Information and knowledge can be seen as closely related and complementary stages along the same road and as such, both perform essential roles in the decision making process. Wilson (1996) presents a useful illustration of this with the notation of a processing hierarchy.

The illustration shows that by selecting and analysing data, information can be produced; by selecting and combining information, knowledge can be generated; from this, decisions can be made and action can be taken. Wilson has produced a simple, yet extremely helpful, diagram, setting out the inter-relationships of the different concepts, with a short textual example, which puts it into the everyday context.

Wilson gives an example for easy understanding of his concept. To quote from him: "For instance, if you are standing on the platform at Paddington station waiting to go to Oxford, you may consult a timetable (data) to look up the departure time of the next train (information). Then, you may look at your watch to see what time it is (more information) and subtract this from the departure time so that you know how long you have to wait (knowledge). Along with the knowledge of the other options open to you, you can then decide what there is time for: enough only to board the train? … or to buy a newspaper first? … or to sit down with a newspaper, coffee and bun? (decision and action) "

Various experts associated with the field of Knowledge Management (KM) have propounded different views on the types and classification of knowledge. However, we would employ the following generally accepted categorisation:

Explicit Knowledge, referred to as procedural knowledge, refers to knowledge that is or can be, written down or, in other words, documented. According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), explicit knowledge is that which ‘can be expressed in words and numbers and can be easily communicated and shared in the form of hard data, scientific formulae, codified procedures or universal principles’.

Tacit Knowledge refers to the knowledge that a being needs to act and react in its environment, for example to play cricket. It is unformulised, related to intuitions, feelings and emotions. Tacit knowledge can not be easily documented or explained; it is best transferred through an apprenticeship model, and often requires skills that supersede pure instruction.

A good example of tacit knowledge is the ability to ride a bicycle (or a bike). We know how to ride a bike but it is very difficult to explain in words to others and document it in the form of a manual on how he/she acquired this skill.

Potential Knowledge represents business intelligence and refers to knowledge that can be extracted from the highly structured data stored in databases - Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and business operational applications. An organisation contains voluminous amount of data from various sources and in various formats. The prime sources are the databases spread across the various divisions and departments within the organisation. Data mining techniques can, under favourable conditions, extract valuable knowledge from an organisation’s databases.

Sometimes people are confused about the subject of knowledge management. People wonder "what exactly is it?" Or, alternatively, "is it a new name for Information Management?" But, we know that information is not a synonym for knowledge, which is an intellectual concept, referring to the condition of knowing or understanding something.

According to Barron, KM "is an integrated, systematic approach to identifying, managing, and sharing all of an enterprise’s assets, including databases, documents, policies or procedures, as well as previously unarticulated expertise and experience held by individual workers."

According to Gartner Group, "KM is an emerging set of process, organisational structures, applications and technologies that aim to leverage the ability of the capable, responsible, autonomous individuals to act quickly and effectively. It achieves this end by providing such an individual with ready access to enterprises and the entire store of knowledge, including much of what is known but not documented."

Supporting new ideas, encouraging innovation, improving an organisation’s decision making process·

Capturing experiences and insight and render them reliable as and where needed by whomsoever concerned

Fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing and continuous learning

Increasing the intellectual assets of the company and adding value to the same

Studying how knowledge gets created and facilitating the creation of new knowledge on a continuous basis

Knowledge is the most precious and powerful asset, which must be protected and stored for further innovations have now realised the importance and usefulness of KM in today’s fast changing scenario. These companies have started to adopt long term knowledge management planning and strategies to protect their knowledge assets for reuse and innovation in the future. Business knowledge, in fact, refers to the knowledge regarding markets, products, technologies and organisations, that a business owns or needs to own and which enables its business process to generate profits, add value etc. KM is not only about managing these knowledge assets but also managing the processes that act upon these assets. The processes include: developing knowledge; preserving knowledge; using knowledge and also sharing knowledge.

In many respects, knowledge management is a journey that never ends. This is so because ours is a dynamic and constantly evolving environment, which poses new challenges and obstacles. Whether this journey is worth the effort or not depends upon the benefits of the KM programme which it is able to deliver along the way. q