A metaphor for knowledge management: explicit islands in a tacit sea

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the current thoughts on knowledge management (KM) and to develop a metaphor to combine these thoughts in a new way that effectively conveys the different types of knowledge and ways of managing it. Design/methodology/approach – The literature on the transition of data to knowledge is reviewed. A popular paradigm in KM states that data are integrated to create information and information is integrated to create knowledge. This paradigm is represented as a pyramid-shaped hierarchy with knowledge at the top, information in the middle, and data on the bottom. Why this paradigm is a simplistic and limited view of knowledge and KM is discussed. Findings – The ‘‘explicit islands in a tacit sea (EITS)’’ metaphor is explained and discussed in the context of knowledge and knowledge management (KM). Practical implications – The EITS metaphor more accurately and completely describes knowledge in the context of KM. The practical implications of ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2007
• Where: JKM
• Authors: Richard C. Hicks, Ronald Dattero, Stuart D. Galup
• Keywords: Information, JKM 2007, Knowledge Management, Paradigm