Knowledge management cycle

By on October 1, 2012

Knowledge is a key to success. Knowledge management is one of the most important activities that an organization has to adapt (Davidson & Voss, 2002). The following figure shows the knowledge management cycle.

Knowledge Management Cycle, Source: McIntyre, Gauvin and Waruszynski, 2003
Knowledge Management Cycle, Source: McIntyre, Gauvin and Waruszynski, 2003

As shown in the above figure, the knowledge management cycle has six steps. The six steps are discussed as follows:

  1. Share and Learn: The sharing of knowledge in order to facilitate learning is the first step in knowledge management life-cycle. Sharing of knowledge is one in which people exchange their views and ideas on a particular domain.
  2. Create: Knowledge is created by sharing of ideas by people working in an organization (Patriotta, 2004, p. 10). Better sharing leads to better ideas thereby creating a valuable knowledge repository.
  3. Capture and Acquire: Capture and acquisition of knowledge is one in which the knowledge created is collected in huge numbers and stored in a repository.
  4. Organize: Organizing is the next step to capturing of knowledge.  The captured content is organized using a framework or knowledge model. The model reflects the elements of knowledge and flows that are embedded inherently in the specific processes and culture of organization.
  5. Access, Search and Disseminate: The organized knowledge is put in such a way that it could be accessed, searched and disseminated by the users working in the organization.
  6. Use and Discover: The last step is to make use of the knowledge acquired in solving problems in real time.

As seen above, the key to knowledge management lies in sharing of knowledge. Sharing the knowledge increases the innovation and improves the overall quality of work. Thus, proper knowledge management helps organizations in developing the skill set of employees and improving their overall efficiency at work.

References

  • Davidson, C & Voss, P 2002, Knowledge Management, Tandem Press, Auckland
  • Patriotta, G 2004, ‘On studying organizational knowledge’, Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 2, 3-12
  • McIntyre, SG, Gauvin, M & Waruszynski, B 2003, ‘Knowledge management in the military context’, Canadian Military Journal, Spring, 35-40.

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