One of the most common and indeed, important considerations in establishing an organizational knowledge management strategy, is the type of focus or orientation which it will have. These strategies can, in turn, be described along two different dimensions, which help to reflect and explain their orientation.

 

The first strategy is referred to as system strategy and reflects a systems orientation or focus in terms of Knowledge Management. This strategy emphasizes the capability to help create, store, share and use an organization’s explicitly documented knowledge. The strategy as per this dimension emphasizes codifying and storing knowledge. Typically, knowledge can be codified via information technology. Codified knowledge is more likely to be reused. The emphasis is on completely specified sets of rules about what to do under every possible set of circumstances.

 

The other strategy can be referred to as human strategy and obviously reflects a human orientation or focus in terms of Knowledge Management. This strategy emphasizes knowledge sharing via interpersonal interaction. The strategy utilizes dialogue through social networks including occupational groups and teams. It helps share knowledge through person-to-person contacts. This strategy attempts to acquire internal and opportunistic knowledge and to share it informally. Knowledge can be obtained in a number of ways from experienced and skilled people. Table 1 summarizes the key features of system and human strategies.

 

Table 1. Features of System and Human Strategies

 

Strategy	Features
System	·          Emphasise coded knowledge in knowledge management processes ·          Focus on codifying and storing knowledge via information technology ·          Attempts made to share knowledge formally
Human	·          Emphasise dialogue through social networks and person-to-person contacts ·          Focus on acquiring knowledge via experienced and skilled people ·          Attempts made to share knowledge informally

 

 

Many studies have shed light on guidelines for employing systems oriented or human oriented strategy. These studies can be categorized into three views: focused, balanced, and dynamic. Figure 1.3 (11) compares these three views. The system oriented axis corresponds to the degree of codifying and storing organizational knowledge, its level of access and use. The human-oriented axis corresponds to the degree of acquiring and sharing tacit knowledge through interpersonal interaction.

 

 

 

 

Figure 1.3 (10) - Three Perspectives of Knowledge Management Strategies.

 

The studies propose that companies should pursue one strategy predominantly. Hansen suggests that companies pursue one strategy while using another to support it, while Swan argues that a human-oriented strategy is superior to system-oriented strategy.

 

The balanced view suggests that companies should strike a right balance between the two strategies. Bierly and Chakrabarti found that firms, which acquire and share knowledge by combining system and human oriented strategies, tend to be more profitable. Jordan and Jones emphasize the balance between explicit and tacit knowledge based strategies for encouraging the development of more innovative knowledge. Zack states that firms with an aggressive strategy, which integrates system-oriented strategy with human oriented strategy, tend to outperform those of less aggressive strategy.

 

The dynamic view suggests that firms align their strategies with the characteristics of knowledge. For example, Bohn states that managers should align knowledge management strategies along with the spectrum from pure expertise to pure procedure. Singh and Zollo argue that firms should align knowledge strategies along with task characteristics.

 

The focused view proposes that a company should focus on one strategy. In contrast, balanced and dynamic views insist that a company should utilize both strategies. Focused and balanced views fail to consider the dynamic nature of knowledge. Although knowledge should be analyzed as an active process that is inherently indeterminate and continually changing, these two views are static. The dynamic view proposes that the choice can vary depending upon knowledge characteristics.

 

 

References

 

Byounggu Choi, Heesok Lee, “”Knowledge management strategy and its link to knowledge creation process”, Expert Systems with Applications, 23 (2002), pp 173-187.