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John Naisbitt: “We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” (Lewis, p. 4)
In today’s Information Age organizations are looking more and more towards the productive manipulation of information to succeed and stay competitive. Increases in technology give rise to an increased emphasis on the human aspects of the socio-technical system: a complex system where workers and technology interact together to achieve some common objective. Accomplishing business objectives involves better understanding and implementing of technical terms: data – raw facts without meaning; information – meaningful data; and knowledge – understanding gained through taking action based on information. Organizational learning works within the confines of this data-information-knowledge progression in increasing degrees to form knowledge. As organizational learning increases, it augments and refines organizational knowledge. Knowledge management (KM) provides a way for businesses to optimize organizational learning and organizational knowledge by helping them make better decisions and take more productive actions. KM is concerned with two areas in the facilitation of organizational learning and organizational knowledge: the management of information, and the management of people.
Organizational Learning
Organizations add to and refine their knowledge base through organizational learning. Argyris and Schon (1978) were two of the first pioneers to propose models for organizational learning. They described learning as organizations modifying their actions through the detection and correction of errors. Higher-level learning occurs if modified actions change, ra ...