Creating Knowledge Structure Maps to support Explicit Knowledge Management

Abstract

The idea that knowledge management can be carried out explicitly is often challenged by many in the knowledge management discipline. Some even challenge the value of the term ‘knowledge’ in this domain and have instead widened the definition of knowledge management to include almost anything that improves the business. Although it is accepted that many of the methods and the systems described within the knowledge management domain can be of great value to organisations and are clearly sensible steps to take, it is not necessary for those approaches to be exclusive of the possibility of a discrete approach to the direct management of the knowledge resource.

One of the first questions asked by those taking their first steps in knowledge management is ‘What is knowledge?’. It is not necessary to avoid this question and a look at what the answer may be can also show why it may prove very useful to ask the question.

The approach of Structural Knowledge Auditing and Mapping the Structure of Knowledge is intended to provide managers with a visualisation that can become a common frame of reference against which to discuss the knowledge resource. Including several (rather subjective) parameters that describe each of the knowledge nodes on the map can also form a basis of a very useful way to analyse the knowledge resource and focus decision making on to areas of greatest need. The method can provide a way to create demand for other knowledge management strategies including Knowledge Based Systems, GroupWare, Knowledge Warehousing etc.

This method has already been applied successfully in several large companies in the UK and also some smaller companies and even in the off-licence retail trade area. In most cases the work has also lead to the management of the organisations in question making significant changes that have been identified from the results of the audits.