SESSION 04
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

So how does one think about managing "knowledge" and can it even be done?

Knowledge management is the conscious process of defining, structuring, retaining and sharing the knowledge and experience of employees within an organization.

Can you even sell knowledge management?

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Ponder this as a method of managing knowledge, at a different level

Perhaps most importantly, the new investment in inconspicuous consumption reproduces privilege in a way that previous conspicuous consumption could not. Knowing which New Yorker articles to reference or what small talk to engage in at the local farmers’ market enables and displays the acquisition of cultural capital, thereby providing entry into social networks that, in turn, help to pave the way to elite jobs, key social and professional contacts, and private schools. In short, inconspicuous consumption confers social mobility.

How the new elite signal their status by inconspicuous consumption by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, Aeon Magazine, 05 June 2017

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You don't have to read these unless you wish to,
but we might touch upon them in conversation

1. Hansen, M. T., Nohria, N., & Tierney, T. (January 01, 1999). What's your strategy for managing knowledge?. Harvard Business Review, 72, 2.)

   A company's knowledge management strategy should reflect its competitive strategy ... companies that isolate knowledge management risk losing its benefits ...

2. Bhatt, G. D. (March 21, 2001). Knowledge management in organizations: examining the interaction between technologies, techniques, and people. Journal of Knowledge Management, 5, 1, 68-75.

   The conversion between data and information is efficiently handled through information technologies, but IT is a poor substitute for converting information into knowledge. The conversion between information and knowledge is best accomplished through social actors, but social actors are slow in converting data to information.

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things we'll talk about

• background to knowledge management
• different aspects of knowledge management
• two strategies for managing knowledge

We'll do an in class exercise

in class exercise material

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something to take away

la voz del sahara

Mariem Hassan and a quote about her in Last.fm

Widely recognised by critics as the best voice in Western Sahara, Mariem Hassan has unavoidably become the representative voice for her people throughout the world. Her powerfully haunting voice calls-out for the liberalisation of her occupied homeland. Early on in her music career, Mariem joined forces with "Matir el Uali Mustafa Sayed" (better known as "El Uali"). With El Uali she toured other countries to take part in cultural events of high political impact.

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