Knowledge management has become a major trend since the mid-1990s. Different professional communities, among them information systems/information technology (IS/IT) and more business management-oriented actors, have created strong conceptual ties with the idea of managing knowledge. This paper studies the structure and development of the knowledge management discourse over an 18-year period with an emphasis on the role of the IS/IT community in shaping this discourse. In order to do so, a content analysis of 434 article abstracts from the ABI/Inform database referring to ‘knowledge management’ was performed. The argument here is based on a theoretical framework derived from recent theorizing about popular management knowledge as fashion and it is assumed that different professional or ‘speech communities’ gathering around a concept such as knowledge management enter into competition for limited organizational resources. The paper's findings show the co-existence of two distinct speech communities involved in the knowledge management debate, focusing on either IS/IT or general management issues and they support the idea that both communities engage in a joint effort at sustaining knowledge management as a fashion field.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbrahamsonE. (1996). Management fashion. Academy of Management Review, 21, 254–85.
2.
AbrahamsonE., and FairchildG. (1999). Management fashion: lifecycles, triggers, and collective learning processes. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44, 708–40.
3.
AlaviM., and LeidnerD. (1997). Knowledge Management Systems: Emerging Views and Practices from the Field (INSEAD, Fontainebleau).
4.
AlleeV. (1997). Principles of knowledge management. Training and Development, 51(11), 71–4.
5.
AlvarezJ.L. (ed.) (1998). The Diffusion and Consumption of Business Knowledge (Macmillan, London).
6.
AngusJ., and PatelJ. (1998). Knowledge management cosmology. Informationweek, March, 59.
7.
Anonymous (1995). Exclusive: managing knowledge in the research laboratory. Research & Development, November, 8–9.
8.
Anonymous (1996). Eastman Chemical's Spanish composition. The Journal of Business Strategy, 17(5), 5.
9.
Anonymous (1998a). Knowledge management: top IT issue for 21st century. Country Monitor, 6(50), 4–5.
10.
Anonymous (1998b). World banks gets world view. Software Magazine, 18(3), 71.
11.
Anonymous (1998c). Evaluating the value of knowledge capital. CPA Journal, 68(7), 57.
12.
Anonymous (1998d). Master your memory power. Association Management, 50(5), 28–9.
13.
BarleyS.R., MeyerG.W., and GashD.C. (1988). Cultures of culture: academics, practitioners and the pragmatics of normative control. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33, 24–60.
14.
BarneyJ.B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120.
15.
BasuA. (1998). Perspectives on operations research in data and knowledge management. European Journal of Operational Research, 111(1), 1–14.
16.
BensonG. (1997). Battle of buzzwords. Training & Development, 51(7), 51–2.
17.
BeyerJ.M., and TriceH.M. (1982). The utilization process: a conceptual framework and synthesis of empirical findings. Administrative Science Quarterly, 27, 591–622.
18.
BirkettW. (1994). Strategic resource management. Chartered Accountants Journal of New Zealand, 73(10), 33–5.
BlumerH. (1968). Fashion. In International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 5, SillsD.L. (ed.) (Macmillan, London), pp. 341–5.
21.
BlumerH. (1969). Fashion: from class differentiation to social selection. Sociological Quarterly, 10, 275–91.
22.
BourdieuP. (1984). Haute couture et haute culture. In Questions de Sociologie, BourdieuP. (ed.) (Minuit, Paris), pp. 196–206.
23.
BrownT., MassoudiB., and RuppleA. (1997). Priming the performance pump. Oil & Gas Investor, second quarter, 4–7.
24.
BushkoD., and RaynorM. (1998). Knowledge management: new directions for IT (and other) consultants. Journal of Management Consulting, 10(2), 67.
25.
ClarkT., and SalamanG. (1998). Telling tales: management guru's narratives and the construction of managerial identity. Journal of Management Studies, 35, 137–61.
26.
ColemanD. (1997). The next golden egg in groupware. Computer Reseller News, March, 79–80.
27.
ConnerK.R. (1991). A historical comparison of resource-based theory and five schools of thought within industrial organization economics: do we have a new theory of the firm?Journal of Management, 17(1), 121–54.
MaloneM.S. (1997). A way too short history of fads. Forbes, 7 April, 72.
48.
MarchandD.A. (1985). Information management: strategies and tools in transition. Information Management Review, 1(1), 27–35.
49.
MicklethwaitJ., and WooldridgeA. (1996). The Witch Doctors: Making Sense of Management Gurus (Heinemann, London).
50.
MooreC. (1998). KM meets BP. CIO, 12(4), 64–8.
51.
MullinR. (1998). Restructuring, IT fuel growth. Chemical Week, 160(29), 52–60.
52.
NonakaI., and TakeuchiH. (1995). The Knowledge-creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation (Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford).
53.
PalmerN. (1998). Workflow. The Next Generation, 12(3), 10–13.
54.
PenrodJ.I., and DolenceM.G. (1987). Development of IRM at California State University, Los Angeles. Information Management Review, 3(2), 9–23.
55.
PickardJ. (1998). Fountain of knowledge. People Management, 4(2), 37.
56.
PrahaladC.K., and HamelG. (1990). The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review, 68(3), 79–91.
57.
ProbstG., RaubS., and RomhardtK. (1999). Managing Knowledge: Building Blocks for Success (John Wiley & Sons, London).
58.
RestivoK. (1998). Open Text looks for VARs to reach midsize accounts. Computer Dealer News, 14(40), 21.
59.
RigbyD.K. (1998). What's today's special at the consultant's café?Fortune, 7 September, 86–7.
