The Meaning of Knowledge
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I propose to research and find the actual meaning of the question, “what is knowledge?” The need for knowledge management has taken toll in the last one decade especially in the field of business and academics. This has been driven by the fact that we are leaving in the era of knowledge where the modern economy relies on how much we exploit knowledge. In order successfully to execute the exploitation we must have a high understanding of the existing knowledge and at the same time add value to it by building new knowledge for commercial development (Mintzberg, 1994).
The contention in this research is the realization of the situation where the society discusses about knowledge with little understanding of the meaning of the term. In fact, lack of understanding on the distinct meaning of the term data, knowledge and information technology has seen many industries spend so much initiating technology yet they fail to achieve the objectives in their initiatives (Laudon & Laudon, 1998).
Research questions
The research is based on the following research questions:
- What is the relationship between data, information and knowledge in development of both private and public organizations? Are there distinct differences among these terms?
- How is evaluation of knowledge claim done at private and public sectors from personal level to the sector level?
- How should knowledge exploitation be carried out in the organizations, and for what aim, since some organizations are not directly engaged in commercial duties.
- How can knowledge capital be quantified in organizations?
- How do organizations determine the effectiveness of the existing models in their activities in knowledge management since knowledge has no agreed definition?
Hypotheses
- The research will help creating a model of knowledge management by identifying and documenting the daily engagements of knowledge processes in both private and public sectors. This would be significant for the organizations in determining the best intervention methods for knowledge management, and form the foundation for evaluating their current knowledge management interventions.
- The study will also enable organizations to create a workable framework for knowledge management. Once the organizations achieve the true meaning of knowledge management, they will develop a guide documenting what has been, and has not been a breakthrough in knowledge management processes.
- The research will contribute to the Singapore literature regarding knowledge management.
Literature
Most experts in knowledge management define tacit and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge refers to the understanding an individual develops based on combination of societal values, personal perception, held beliefs and opinions and life experiences integrated with acquired knowledge enabling the individual to apply the knowledge effectively in performing tasks. Explicit knowledge is governed by rules and laws and is universally applied to all and sundry, which put it in the public domain. Explicit knowledge is documented in books, journals and reports (Kermally, 1997).
It is therefore right concluding that explicit knowledge exists for reference purposes and subsequent use while tacit knowledge is hard to articulate since it is based on personal values. However, there still exists a difficult problem for researchers. Data refers to objective and symbolic facts that human have not interpreted for any inferences to be made into use. Information on the other hand is achieved when people use data for analysis and conclusion putting it in a useful form. A lot of context is added to interpreted data before it becomes information (Handzic & Hasan, 2003).
Definitions of knowledge, data and information
The theory of knowledge as studied in epistemology defines a fact as anything that represents truth where truth is always regarded as knowledge. According to epistemology, data represents knowledge as well as information.
Need for research
According to knowledge management experts, definition of explicit knowledge is not significant for use since they refer to it as an artifact, which has similar meaning to data or information. This is a clear indication that the definition of the terms data, information and knowledge are not sufficient and there is need for better vocabularies in addition to the three (Carlsson, Edwards, Handizic & Nissen, 2003).
Significance of the true meaning of knowledge
The proposal in this research seeks to document true meaning of knowledge in order to benefit both public and private organizations in management of knowledge for better outcomes. This ought to evoke integration of knowledge in daily tasks and outputs as well as laying strategic plans for organizations. I hope that the actual meaning of knowledge will accelerate development of a better model for more effective knowledge management interventions in both private and public domain as well as means of determining the extent of such interventions (Drucker, 1993).
This research therefore better fits for the thesis, “creating order: developing an efficient model of knowledge management in both private and public organizations.”
Methodology
The research on knowledge management is proposed to take place in the ministry of health in Singapore, department of health and aging and in the ministry defense in Singapore, noting the two departments have not been contacted for permissions. These organizations were picked for the research because the researcher is aware of the recent initiatives on knowledge management that are ongoing (Konno & Nonaka, 2000). The two sectors offer unique services and have unique contact points for the public. The researcher also chose on the two sectors because of his close connections with some senior management officials in both departments. The connections would make it easier to contact the departments and successfully seek permissions to access them as well as obtain significant support throughout the research process (Davenport & Prusak, 1998).
In this preliminary stage, I must admit that I have no methodology to carry out the research. Nevertheless, I am planning to use a grounded theory methodology, which according to my opinion is an emergent methodology. The approach makes use of a theory implicit in the facts collected. Hypothesis is not tested in this approach per se. The researcher constantly revisit the data collected and tries to find out the most applicable explanation matching the data, which in this regard is repetitive. I regard this approach as the most efficient based on the research questions identified for the knowledge management topic. The weakness in my research proposal is that I need to be guided in the area of research methodology as my approach is only based on my inclination (Bouthillier & Shearer, 2002).
Proposed period
The research is intended to take place within six months according to my initial plan but I need to review it continuously based on the data collected.
Resources
I have no external funding and therefore I have planned to undertake all the cost associated with it as the cost is estimated to be high. I however, welcome any individual or organization to give me a scholarship.
Conclusion
The research will take a multi-disciplinary approach where the researcher will refer from philosophical disciplines with regard to epistemology, the current management theories, organizational management, management of change, system engineering as well as knowledge management. When integration of various disciplines is applied in the research, methodology it will be possible to develop an efficient model for knowledge management in both private and public sectors thus improving their efficiency (Awad & Ghaziri, 2004).