دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی مدیریت دانش جاسازی شده: به سمت بهبود رابطه مدیریتی - اشپرینگر 2017

Abstract

Despite the large volume of research and managerial literature on knowledge management, many practitioners seem to find it difficult to appreciate its added value for their managerial work. This paper aims to understand and elaborate the added value that knowledge management as a managerial approach can bring to the management of knowledge-intensive organizations. This study explores empirically the actual management practices of a knowledge-intensive organization and examines how knowledge-related phenomena are managed as embedded aspects of management. This paper makes a contribution to prior discussions concerning the relevance of knowledge management and the role of knowledge management as an embedded management practice. The findings of this study should be useful in explaining practitioners the nature, relevance and value of knowledge management.

Conclusions

The aim of this study was to better understand the added value that knowledge management as a managerial approach can bring to the management of knowledge-intensive organizations. Based on the finding of this study, the question of added value can be approached at least from the following perspectives. First, the question of value added can be regarded as somewhat irrelevant if knowledge management is considered an essential, embedded part of management in general, that is, a perspective to management. In this sense, knowledge management is not something extra—added on top of normal activities—and thus we do not even have to worry about its added value. Second, the management of knowledge-related phenomena is essential in knowledge intensive organizations and thus (embedded) knowledge management is valuable: it is not a realistic option to stop managing knowledge-related phenomena. Third, it seems that it is possible to find case-specific opportunities in which certain knowledge management activities can add extra value to the existing management practices. In these situations, new knowledge management activities could be implemented for handling a key managerial task which otherwise could not be satisfactorily handled with the existing managerial practices (i.e., to fill a gap in managerial knowledge).