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5.3 Knowledge Management, Intelligent Systems, and Robots 151

a comparison between e-books and printed books, see refers to the process of capturing or creating knowledge,
thrall.org/docs/ebooksandbooks.pdf and en.wikipedia. storing and protecting it, updating it constantly, disseminat-
org/wiki/E-book. ing it, and using it whenever necessary (see en.wikipedia.
The question is: Will most printed books be eliminated? org/wiki/Knowledge_management and Milton and Lambe
The trend is very clear. Sales of printed books are on the 2016).
decline, while e-books are up. With Amazon’s free loan of Knowledge in organizations is collected from both exter-
Kindle books to their Prime members, we expect even more nal and internal sources. It is then examined, interpreted,
people reading e-books. Are paper books going to disap- refined, and stored in what is called an organizational knowl-
pear? (See discussion by Vaughan-Nichols 2012.) For the edge base, the repository for the enterprise’s knowledge. A
advantages of e-books versus traditional books, see online- major purpose of an organizational knowledge base is to
bookstores- review.toptenreviews.com/the-advantages-of- allow for knowledge sharing.
ebooks-versus-traditional-books.html.

Knowledge Management Types and Activities
SECTION 5.2 REVIEW QUESTIONS
Organizational knowledge is embedded in the following key
1. Define e-learning and describe its drivers and benefits. resources: (1) human capital, which includes employee
2. List some of the major drawbacks of e-learning and knowledge, competencies, intelligence, and creativity; (2)
describe how they can be prevented. organizational capital, which includes stored organizational
3. Describe virtual universities and distance learning. experiences (e.g., best practices, patents, manuals, teaching
4. Define e-training and describe how it is done. materials); and (3) customer and partner capital, which
5. Describe the connection between e-learning and social includes the experience of working with customers and busi-
networking. ness partners.
6. List some e-learning tools, and describe Blackboard and This organizational knowledge must be managed prop-
visual interactive simulation (VIS). erly and leveraged through sharing and dissemination. This
7. Describe e-books. is the major purpose of KM, which has the following major
8. What is an e-reader? What are its major capabilities? tasks:
9. List the major advantages and limitations of e-books to
their users.
• Create knowledge. Knowledge is created as people
gain more experience (e.g., trial-and-error) and edu-
5.3 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT,
INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, cation. Sometimes, external knowledge is brought
in (e.g., provided by vendors and consultants).
AND ROBOTS
• Capture knowledge. Existing knowledge must be
identified and assembled. Remember that, a consid-
The term knowledge management is frequently mentioned in
erable amount of knowledge is not documented,
discussions about e-learning. Why is this? To answer this and just dwells in people’s memory.
question, you first need to understand what knowledge man-
• Refine knowledge. New knowledge must be placed
agement is.
in context so that it is actionable. This is why human
insights (tacit qualities) must be captured along
with explicit facts.
An Overview of Knowledge Management
• Store knowledge. Useful knowledge must be stored
into an easily retrievable format in a secured knowl-
Knowledge management and e-learning are both centered on
edge repository.
knowledge. Whereas e-learning uses knowledge to enhance • Update knowledge. The knowledge must be kept
individual learning, knowledge management is essential for
current. It must be reviewed to verify that it is rele-
improving the operation of individuals’ organizations, or vant and accurate; if not, it must be updated.
teams. Knowledge is one of the most important assets in any
• Disseminate knowledge. Knowledge must be made
organization, and thus it is important to capture, store, secure, available in a useful format to anyone in the organiza-
and reuse (share) it. These are the major purposes of knowl-
tion who needs it, and who is authorized to access it.
edge management. Thus, knowledge management (KM)