Knowledge Management and information - Essay Example

In fact, as a medium sized organization currently employing 100 individuals, it is even more important that our company manage this knowledge exactly because we lack the market share and resources that large corporations have at their disposal. Therefore, at BioPack we need to be more responsive, more flexible, and make better decisions in order to sustain and grow in our industry. Managing knowledge will be primary in our quest to achieve these goals. So, we need to ask ourselves what exactly constitutes knowledge.

We must define this concept before we can start managing this information. According to Neil Fleming in his paper Coping with a Revolution: First, data is meaningless by itself, meaningless without some context that references it within space and time. The pieces of data may indeed represent information, yet we need to understand this data for it to be deemed informative. Moreover, the extent of understanding is based on the amount of associations discernable within the data collected. Thus, information is simply an understanding of the relationships between any collected set of data.

And while this information provides us with a basic understanding of relationships between data sets, it fails to provide us with either future predictions or an understanding of why the data appears the way it does. So, this data collection we now deem information fails to provide knowledge. However, when a pattern emerges within this information, knowledge is possible. Patterns, unlike collected data or information, are seldom static but rather self-contextualizing. And when patterns are properly understood, we can predict with reliability how that pattern will change over a period of time.

This is the embryonic stage of changing our information into a form of knowledge. When one attains a clear understanding of the underlying principles that make up these patterns that are the basis for knowledge, wisdom, or wise decisions within the workplace become possible. It is important to note that the sequence just mentioned-data-information-knowledge-wisdom does not occur in discrete stages of development. It does not take place locked up in one of our laboratories. It is ongoing, and at any given time we might be better or somewhat worse in our understanding of that data.

The quality of our understanding will be key in accomplishing our goal or mission statement: To create a workplace environment that encourages new ideas and new ways of solving problems in order to stimulate innovation and synergism in the creation of new products. To continually delight the customer with our quality, and to be a leader in biotechnology research. Still, all knowledge is not created equal. According to Michael Polanyi, one type of knowledge may be classified as explicit or formal knowledge, or that which can be articulated through language among individuals.

The other type is deemed tacit or informal knowledge, and is rooted in individual experience, personal belief, and individual values (The Tacit Dimension 10). As