essence <strong>of</strong> knowledge management. Recent studies seem to be more relevant as
<strong>the</strong>y are always thriving to put forward <strong>the</strong> merits <strong>of</strong> knowledge management across multi-disciplinary,
inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary studies.
This paper has used a case study approach to explain how knowledge management could facilitate
knowledge sharing in <strong>the</strong> educational context. The paper has reviewed a number <strong>of</strong> concepts that will
have a positive impact on <strong>the</strong> research findings.
The findings reveal that knowledge management can only be sustainable if it is a moral purpose
which aims at sharing knowledge that is valued by social interactions.
Knowledge Management has been used in a wide range <strong>of</strong> activities designed to manage, exchange,
create or enhance intellectual assets within an organisation. IT applications as a knowledge
management application ranges from <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> highly codified help desk systems to <strong>the</strong>
provision <strong>of</strong> video conferencing to facilitate <strong>the</strong> exchange <strong>of</strong> ideas between people (Haggie &
Kingston 2003). O<strong>the</strong>r IT applications involve <strong>the</strong> designing <strong>of</strong> websites, internet portals and social
networking sites for <strong>the</strong> sustainability <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> knowledge shared. In order to ensure that knowledge
shared is accessible by all regardless <strong>of</strong> socio-economic inequalities, cell phones as an IT application
will be used as a platform to sustain communication.
This paper is important as it surveys a number <strong>of</strong> different knowledge management strategies and a
range <strong>of</strong> driving forces for knowledge management activities. These are syn<strong>the</strong>sised using an
extended version <strong>of</strong> an existing “KM spectrum”. The KM spectrum has been developed to assist
organisations in understanding <strong>the</strong> range <strong>of</strong> KM options, applications and technologies available to
<strong>the</strong>m. It provides a view <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> totality and complexity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> various KM <strong>the</strong>ories, tools and techniques
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