Knowledge and Discourse Matters

1THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE

1.1 KNOWLEDGE: THE MOST PRECIOUS ASSET AND THE GREATEST CHALLENGE

Knowledge represents the “…highest value, the most human contribution, the greatest relevance to decisions and actions, and the greatest dependence on a specific situation or context.”

(Grover and Davenport, 2001: 6)

At the turn of the millennium, Varun Grover and Thomas Davenport reflected the opinions of many involved or interested in the organizational practice of knowledge management (KM) when they cast knowledge in the role of the organization’s top prize. It is also one of the most challenging and complex topics on the organizational agenda.

The value of knowledge to the organization is in fact one of the few areas of consensus in a field otherwise defined by its many debates, controversies, and disagreements. With the modern organization operating in an increasingly complex world marked by change and uncertainty, that value can only intensify. Consequently, knowledge has come to be seen as a firm’s most precious asset, the key to new product and service development, essential to understanding customers and market trends, and the principle ingredient to innovation, to name just some of its stellar attributes. It is also the asset that most easily walks out of the door.

Yet, as it turns out, the nature of knowledge is one of the greatest challenges facing organizations and the field of KM, according to the economist and business consultant Robert M. Grant and many others. This ...