Knowledge management and organizational knowledge are two types of knowledge applications that organizations often administer in one general system. However, when you examine their use and the functionality they provide, it becomes apparent that they serve significantly different purposes. Reviewing the following ten differences between knowledge management and organizational knowledge will aid organizations in determining how the two systems can address their knowledge needs.
1) Repository vs. Support Resource
Knowledge management systems serve as repositories, where users store and preserve knowledge information for future use. The system’s function is to provide users with knowledge content for investigating and solving business problems.
Organizational knowledge systems serve as a support resource for providing users the knowledge necessary for operational activities. The system’s function is to refresh the user’s memory on the knowledge details for performing their job tasks.
2) Subject vs. Job Tasks
Knowledge management systems organize content by subject articles. They are a repository for knowledge items on a broad range of subject topics. Most knowledge management systems are very open to letting the users determine the type of subject content they want to store.
Organization knowledge systems organize content by job tasks. With these systems, the content purpose is for supporting users and is limited to the knowledge necessary for business operations.
3) Just-In-Case vs. Just-the-Necessary
Knowledge management systems follow just-in-case criteria for determining the knowledge content. The knowledge content is added on a just-in-case basis, assuming that the information could be useful in the future.
Organizational knowledge systems follow just-the-necessary criteria for its knowledge content. The knowledge updates are to provide just-the-necessary information to support users with operational activities. Very often, outdated knowledge content gets replaced by new practice changes and improvements.
4) Infinite vs. Finite
Knowledge management systems have an infinite scope with the quantity of content stored in the repository. It is difficult to set parameters on the amount of knowledge because it is difficult to predict which information would be helpful in the future. These repositories can become very large with the volume of content stored.
Organizational knowledge systems have a finite limit with their amount of knowledge. The scope of the information gets determined by the job tasks for business operations. The amount of data could still be a large considering the number and the complexity of the job tasks; however, the quantity does plateau because there is a set number of job tasks necessary for the operations.
5) Searching vs. Selecting
Knowledge management systems’ primary method of retrieving knowledge content is through the use of keyword searches. When users are in need of knowledge on a particular subject, they use keyword searches to find knowledge items with the content on the subject.
Organizational knowledge systems primary method of retrieving knowledge content is through selection. When users need their memory refreshed on performing a job task, they are able to quickly retrieve the knowledge content by selecting the knowledge resource for the job task.
6) Increasing Knowledge vs. Reducing Knowledge
Knowledge management systems follow a philosophy of adding or increasing the knowledge into the repository. The understanding is that increasing the volume of subject articles provides users with more options for solving business problems.
Organizational knowledge systems follow a philosophy of reducing knowledge. Once it reaches the plateau of containing the information necessary for operations, additional changes will refine and improve the operations process. As businesses go through process improvements, existing content will get replaced with more efficient content that typically reduces the activity steps and knowledge needs for the users.
7) Loosely Attached vs. Strongly Attached
Knowledge management systems can contain knowledge content where the subject matter has only a loose attachment to the business operations. Knowledge management systems have open criteria on the subject material to encourage users to share their knowledge and build a repository that’s more beneficial in the future.
Organizational knowledge systems content has a firm attachment to business operations. Not only does the knowledge content have a direct connection to the job tasks for the business, but it also contains information details on the software screens/technologies used with the job tasks and information on the users that perform the job tasks
8) External vs. Internal Use
Knowledge management systems provide knowledge to users that are either internal or external to the business owning the system. Many companies offer knowledge systems to their customers that contain information on the company’s products. The subject base design allows both internal and external users to perform searches for information options to address business problems.
The organizational knowledge system provides knowledge to users internal to the business owning the system. The knowledge content is specific to the operations of the business. Although the content could aid some external users, most companies will keep their organizational knowledge systems internal to their organization.
9) Pull Only vs. Push & Pull
Knowledge management systems typically operate with a pull only knowledge flow. Users are generally not aware of the knowledge contained within the system, and there are no notifications for new content added. To become aware of the knowledge content, users need to perform keyword searches to find information from the system.
Organizational knowledge systems operate with both push and pull knowledge flows. When job tasks content is added or updated, the knowledge changes are pushed to the users to inform them of the information. Users will also select or pull the knowledge resources to refresh their memory on how to perform the job tasks.
10) Development vs. Implementation
Knowledge management systems are more relevant on the side of developing solutions for business problems and process improvements. Users can perform searches on knowledge management systems that may be housed internally or externally to find lists of possible solution options. From there, they can analyze the search results for information to develop the solution for the issue they are investigating.
Organizational knowledge systems are more relevant on the side of implementing the solutions for business problems and process improvements. While developing the solutions, users can identify which job tasks are involved with the implementation. They can update and modify the job task knowledge to carry out the activities for the solutions. From there, the system communicates the changes to the staff that perform the job tasks and then provide staff on-the-job support to sustain the solutions.
Recommendation
When your organization is evaluating knowledge needs, refer to these differences between knowledge management and organizational knowledge to determine how you can use the two types of knowledge systems to meet the knowledge demands of your organization.