The knowledge management puzzle: Human and social factors in knowledge management

TLDR

Knowledge management is commonly viewed as a technical problem of capturing, organizing, and retrieving information, but this view is too simple because knowledge is deeply tied to human cognition and social context, requiring consideration of human and social factors in system design. The paper reviews research and techniques that emphasize cognitive and social factors in knowledge management. The authors describe two approaches to designing socially informed knowledge management systems: social computing and knowledge socialization.

Abstract

Knowledge management is often seen as a problem of capturing, organizing, and retrieving information, evoking notions of data mining, text clustering, databases, and documents. We believe that this view is too simple. Knowledge is inextricably bound up with human cognition, and the management of knowledge occurs within an intricately structured social context. We argue that it is essential for those designing knowledge management systems to consider the human and social factors at play in the production and use of knowledge. We review work—ranging from basic research to applied techniques—that emphasizes cognitive and social factors in knowledge management. We then describe two approaches to designing socially informed knowledge management systems, social computing and knowledge socialization.