Aspects of Knowledge Management in The Public Sector
Aspects of Knowledge Management in The Public Sector
Aspects of Knowledge Management in The Public Sector
The transition towards the information society, based on knowledge, is considered a necessary
evolution to obtain a lasting development in the context of the new economy, mainly based on
intellectual-intensive products and activities and to realize an advanced civilization.
In this context, the organization realised that their main values are the knowledge and the
ability to use it in the organizational processes to obtain competitive advantage. If in the industrial
society were used different methods or organisation, coordination and scheduling of the technological
and financial resources, the informational society based on knowledge, has in view the implementation
of new principles, methods and techniques of investigation, scheduling and organisation of the critical
resource-knowledge .
The concept of Knowledge Management is nothing new. Still 1950 Peter Drucker introduced
the concept of knowledge workers for the employes able to use the organizations knowledge to
develop intangible products. Many organizations have already used in an informal manner knowledge
management methods to make decision or produce goods or services, though not in a deliberate and
systematic manner. What is new in Knowledge Management is the act of being conscious about the
existence of a knowledge management process. (Sarvary [10]). Organisations that use the KM
practices without knowledge and awareness of it, will not reap the benefits to its full, if any at all.
Deliberately managing knowledge in a systematic and holistic way can increase awareness of benefits
to both individuals and organisations.
The term knowledge is one of the most confusing aspects in the Knowledge Mangement
theory because of the frequent confusion between knowledge, information an data. Since the data
reflects the digital or lettrical description of some actions, processes, facts or phenomenon,
information brings added value reflecting an ensemble of data grouped in models and forms, and
knowledge is perceived as meaningful information. Knowledge is an understanding, and one gains
knowledge, through experience, reasoning, intuition and learning. A main difference between
information and knowledge is determined by the way is realized its transfer. Meanwhile the
information could be easily transferred from a person to the other, the knowledge has a lower degree
of transferability, heaving a psychosocial content and reflecting the intuition, creativity and experience
of the owner of that knowledge (Bhat [1]). Mc. Dermott ([6]) highlight the following features of the
knowledge which distinguish them by information:
The knowledge is a human act
The knowledge is the result of thinking
The knowledge belongs to the communities
The knowledge circulates through communities in many ways.
The process
Concerning the processes and tecniques for knowledge management, it could be identified the
following steps:
Knowledge identification: determine core competencies, recognise strategic capabilities,
assess the expertise level for each knowledge domain, and focus on bridging the gap between the
existing and needed knowledge.
Knowledge capturing: attempt to obtain needed knowledge from both inside and outside
sources and to formalise and document the obtained knowledge.
Knowledge selecting: assess the value of the captured and formalised knowledge and filter
it to obtain knowledge that seems appropriate.
Knowledge storing: classify the filtered knowledge, get it organised in a standard format,
add it to the organisational memory, review and update it periodically.
Knowledge sharing: classify and retrieve knowledge from organisational memory, and
make it available for the knowledge users.
Knowledge application: utilise the knowledge in performing tasks such as solving
problems, making decisions, researching ideas, and learning.
Knowledge creation: discover new knowledge through a variety of processes such as
surveys, best practices, research, pilot studies, and data mining.
Technology
Technology is a main factor used in knowledge management processes. Presently, there are
already available a lot of technological solutions for knowledge management. To choose a proper
architecture are necessary the following actions:
Identify the appropriate hardware and software to conduct KM and make sure that the
technology used fits the organization people and processes.
Design a technological infrastructure as identified by employees needs in knowledge
resources.
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