Knowledge Management in Organizations: A Critical Introduction

by Donald Hislop

Building on the success of the second edition, the third edition of Knowledge Management in Organizations presents a critical introduction to the subject. Adopting a multidisciplinary perspective, encompassing issues of strategy, structure, systems and human resource management, the text introduces the reader to the concept of knowledge before examining how, and whether, knowledge can be managed within the organizations in which we work. The third edition features a new section on intellectual capital accounting, increased discussion on the use of social networking technologies and significant updates to chapters on Knowledge Creation, Facilitating Knowledge Management via Culture Management, and Leadership, HRM and Knowledge Management.

This accessible and engaging text provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject, and incorporates a wealth of in-text learning features and examples in every chapter. International case studies throughout the text, which have been fully updated to reflect changes in the economic and political landscape since the previous edition, as well as new and emerging trends in the field, further illustrate knowledge management theory in a real-world business context.

The text is supported by a fully integrated Online Resource Centre, offering additional resources for students and registered lecturers:

For students:
Additional case studies
Web links

For registered lecturers:
Diagrams from the textbook
Examples of exam questions
Examples of essay/coursework questions
Suggestions for classroom activities to facilitate discussion around the themes addressed in the book

Genres: Nonfiction, Management, Business

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Lisa]

This book gives a clear overview of knowledge management and the issues surrounding it. It is a great literature review that gives a lot of general information and provides sources for the topics you want to explore in more detail.

[Robert]

This is an excellent introductory book with a broad view of the topic. It gives information on such essential ideas like tacit knowledge, codified knowledge, objectivist perspective, some problems of knowledge sharing like the willingness of knowledge workers to participate in knowledge processes and on the term 'social capital' ("p83: "Social capital relates to the networks of personal relationships that people possess and are embedded within and the resources people can draw on and utilize through such networks. The social capital theory is typically predicated on the assumption that the resources available to people through such networks can aid action" - although he forgets to mention what the maintenance of such network costs). I expressly can't entirely agree about the authors view on knowledge work and ambiguity. Cross community knowledge processes cover a whole chapter. And he also gives some ideas on 'ICT-enabled KM from an objectivist perspective (p.222, ICT-Information and Communication Technologies): "..., whose knowledge management system was, in essence, a searchable repository of employee expertise and know-how;" (p.223). All in all, I enjoyed reading this book.

[Lauren Albert]

A solid introductory KM textbook.

[Joël Cox]

Good and thorough introduction to the field.

[Nawarerk]

Many examples to study. Summary of the important points is the advantage of this book.

[Martin Olesen]

A comprehensive overview of Knowledge Management academic litterateur. Multiple links to the work of others on every page makes it a bit hard to read. Part 4 on socio-culture issues related to Management and knowledge management is by far the most interesting and useful from an agile leadership perspective.