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Managing for Knowledge
LRP Long Range Planning 37 (2004) 277–288
long range planning
www.lrpjournal.com
Book Reviews Edited by Bruce Lloyd
Managing for Knowledge Christina Evans, Butterworth Heinemann (2003), 276pp., £21.99
Given the ever faster rate with which science is producing new knowledge, and the fact that today innovation is probably the most significant element of many organisations’ strategies, the management of knowledge could be expected to be one of the most important of issues. The first thing this book does is make distinctions between different kinds of knowledge (knowing about things/knowing how to do things/knowing how to become yourself/knowing how to achieve things with others; knowing how, why, who, etc.). The next thing it does is mark the changing responsibilities within organisations, and suggest that responsibility for knowledge management falls firmly in the human resources fiefdom. The book’s pattern is then to provide lots of jumping-off points: if you share particular problems or opportunities, then where might you take your organisation’s thinking and actions? If, for instance, like Oxfam, you have a high rate of staff turnover, then you may need to take steps to ensure that newer people know how to tap into the organisation’s knowledge and experience. The book provides these jumping-off points through its many intriguing stories about how other organisation have acted. The author suggests that it is the culture of an organisation that influences how knowledge management and learning are handled in the organisation, which can be influenced by all the usual elements of performance management (recruiting, reward, promotion, etc.), though until now culture has mostly been influenced only from the top. Also, the way in which they are handled affects everything throughout the organisation. The author draws on her knowledge from meeting lots of people in the knowledge management field, and quotes a great deal of research work. She makes the case for managing knowledge, shows some useful models, and asks questions that need to be asked in organisations. But, as this is a relatively new issue for organisations, experience is thin and case studies limited, both in variety and in the lessons they have to offer. John Whatmore The Centre for Leadership in Creativity, London doi: 10.1016/j.lrp.2004.04.002
long range planning
www.lrpjournal.com
Book Reviews Edited by Bruce Lloyd
Managing for Knowledge Christina Evans, Butterworth Heinemann (2003), 276pp., £21.99
Given the ever faster rate with which science is producing new knowledge, and the fact that today innovation is probably the most significant element of many organisations’ strategies, the management of knowledge could be expected to be one of the most important of issues. The first thing this book does is make distinctions between different kinds of knowledge (knowing about things/knowing how to do things/knowing how to become yourself/knowing how to achieve things with others; knowing how, why, who, etc.). The next thing it does is mark the changing responsibilities within organisations, and suggest that responsibility for knowledge management falls firmly in the human resources fiefdom. The book’s pattern is then to provide lots of jumping-off points: if you share particular problems or opportunities, then where might you take your organisation’s thinking and actions? If, for instance, like Oxfam, you have a high rate of staff turnover, then you may need to take steps to ensure that newer people know how to tap into the organisation’s knowledge and experience. The book provides these jumping-off points through its many intriguing stories about how other organisation have acted. The author suggests that it is the culture of an organisation that influences how knowledge management and learning are handled in the organisation, which can be influenced by all the usual elements of performance management (recruiting, reward, promotion, etc.), though until now culture has mostly been influenced only from the top. Also, the way in which they are handled affects everything throughout the organisation. The author draws on her knowledge from meeting lots of people in the knowledge management field, and quotes a great deal of research work. She makes the case for managing knowledge, shows some useful models, and asks questions that need to be asked in organisations. But, as this is a relatively new issue for organisations, experience is thin and case studies limited, both in variety and in the lessons they have to offer. John Whatmore The Centre for Leadership in Creativity, London doi: 10.1016/j.lrp.2004.04.002