Preview

Knowledge Management in Sme

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
9895 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Knowledge Management in Sme
Knowledge management in small and medium-sized companies: knowledge management for entrepreneurs
R.P. uit Beijerse. Journal of Knowledge Management. Kempston: 2000. Vol. 4, Iss. 2; pg. 162

Abstract (Summary)
This article deals with a field which gets little or no attention in the research done into knowledge management: small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). First a conceptual model for SMEs will be given, next this model will be used to analyze various companies. It is found that knowledge management appears in SMES to get its form especially at an operational level. » Jump to indexing (document details)
Full Text (9674 words)
Copyright MCB UP Limited (MCB) 2000
R.P. uit Beijerse: R.P. uit Beijerse, formerly a Researcher for EIM Small Business Research and Consultancy, The Netherlands, and presently a Researcher with the consultancy agency B & A Groep, Den Haag, The Netherlands.
Introduction[1]
Changes in society: pluralisation and individualisation
Society has changed drastically over the last few years. But this is nothing new, or so it appears. Societies are always changing, just as people are always changing. And seeing as it is the people who form the societies, a constantly changing society is only natural. However something more seems to have happened over the last few years. Without wanting to frighten off the reader straight away, we can point to a diversity of social developments that indicate that the changes seem to be following each other faster, especially over the last few decades. We can for instance, point to the pluralisation (or a growing versatility), differentialisation and specialisation of society as a whole. On a more personal note, we see the diversification of communities, an emphasis on emancipation, individualisation and post-materialism and an increasing wish to live one 's life as one wishes, free from social, religious or ideological contexts.
Changes in the economy: the knowledge economy
If we take a more



References: 1. Beijerse, R.P. uit (1997), Kennismanagement in het midden- en kleinbedrijf. Een state-of-the-art Studie (Knowledge Management in Small and Medium-sized Businesses. A State-of-the-Art Study), EIM, Zoetermeer. 2. Cobbenhagen, J., den Hertog, F. and Pennings, H. (1995), Koplopers in Bedrijfsvernieuwing (Leaders in Business Modernization), Den Haag. 3. Jacobs, D. (1996), Het kennisoffensief. Slim Concurreren in de Kennismaatschappij (The Knowledge Offensive. Competing Smartly in the knowledge), Alphen aan den Rijn/Diegem. 4. KPMG (1998), Knowledge Management. Research Report 1998, a full report can be found on the Website of KPMG (http://www.kpmg.nl). 5. Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1997), De Kenniscreerende Onderneming. Hoe Japanse Bedrijven Innovatieprocessen in Gang Zetten (The Knowledge Creating Business Enterprise: How Japanese Companies start Innovative Processes), Schiedam. 6. Peters, T.J. and Waterman, R.H. (1982), In Search of Excellence, New York, NY. 7. Polanyi, M. (1966), The Tacit Dimension, Gloucester, MA. 8. Weggeman, M.C.D.P. (1997), Kennismanagement. Inrichting en Besturing van Kennisintensieve Organisaties (Knowledge Management. Setting-up and Steering Knowledge Intensive Organisations), Schiedam. 10. Beijerse, R.P. uit(1998), The IQ in Knowledge Management. Defining Knowledge Management and Conceptualising the Knowledge Management Process, EIM, Zoetermeer. 11. Beijerse, R.P. uit (1999), Kennis op Maat van het Midden- en Kleinbedrijf. Kennismanagement voor Ondernemers (Tailor-made Knowledge for SME 's. Knowledge Management for Entrepreneurs), EIM, Zoetermeer. 12. Beijerse, R.P. uit (1999), "Questions in knowledge management: defining and conceptualising a phenomenon", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 3 No. 2. 14. Bugel, J. (1997), "Kennismanagement, de nieuwe obsessie" ("Knowledge management, the new obsession"), Intermediair, Vol. 33 No. 24, pp. 151-3. 15. Cap Gemini (1996), Annual Report, Paris. 16. Drucker, P.F. (1993), De Post-kapitalistische Maatschappij (The Post-capitalistic Society), Schiedam. 17. Heijst, G. van and Kruizinga, E. (1998), Kennisinfrastructuur. De Ruggengraat van de Lerende Organisatie (Knowledge Infrastructure. The Backbone of the Learning Organization), Utrecht. 18. Jennings, P. and Beaver, G. (1997), "The performance and competitive advantage of small firms: a management perspective", International Small Business Journal, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 63-75. 20. Lof, E. (1997), "Nederland denkt niet genoeg na" ("Holland doesn 't think enough"), Intermediair, Vol. 33 No. 50, pp. 49-50. 21. Nijsen, A.F.M., Nooteboom, B., Kroezen, C.W., Godschalk, J.J. and Buursink, J. (1987), Op Maat van het MKB (In the Size of the Small and Medium-sized Business), WRR, 's-Gravenhage. 22. Nooteboom, B. (1994), "Innovation and diffusion in small firms: theory and evidence", Small Business Economics, No. 6, Dordrecht, pp. 327-47. 23. OECD (1996), The Knowledge-based Economy, Paris. 24. Reimann, B.C. and Wiener, Y. (1988), "Corporate culture: avoiding the elitist trap", Business Horizons, March/April. 25. Siebenga, B.J. and Santema, S.C. (1995), "Strategisch management in het industrieel kleinbedrijf" ("Strategic management in the small industrial business"), Bedrijfskundig Vakblad, No. 7, pp. 19-24. 26. Spek, R. van der and Spijkervet, A. (1996), Kennismanagement. Intelligent Omgaan met Kennis (Knowledge Management. Dealing Intelligently with Knowledge), Utrecht. 27. Swieringa, J. and Wierdsma, A.F.M. (1990), Op weg Naar een Lerende Organisatie. Over het Leren en Opleiden van Organisaties (On our Way to a Learning Organisation. About Learning and Teaching Organisations), Groningen. 28. Thurik, A.R. (1995), Small Firms, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth, discussion paper, Tinbergen Institute, Rotterdam. 29. Weggeman, M.C.D.P. and Cornelissen, V.B.J. (1997), "Kennismanagement" ("Knowledge management"), HRM in de Praktijk, Issue Paper, No. 8, Deventer. 30. Zijderveld, A.C. (1991), De Samenleving als Schouwspel. Een Sociologisch Leer- en Leesboek (Society as a Spectacle. A Sociological Text and Reading Book), Utrecht.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    [9] Alavi, M. and Leidner, DE. (2001) “Review: Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptua Foundations and Research Issues”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 25, pp 107-136.…

    • 3524 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Best Essays

    Strategy

    • 4072 Words
    • 17 Pages

    This essay will discuss Checkland’s theory (1991) which states that: “We see in the world many examples of sets of human activities related to each other so that they can be viewed as a whole.” This is a very famous quote made by an eminent British Management guru ‘Peter Checkland’. This quote is very relevant in the context of this report as one could easily observe that in the analysis of a large technologically driven learning environment, there are many layers of complexities that house a lot of human activity systems. This set of activities according to what will be critically discuss and debated in this paper includes knowledge management and environment, intellectual capital and social capital, communities of practice and soft system thinking.”Everybody discusses knowledge management (KM), but how can it be used and how can we successfully apply it?” Greener et al (2007). Strategic knowledge management is relatively a new academic stream that deals with the strategic treatment of knowledge management practices prevalent in today’s academic world. We are living today in an information and knowledge-starved world. Since this essay want to discuss the relationship between strategy and this set of human activities mention above, firstly it will be of interest to introduce basic terms and definitions by different authors that will be used in the rest of the paper. Accordingly, as a term “Management” it implies that KM is the ability of the organization to react and act with interactions with the organizations (Macharizana, 1999) as quoted in Greiner et al (2007). The importance of both these ‘intellectual’ items have increased manifold in recent decades. Every giant corporation of our world today is emphasizing more and more on the development of intellectual capital. Knowledge management has emerged as a management concept that encloses a range of strategies and practices within itself in a company to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption…

    • 4072 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Best Essays

    Levinson, M. (2010) Knowledge Management Definition and Solutions. CIO,com. Retrieved April 14, 2011 from http://www.cio.com/article/40343/Knowledge_Management_Definition_and_Solutions…

    • 1775 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Since the mid-1990s, knowledge management has become increasingly significant for business managers and companies. ‘It is broadly accepted that systematic knowledge management is tightly linked with gaining and sustaining competitive advantage.’ (Bogner & Bansal, 2007, p658-6 as cited in Hislop, 2009, p1) The definition of knowledge management is various because of the wide range of this concept and its complexity (Al-Hawamdeh, 2003). For example, the broad definition provided by McAdam and McCreedy (2000, p155 as cited in Hislop 2009, p53) note that: ‘KM relates to the management of anything classified as knowledge’ Furthermore, Hislop (2009, p59) suggests that: ‘Knowledge management is an umbrella term which refers to any deliberate efforts to manage the knowledge of an organization’s workforce, which can be achieved via a wide range of methods including directly, through the use of particular types of ICT, or more indirectly through the management of social processes, the structuring of organizations in particular ways or via the use of particular culture and people management practices.’…

    • 1109 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    | Knowledge management being a complex discipline, it is difficult to predict the choice of decisions which may make the implementation a success. However, this article is significant because it discusses a wide range of organization specific factors that contribute to successful implementation of knowledgemanagement are highly dependent on the environment and specific context, and can therefore notalways be accurately predicted at the start of a knowledge management endeavor. This paperhighlights some of the critical success factors of knowledge management in leading companies aroundthe world and specifically in South Africa.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    Geoff, W., 2001. Knowledge Management:: The Benefits and Limitations of Computer Systems. European Management Journal, 19(6), pp.599–608.…

    • 2359 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Best Essays

    Knowledge management has assumed an important role in the organisational context in the current times. Warner (2008) has rightly emphasised the importance of knowledge sharing and transfer in determining the efficient functioning of an organisation. In the current era of increasing…

    • 2964 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Knowledge Management

    • 2695 Words
    • 11 Pages

    "Knowledge management is the set of practices aimed at discovering and harnessing an organization 's intellectual resources. It 's about finding, unlocking, sharing, and altogether capitalizing on the most precious resources of an organization: people 's expertise, skills, wisdom, and relationships. Knowledge managers find these human assets, help people collaborate and learn, help people generate new ideas, and harness those ideas into successful innovations" (Bateman, 2004, p.8-9). One of the most important factors of change in management is the growing need for good, new ideas. Knowledge management is an approach that allows people to produce change. It 's bringing people together and collecting ideas from the group that can provide further success for the company and personally for the employees. A new idea can produce growth and motivation within a company. If the employees and the company as a whole come together and grasp a new idea, it ultimately can lead to new inventions of products and services. (Lineman, 2004.)…

    • 2695 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Knowledge Management (KM) is a field which is being accepted, taught and practiced in academic institutions as well as organisations. As this is the era of Globalisation, KM has gained importance and is being practiced by almost all successful companies. In fact, it is even offered as a core subject in educational institutions. So, what exactly is KM? “KM draws from existing resources that your organisation may already have in place-good information systems management, organisational change management, and human resource management practices.” (Davenport and Prusak 1998) This definition is an integrated definition of KM and is focused on the integration of information systems and human resources.…

    • 2708 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    9. Blackburn, R. and Kovalainen, A. (2009). Researching small firms and entrepreneurship: past, present and future, International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol.11, No.2, pp.127-148.…

    • 8216 Words
    • 33 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Wiig Km Model

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Knowledge management models are the one which are used for the organisation's best to collect, store and analyze knowledge to have an advantage over their competitors. KM [Knowledge Management] in its broadest sense, is a conceptual framework that encompasses all activities and perspectives required to gain an overview of, deal with, and benefit from the corporation’s knowledge assets and their conditions. It pinpoints and prioritises those knowledge areas that require management attention. It identifies the salient alternatives and suggests methods for managing them, and conducts activities required to achieve desired results. (Wiig, 1993, p. 18)…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    9. Jouni Meriluoto, 2003. Knowledge management and information systems : finding a sociotechnical golden mean (online)Nokia Research Center (cited 17 Mar 2012)Available from : http://www.knowledgeboard.com/download/629/KM_IS.pdf…

    • 6296 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1997 [Sveiby, 1997a] K. E. Sveiby. Two Approaches to Knowledge Management: Object versus Process. Presentation at the seminar on Knowledge Management and Learning in the European Union, May 1997, Utrecht. Summary published on the Newsletter on Knowledge Management, June 1997, Kenniscentrum CIBIT, Utrecht. [Wolf and Reimer, 1996] M. Wolf and U. Reimer (eds.). Proc. 1st Int’l. Conf. on Practical Aspects of Knowledge Management (PAKM ’96), Basel, Switzerland, Oct. 1996.…

    • 3024 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Levinson, M. “ABC: An Introduction to Knowledge Management (KM): The basic guide to Knowledge Management (KM)”, http://www.cio.com/article/40343/ABC_An_Introduction_to_Knowledge_Management_KM, August 18, 2007…

    • 3009 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jhsh

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Knowledge Management (KM) refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge. KM focuses on processes such as acquiring, creating and sharing knowledge and the cultural and technical foundations that support them. Knowledge management is not a, "a technology thing" or a, "computer thing" If we accept the premise that knowledge management is concerned with the entire process of discovery and creation of knowledge, dissemination of knowledge , and the utilization of knowledge then we are strongly driven to accept that knowledge management is much more than a "technology thing" and that elements of it exist in each of our jobs.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays