Information science has played a limited role in providing fresh insights into the emerging interdisciplinary discourse of knowledge management. There are opportunities and challenges posed by the new discourse. An analysis of the knowledge management literature within information science journals shows a need for a wider academic perspective and a more philosophically grounded one. As the current knowledge management discourse is fragmented, we propose an integrative, interdisciplinary framework that would be useful for resituating knowledge management among scholars and practitioners. The principal pillars of this theoretical framework are organizational learning; systems and technology; and culture and strategy. Current criticisms of the knowledge management discourse are closely examined. The notions of knowledge sharing, social capital and organizational learning processes provide fundamental insights into knowledge management. These processes are explored from a social, cognitive and technological perspective.
K. E. Pettigrew and L. McKechnie , The use of theory in information science research , Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology52(1) (2001) 62-73 .
2.
R. Summers , C. Oppenheim , J. Meadows , C. McKnight and M. Kinnell , Information science in 2010: a Loughborough University view , Journal of the American Society for Information Science50(12) (1999) 1153-1162 .
3.
S. Webber , Information science in 2003: a critique , Journal of Information Science29(4) (2003) 311-330 .
4.
J. Warner , W(h)ither information science?Library Quarterly71(2) (2001) 243-255 .
5.
L. J. Ostler , T. C. Dahlin and J. D. Willardson , The Closing of American Library Schools: Problems and Opportunities ( Greenwood, Westport , 1995).
6.
P. Drucker , The Post-Capitalist Society ( Harper Collins, New York , 1993).
7.
L. Empson , Fear of exploitation and fear of contamination: impediments to knowledge transfer in mergers between professional service firms , Human Relations 54(7) (2001) 839-862 .
8.
Department for Education and Employment , Opportunity for All: Skills for the New Economy ( DfEE, London , 2000).
9.
R. M. Grant , Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm , Strategic Management Journal17 (1996) 109-122 .
10.
J. C. Spender , Making knowledge the basis of a dynamic theory of the firm , Strategic Management Journal17 (1996) 45-62 .
11.
E. T. Penrose , The Theory of Growth of the Firm ( Blackwell, Oxford , 1959).
12.
T. D. Wilson , The nonsense of ‘knowledge management’ , Information Research8(1) (2002) 144 .
13.
H. Julien and L. J. Duggan , A longitudinal analysis of the information needs and uses literature , Library and Information Science Research22 (2000) 1-19 .
14.
M. Friedman , Essays in Positive Economics ( University of Chicago Press, Chicago , 1953).
15.
R. Harré (ed.), Varieties of Realism ( Blackwell, Oxford , 1986).
16.
I. Cornelius , Theorizing information science. In: B. Cronin (ed.), Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) ( Information Today, Medford , 2002) 393-425.
17.
C. Shannon and W. Weaver , The Mathematical Theory of Communications ( University of Illinois Press, Urbana , 1949).
18.
G. Ryle , The Concept of Mind ( Hutcheson, London , 1949).
19.
M. Polanyi , The Tacit Dimension ( Doubleday, New York , 1967).
20.
M. Alvesson and D. Karreman , Odd couple: making sense of the curious concept of knowledge management , Journal of Management Studies38(7) (2001) 995-1018 .
21.
I. Nonaka , A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation , Organization Science5(1) (1994) 14-37 .
22.
A. Bharadwaj , A resource-based perspective on information technology and firm performance: an empirical investigation , MIS Quarterly24(1) (2000) 169-196 .
23.
P. A. Strassman , The Information Payoff ( Free Press, New York , 1985).
24.
J. Ward and J. Peppard , Strategic Planning for Information Systems ( John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester , 2002).
25.
R. D. Galliers and E. K. Somogyi , From data processing to strategic information systems: a historical perspective. In: R. D. Galliers and E. K. Somogyi (eds), Towards Strategic Information Systems ( Gordon & Breach Publishing Group, Reading , 1987) 5-25.
26.
V. Ambrosini and C. Bowman , Tacit knowledge: some suggestions for operationalization , Journal of Management Studies38(6) (2001) 811-829 .
27.
D. M. Decarolis and D. L. Leeds , The impact of stocks and flows of organizational knowledge on firm performance: an empirical investigation of the biotechnology industry , Strategic Management Journal20(10) (1999) 953-968 .
28.
S. K. McEvily and B. Chakravarthy , The persistence of knowledge-based advantage: an empirical test for product performance and technological knowledge , Strategic Management Journal23(4) (2002) 285-305 .
29.
X. Martin and R. Salomon , Tacitness, learning, and international expansion: a study of foreign direct investment in a knowledge-intensive industry , Organization Science14(3) (2003) 297-311 .
30.
B. L. Simonin , Ambiguity and the process of knowledge transfer in strategic alliances , Strategic Management Journal20(7) (1999) 595-623 .
31.
J. Birkinshaw , R. Nobel and J. Ridderstrale , Knowledge as a contingency variable: do the characteristics of knowledge predict organization structure?Organization Science13(3) (2002) 274-289 .
32.
J. Hassard and M. Kelemen , Production and consumption in organizational knowledge: the case of the ‘Paradigms Debate’ , Organization9(2) (2002) 331-355 .
33.
S. Gherardi and D. Nicolini , To transfer is to transform: the circulation of safety knowledge , Organization7(2) (2000) 329-348 .
34.
W. J. Orlikowski , Knowing in practice: enacting a collective capability in distributed organizing , Organization Science13(3) (2002) 249-273 .
35.
B. Hjorland , Epistemology and the socio-cognitive perspective in information science , Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology53(4) (2002) 257-270 .
36.
B. Hjorland , Arguments for epistemology in information science , Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology54(8) (2003) 805-806 .
37.
L. Floridi , Philosophy and Computing: an Introduction ( Routledge, London , 1999).
38.
L. Floridi , On defining library and information science as applied philosophy of information , Social Epistemology16(1) (2002) 37-49 .
39.
K. Herold (ed.), The Philosophy of Information ( Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, Urbana , 2004).
40.
J. A. Schumpeter , The Theory of Economic Development ( Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA , 1934).
41.
J. A. Schumpeter , Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy ( Harper, New York , 1950).
42.
A. Pettigrew and R. Whipp , Managing Change for Competitive Success ( Blackwell, Oxford , 1991).
43.
H. Mintzberg , B. Ahlstrand and J. Lampel , Strategy Safari ( Pearson Education Limited, Harlow, Essex , 1998).
44.
M. Porter , The contributions of industrial organisations to strategic management , Academy of Management Review6(4) (1981) 609-620 .
45.
A. D. Chandler , Strategy and Structure. Chapters in the History of the Industrial Enterprise ( MIT Press, Cambridge, MA , 1962).
46.
H. I. Ansoff , Corporate Strategy ( McGraw Hill, New York , 1965).
47.
D. Ricardo , Principles of Political Economy and Taxation ( Murray, London , 1817).
48.
J. B. Barney , Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage , Journal of Management17(1) (1991) 99-120 .
49.
B. Wernerfelt , A resource-based view of the firm , Strategic Management Journal5 (1984) 171-180 .
50.
M. T. Hansen , N. Nohria and T. Tierney , What’s your strategy for managing knowledge?Harvard Business Review77(2) (1999) 106-116 .
51.
Department of Trade and Industry , White Paper - Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge Driven Economy ( DTI, London , 1998).
52.
J. Tobin , A general equilibrium approach to monetary theory , Journal of Money, Credit and Banking1 (1969) 15-29 .
53.
D. Andriessen , Weightless wealth: four modifications to standard IC theory , Journal of Intellectual Capital2(3) (2002) 204-214 .
54.
R. Reinhardt , M. Bournemann , P. Pawlowsky and U. Schneider , Intellectual capital and knowledge management: perspectives on measuring knowledge. In: M. Dierkeset al. (eds), Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge ( Oxford University Press, Oxford , 2001) 794-820.
55.
J. Nahapiet and S. Ghoshal , Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage , Academy of Management Review23(2) (1998) 242-266 .
56.
T. A. Stewart , Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations ( Doubleday/Currency, New York , 1997).
57.
L. Edvinsson and M. S. Malone , Intellectual Capital: Realizing Your Company’s True Value by Finding Its Hidden Brainpower ( Judy Piatkus, London , 1997).
58.
K. Svieby , The New Organizational Wealth: Managing and Measuring Knowledge-Based Assets ( Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco , 1997).
59.
G. Roos , L. Edvinsson and N. C. Dragonetti , Intellectual Capital: Navigating in the New Business Landscape ( Macmillan Business, Houndsmill , 1997).
60.
J. Mouritsen , P. N. Bukh , H. T. Larsen and M. R. Johansen , Developing and managing knowledge through intellectual capital statements , Journal of Intellectual Capital3(1) (2002) 10-29 .
61.
E. Davenport , Mundane knowledge management and microlevel organizational learning: an ethological approach , Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology53(12) (2002) 1038-1046 .
62.
J. K. Lehr and R. E. Rice , Organizational measures as a form of knowledge management: a multitheoretic, communication-based exploration , Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology53(12) (2002) 1060-1073 .
63.
E. Davenport , Knowledge management issues for online organisations: ‘communities of practice’ as an exploratory framework , Journal of Documentation57(1) (2001) 61-75 .
64.
C. G. Johannsen , Total quality management in a knowledge management perspective , Journal of Documentation56(1) (2000) 42-54 .
65.
J. Rowley , Knowledge management in pursuit of learning: the Learning with Knowledge Cycle , Journal of Information Science27(4) (2001) 227-237 .
66.
E. C. Wenger , Communities of practice and social learning systems , Organization, 7(2) (2000) 225-246 .
67.
P. Yates-Mercer and D. Bawden , Managing the paradox: the valuation of knowledge and knowledge management , Journal of Information Science28(1) (2002) 19-29 .
68.
D. C. Blair , Knowledge management: hype, hope, or help?Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology53(12) (2002) 1019-1028 .
69.
E. Davenport and I. Bruce , Innovation, knowledge management and the use of space: questioning assumptions about non-traditional office work , Journal of Information Science28(3) (2002) 225-230 .
70.
M. H. MacRoberts and B. R. MacRoberts , Problems of citation analysis - a critical review , Journal of the American Society for Information Science40(5) (1989) 342-349 .
71.
L. J. Ponzi and M. E. Koenig , Knowledge management: another management fad?Information Research8(1) (2002) 145 .
72.
R. Barnett , University knowledge in an age of super-complexity , Higher Education40 (2000) 409-422 .
73.
D. Kraft , President’s page , Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology29(1) (2002) 3 .
74.
K. Mertins , P. Heisig and J. Vorbeck , Knowledge Management: Best Practices in Europe ( Springer-Verlag, New York , 2000).
75.
J. Swan , S. Newell , H. Scarbrough and D. Hislop , Knowledge management and innovation: networks and networking , Journal of Knowledge Management3(4) (1999) 262-275 .
76.
D. J. Skyrme , Knowledge Networking: Creating the Collaborative Entreprise ( Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford , 1999).
77.
S. Newell , M. Robertson , H. Scarbrough and J. Swan , Managing Knowledge Work ( Palgrave, Basingstoke , 2002).
78.
R. P. uit Beijerse , Knowledge management in small and medium sized companies: knowledge management for entrepreneurs , Journal of Knowledge Management4(2) (2000) 162-179 .
79.
A. Jashapara , Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach ( Prentice Hall, Harlow , 2004).
80.
G. P. Huber , Organizational learning: the contributing processes and the literatures , Organization Science2 (1991) 88-115 .
81.
B. Levitt and J. G. March , Organizational learning , Annual Review of Sociology14 (1988).
82.
R. Nelson and S. Winter , An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change ( Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA , 1982).
83.
J. G. March , Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning , Organization Science2(1) (1991) 71-87 .
84.
T. Kalling and A. Styhre , Knowledge Sharing in Organizations ( Copenhagen Business School Press, Copenhagen , 2003).
85.
N. M. Ashkanasy , C. P.M. Wilderom and M. F. Peterson (eds), Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate ( Sage, Thousand Oaks , 2000).
86.
A. D. Brown , Organisational Culture ( Pearson Education Ltd, London , 1998).
87.
I. Nonaka and N. Konno , The concept of ‘Ba’: building a foundation for knowledge creation , California Management Review40(3) (1998) 40-54 .
88.
G. von Krough , Care in knowledge creation , California Management Review40(3) (1998) 136-137 .
89.
A. Jashapara , Cognition, culture and competition: an empirical test of the learning organization , The Learning Organization10(1) (2003) 31-50 .
90.
E. C. Wenger , R. McDermott and W. M. Snyder , Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge ( Harvard Business School Press, Boston , 2002).
91.
J. S. Brown and P. Duguid , Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: towards a unified view of working, learning and innovation , Organization Science2 (1991) 40-57 .
92.
J. Lave and E. Wenger , Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation ( Cambridge University Press, Cambridge , 1991).
93.
G. Szulanski , Exploring internal stickiness: impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm , Strategic Management Journal17 (1996) 27-43 . [Winter Special Issue]
94.
T. H. Davenport and J. Glaser , Just-in-Time delivery comes to knowledge management , Harvard Business Review July (2002) 107-111 .
95.
M. T. Hansen and M. R. Haas , Competing for attention in knowledge markets: electronic document dissemination in a management consulting company , Administrative Science Quarterly46(1) (2001) 1-28 .
96.
G. Walsham , Knowledge management: the benefits and limitations of computer systems , European Management Journal19(6) (2001) 599-608 .
97.
H. Tsoukas and E. Vladimirou , What is organizational knowledge?Journal of Management Studies38(7) (2001) 973-993 .
98.
B. Kogut and U. Zander , Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities and the replication of technology , Organization Science5 (1992) 383-397 .
99.
S. A. Lippman and R. P. Rummelt , Uncertain imitability: an analysis of interfirm differences in efficiency under competition , Bell Journal of Economics13 (1982) 418-438 .
100.
R. S. Bhagat , B. L. Kedia , P. D. Harveston and H. C. Triandis , Cultural variations in the cross-border transfer of organizational knowledge: an integrative framework , Academy of Management Review27(2) (2002) 204-221 .
101.
S. K. McEvily , S. Das and K. McCabe , Avoiding competence substitution through knowledge sharing , Academy of Management Review25(2) (2000) 294-311 .
102.
E. von Hippel , ‘Sticky information’ and the locus of problem solving: Implications for innovation , Management Science40 (1994) 429-439 .
103.
P. A. Strassman , The value of knowledge capital , American Programmer11(3) (1998) 3-10 .
104.
E. L. Trist , Referent organizations and the development of interorganizational domains , Human Relations36 (1983) 269-284 .
105.
C. Hardy , N. Phillips and T.B. Lawrence, Resources, knowledge and influence: the organizational effects of interorganizational collaboration , Journal of Management Studies40(2) (2003) 321-347 .
106.
N. A.D. Connell , J. H. Klein and P. L. Powell , It’s tacit knowledge but not as we know it: redirecting the search for knowledge , Journal of the Operational Research Society54(2) (2003) 140-152 .
107.
W. M. Cohen and D. Levinthal , Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation , Administrative Science Quarterly35 (1990) 128-152 .
108.
D. G. Hoopes and S. Postrel , Shared knowledge, “glitches,” and product development performance , Strategic Management Journal, 20(9) (1999) 837-865 .
109.
G. Patriotta , Sensemaking on the shop floor: narratives of knowledge in organizations , Journal of Management Studies40(2) (2003) 349-375 .
110.
C. Argyris and D. A. Schon , Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective ( Addison-Wesley, Reading , 1978).
111.
N. Luhmann , Social systems ( Stanford University Press, Stanford , 1995).
112.
D. M. Boje , Consulting and change in storytelling organisation , Journal of Organizational Change Management4(3) (1991) 7-17 .
113.
K. E. Weick , Sensemaking in Organizations ( Sage, Thousand Oaks , 1995).
114.
K. E. Weick , The Social Psychology of Organizing ( Addison-Wesley, Reading ,, 1979).
115.
R. J. Boland and R. V. Tenkasi , Perspective making and perspective taking in communities . Organization Science, 6 (1995) 350-372 .
116.
R. J. Boland , J. Singh , P. Salipante , J. D. Aram , S. Y. Fay , and P. Kanawattanachai , Knowledge representations and knowledge transfer . Academy of Management Journal, 44(2) (2001) 393-417 .
117.
N. Chomsky , Language and mind ( Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York , 1968).
118.
G. von Krogh , Care in knowledge creation , California Management Review40(3) (1998) 133-153 .
119.
T. H. Davenport and L. Prusak , Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know ( Harvard Business School Press, Boston , 1998).
120.
G. Currie and M. Kerrin , Human resource management and knowledge management: enhancing knowledge sharing in a pharmaceutical company , International Journal of Human Resource Management14(6) (2003) 1027-1045 .
121.
R. E. Kraut , R. E. Rice , C. Cool and R. S. Fish , Varieties of social influence: the role of utility and norms in the success of a new communication medium , Organization Science9 (1998) 437-453 .
122.
C. Fombrum and M. Shanley , What’s in a name? Reputation building and corporate strategy , Academy of Management Journal33 (1990) 233-258 .
