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454 Part Three Key System Applications for the Digital Age

FIGURE 11.2 MAJOR TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

There are three major categories of knowledge management systems, and each can be broken down further into more specialized types of
knowledge management systems.

search engines, collaboration and social business tools, and learning manage-
ment systems.
The development of powerful networked workstations and software for
assisting engineers and scientists in the discovery of new knowledge has led
to the creation of knowledge work systems such as computer-aided design
(CAD), visualization, simulation, and virtual reality systems. Knowledge
work systems (KWS) are specialized systems built for engineers, scientists,
and other knowledge workers charged with discovering and creating new
knowledge for a company. We discuss knowledge work applications in detail
in Section 11.3.
Knowledge management also includes a diverse group of intelligent tech-
niques, such as data mining, expert systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic,
genetic algorithms, and intelligent agents. These techniques have different
objectives, from a focus on discovering knowledge (data mining and neural net-
works), to distilling knowledge in the form of rules for a computer program
(expert systems and fuzzy logic), to discovering optimal solutions for problems
(genetic algorithms). Section 11.4 provides more detail about these intelligent
techniques.

11.2 ENTERPRISE-WIDE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS

Firms must deal with at least three kinds of knowledge. Some knowledge exists
within the firm in the form of structured text documents (reports and presen-
tations). Decision makers also need knowledge that is semistructured, such as
e-mail, voice mail, chat room exchanges, videos, digital pictures, brochures,
or bulletin board postings. In still other cases, there is no formal or digital
information of any kind, and the knowledge resides in the heads of employ-
ees. Much of this knowledge is tacit knowledge that is rarely written down.

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