KM CHALLENGES

Since the 1990s we have had an increasing number of books and journal articles discussing knowledge management (KM) and how it can be performed.  So far, we have not discovered an all-singing all-dancing solution to the issues we find when attempting to implement KM in organisations.  What happens is that as we investigate, discuss, and practice knowledge management, we find yet more challenges and issues.

In this book we are looking at a number of these challenges and issues, and we hope that the chapters presented will not only stretch our reader's minds but will also prove of practical benefit to their organisations.  These chapters were selected to provide a representative sample of the ideas in four main domains - the theory of knowledge management; technical challenges; management and organisational issues and finally some illustrations of knowledge management at work in organisations, and the lessons that can be learnt.

There are twenty chapters in this book drawn from an international base of authors including East and Western Europe, the Antipodes, Asia, and North America.   The book is divided into four sections: The Theory of Knowledge Management; Management and Organisational Factors; Technical Challenges; and Case Studies of Knowledge Management in practice.

 A consistent message across all these diverse contributions is the need to consider knowledge management in its context – as an holistic practice.  Knowledge management is not solely about the technology and the systems that are put into place, but it is also about the humans who populate the system and utilise the technology – and so we need to take a sociotechnical view on the practice of managing knowledge.  

ECoakes