IL32820 - KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Module Identifier

IL32820

Module Title

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Academic Year

2003/2004

Co-ordinator

Professor David Ellis

Semester

Semester 2

Other staff

Dr Christine J Urquhart, Mr Hugh J Preston, Dr Judith E Preston

Course delivery

Lecture

8 Hours 8 x 1 hour lectures

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment Length/Details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	Case study report of circa 1,500 words - weighted 50%.
Semester Assessment	Essay including a literature review of circa 1,500 words - weighted 50%.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:

Identify the principal issues of knowledge management in organizations

Appreciate the advantage of effective knowledge management within organizations

Interpret and analyse complex organizational information and knowledge management problems

Collaborate and interact with others in the development and application of knowledge management strategies

Be aware of and adapt to the perceptions and roles of different factors in the knowledge management process

Be able to perform an information audit

Discriminate between information management and knowledge management

Apply the principles of information and knowledge management within organizations

Brief description

The course will explore the key concepts and techniques of knowledge management, which is concerned with the effective management of an organization?s intellectual capital. The course will examine the relationship between information and knowledge management and information strategy and knowledge management. The course will focus on the role of knowledge and information in decision making and on their contribution to strategic and management information systems. The relationship between knowledge and information and, organizational culture and politics will be studied. Knowledge and information management techniques including knowledge and information audits and communication mapping will be analysed as well as the role of gatekeepers and intranets in the knowledge management process. Case studies of knowledge and information management practices in the private and public sectors will be used to highlight the role of knowledge management in practice.

Aims

The aims of the module are:

to provide an overview of the role of knowledge management in the effective creation, organization and utilization of organizational intellectual capital;
to provide an introduction to the core concepts, theories and models of knowledge management;
to analyse the principal tools and models and applications of knowledge management;
to examine the application of knowledge management in a variety of organizational contexts in the public and private sector

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Background
Barton D. Leonard (1995) Wellspring of Knowledge: building and sustaining the sources of innovation Harvard University: Business School Press
Baumard P (1999) Tacit Knowledge in Organizations London: Sage
Boisot M.H (1998) Knowledge Assets: securing competitive advantage in the knowledge economy Oxford: Oxford university Press
Choo C.W (1998) The Knowing Organization: how organizations use information to constitute meaning, create knowledge and make decision Oxford: Oxford University Press
Davenport T.H (1997) Information Ecology: mastering the information and knowledge environment Oxford: Oxford University Press
Davenport T.H. and L. Prusak (1998) Working Knowledge Harvard: Harvard University Press
Harvard Business School (1998) Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management Harvard: Harvard University Press
Nonaka I. and H.Takeuchi (1995) The Knowledge-Creating Economy: how Japanese companies create the dynamic of innovation Oxford: Oxford University Press

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6