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Introduction to Knowledge Management 9

journalism, for example, can quickly adapt this skill set to capture knowledge from
experts and reformulate this knowledge as organizational stories to be stored in cor-
porate memory. Someone coming from a more technical database background can
easily extrapolate his or her skill set to design and implement knowledge repositories
that will serve as the corporate memory for that organization. However, the diversity
of KM also results in some challenges with respect to boundaries. Skeptics argue that
KM is not and cannot be said to be a separate discipline with a unique body of knowl-
edge to draw upon. This attitude is typically represented by statements such as “ KM
is just IM ” or “ KM is nonsensical — it is just good business practices. ” It becomes very
important to be able to list and describe what attributes are necessary and in them-
selves suffi cient to constitute knowledge management both as a discipline and as a
fi eld of practice that can be distinguished from others.
One of the major attributes lies in the fact that KM deals with knowledge as well
as information. Knowledge is a more subjective way of knowing, typically based on
experiential or individual values, perceptions, and experience. Consider the example
of planning for an evening movie to distinguish between data, information, and
knowledge.
Data Content that is directly observable or verifi able: a fact; for example, movie list-
ings giving the times and locations of all movies being shown today — I download the
listings.
Information Content that represents analyzed data; for example, I can ’ t leave before
5, so I will go to the 7 pm show at the cinema near my offi ce.
Knowledge At that time of day, it will be impossible to fi nd parking. I remember the
last time I took the car, I was so frustrated and stressed because I thought I would miss
the opening credits. I ’ ll therefore take the commuter train. But fi rst, I ’ ll check with
Al. I usually love all the movies he hates, so I want to make sure it ’ s worth seeing!
Another distinguishing characteristic of KM, as opposed to other information
management fi elds, is the fact that knowledge in all of its forms is addressed: tacit
knowledge and explicit knowledge.

The Two Major Types of Knowledge: Tacit and Explicit
We know more than we can tell.
— Polanyi 1966

Tacit knowledge is diffi cult to articulate and diffi cult to put into words, text, or
drawings. Explicit knowledge represents content that has been captured in some