Technology

Knowledge is a body of facts, opinions, ideas, theories, principles and models. Knowledge management is the process by which rational assets within a business are identified and mapped to generate information for competitive advantage (Coates, 2001). It enables huge amount of information, practices and technology to be accessible and used towards achieving an organizations goals. Because information and knowledge are assets to the business, it needs policies, tools and strategies to manage it (Bailey, 1996).

 According to Carayannis  Campbell (2006), knowledge management can range from technology driven ways of accessing, controlling and delivering information to massive efforts of changing corporate culture. Its used as a solution to getting things done and creating a new value. Because of the increase in knowledge and introduction of complex processes, there was a need to find a way of dealing and managing this information. Computer technology that was a great contributor to this information became part of the solution (Mannheim, 1952).

In 1978, Doug Engelbartis introduced a groupware application that could interfere with other applications and systems. Knowledge management system was also introduced by RobAcksynis and Don. In 1980s, systems managing information that relied on work done in artificial intelligence and expert system were developed (Khalil, Claudio  Seliem, 2006). This lead to introduction of concepts such as knowledge acquisition, knowledge engineering, knowledge based system and computer based ontology. In 1989, a group of U.S companies began a scheme for managing knowledge which led to knowledge related articles starting to appear in journals (Chatzkel, 2003).

By 1990s, a number of management consulting firms had begun internal knowledge management programs together with several U.S., European and Japanese firms. Knowledge management was later introduced into the popular press by Tom Stewart through a publication in fortune magazine titled Brain power. By mid 90s knowledge management initiatives had flourished partly because of the internet (Thierauf, 1999).

Knowledge can be managed in two ways through management of people and information. There are different approaches to management. They include mechanistic approach that involves application of technology and resources to do better, cultural approaches that tends to view knowledge problem as a management issue and systematic approach which retains the traditional faith in rational analysis of knowledge (Thompson, Levine  Messick, 1999). Knowledge management has provided a good solution to problems that face businesses today.