Management of Information Systems and Decision Making Assignment Essay

Management of Information Systems and Decision Making Assignment - Essay Example Knowledge is embedded in procedures, software and equipment, various documents, databases, and online repositories. Knowledge is of two types: explicit and tacit. According to Wilson (2002), knowledge involves mental processes of comprehension that go on in the mind and only in the mind. This is also referred to as the tacit knowledge and it is transferred via inter personal or social relationships (Zack, 1999). Knowledge exists explicitly as codified in form of documents, databases, maps, and blueprints or is available tacitly as routines and experiences resident in the human resources. Knowledge creation is context dependent in terms of who participates and how they participate. Knowledge is one of the most important assets of an organization. According to Wilson (2002), the knowing mind assimilates, understands, comprehends, and incorporates information into knowledge structures of the mind. These structures are unique and biologically determined (Shutz, 1967 cited at Wilson, 2002). The primary focus of knowledge management initiatives is to develop new applications of information technology. The explicit knowledge is tapped, retrieved, stored, shared and documented either manually or digitally. Knowledge has the power to change the organization itself (Zack, 1999). Knowledge created and used within the company can be called tacit knowledge (Zack, 1999). Knowledge management emerged as a separate discipline only in the 1990s. The first generation knowledge management sought to improve information sharing within an organization and second generation knowledge management strategies focus more on organizational processes (Hovland, 2003). Knowledge management, much like knowledge itself, is devoid of a single universally accepted definition. It has been defined as the process of organizing, transferring, and using the expertise available within an organization. Knowledge management can also be