Customer Reviews

Introduction to Knowledge Management: KM in Business

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a Knowledge Management Book that covers the foundational components of KM and is laid out in a textbook format. This is a real find for any instructor wishing to add Knowledge Management discussion to an existing business course, or is looking for a text for a KM course. I believe this book would fill either role, and at 29.95 using it as a supplemental text is not unreasonable. Another plus for this book is the instructor's guide that is available from the publisher.

As someone that has taught in the college and business environments, I believe this book is a strong resource for both. I've also searched the web for this title and found that Connecticut Southern State University has adopted this book for a Library Sciences course.

KM in Business is written in such a manner that it is understandable for even a computer novice such as myself. The applications for small Mom & Pop operations as well as large firms makes it a must have for any business owner. It deserves a place in business classes at college or high school. As an owner of two retail businesses, I find it invaluable.

Ideal for untroducing the principles of Knowledge Management to college students or for corporate KM training programs. Complex concepts like systems thinking, attention management, trust building and social networking are explored in the practical context of real world business issues.

A logically organized and easy to read gateway to the exciting new business concept sweeping the nation!

I thought this would be a good book, but I was wrong. It was assigned as supplemental reading for my BA in MIS degree and I had only read the first two chapters. Those chapters seemed very interesting, so I recently went back after almost two years and finished reading the book. I read all the chapters but didn't do any of the exercises. About 1/3 of the way through the book, my excitement waned. The book started to focus more on organizational behavior (OB), which is a beneficial topic, but NOT what this book is supposed to be focused on.

Starting around chapter 5, the OB stuff was really being pushed and I couldn't tell that I was reading a book on KM. A more appropriate title for the book would be along the lines of "Organizational Aspects of Knowledge Management." Since KM involves sharing of knowledge between people, skills in communications and OB are crucial in facilitating KM. The actual KM information in this book could honestly be summarized in one chapter.

If you have taken courses in communications and OB, you can pretty much get by with reading only chapters 1 - 5. For someone who has no OB knowledge, this book could be beneficial for learning OB, but as far as teaching anyone anything *significant* about KM itself, this book fails. After reading this book, you'll know what KM is and have a very limited knowledge of some of the methods and tools used in KM. As I mentioned before, all that information could be summarized in one chapter.

One of the most absurd things about the book is that it provides no end of chapter summary. This is very ironic since the book is about managing knowledge. Wouldn't it be easier to manage the knowledge gained in each chapter if the chapters had summaries? And in a few chapters, the authors inappropriately use computer networking as an analogy for some of the KM concepts. Those analogies are obviously targeted at IT professionals. But if someone with a business background reads this book, that person wouldn't be very familiar with computer networking.

Another annoying thing was that the authors threw in bits and pieces about project management (PM). If the reader doesn't have a PM background, what benefit is that to the reader?

And the book has numerous figures that have no reference. I can't recall reading any book that had so many figures without any references. By reference I mean that the figures weren't referred to in the text at all. I'm being tough on these things because this is a book on KM. And a big part of KM is the ability to effectively transfer knowledge. The way this book is written, transferring knowledge doesn't seem to be a high priority.

In summary, this book should focus more on KM itself instead of OB. And the analogies should be generalized for readers of diverse backgrounds--not everyone who reads this book will have an IT or PM background. For me, this book reinforces my previous knowledge of OB and PM, but fails to add significant KM knowledge. The bulk of the useful KM stuff is in chapters 1 - 5, so at least I was able to take something away from my readings.

The people who gave excellent reviews must know the authors or publishers. I can't imagine that an educated person could learn much from this book and would actually pay for it unless it was a required text for a course. Maybe, just maybe, I can see someone giving it 3 stars, but no way can a 5 star rating be legit.

This book was my first introduction to Knowledge Management. Truthfully, I could not be more pleased! I'm a Director of Sales for a leading insurance company and am responsible for 250 offices across the Northeast U.S. Our organization has struggled for many years with the very issues addressed in this text and I found the insight gained to be invaluable.

It is easy to see that the authors, Groff and Jones, are experienced management professionals. They adeptly and expertly framed the content in an enjoyable and easy to understand manner that is directly applicable in multiple business scenarios. In fact, I utilized several of concepts from the text in developing our annual business plan. Through these initiatives, we expect to improve efficiency and overall productivity resulting in increased profitability for the business unit.

Without a doubt, this text is a tool that will assist my organization in maximizing results in today's quickly changing business environment.

This is advertized as a textbook, but if it is, it certainly is not on the college level. This might qualify for a high school textbook. It is written on a lower level than the KM for Dummies book!

Dont' waste your money. You can get Frappaolo's text on KM for less money and it is a better resource.

The book is focused more on personal KM than on KM as a field. Very useful the introductory part, though.