Quo Vadis, Knowledge Management: A Regeneration or a Revolution in the Making?

Abstract

Over more than a decade, Knowledge Management (KM) thinkers have been pondering over the need for a new chapter in the evolutionary history of KM. Will it just be a regeneration based on the integration and new alignment of the numerous metaphors employed for KM’s past interpretations, or will it be — as Levy suggests — a decentralising revolution that gives more power and autonomy to individuals and self-organised groups? Inspired by the objective of this special JIKM issue, the paper adopts a current “Next KM Generation” concept and prototype-in-progress as a point of departure and reverse engineers its functionalities in order to crystallise those KM Models and Theories which — in terms of the concept to be introduced — have passed the test of time. Forty-eight KM constructs have been singled out which are the ingredients for the ongoing integrating, adapting, broadening, deepening, repurposing, and innovating activities of the Personalised KM concept and system design which has been transparently mapped and visualised utilising the Information-Space Model.