Key Issues in the New Knowledge Management (KMCI Press) (Paperback)

~ Joseph M. Firestone Ph.D. (Author), Mark W. McElroy (Author) "Since knowledge management became a popular phrase in the mid-1990s, practitioners have labored under the burden of varying and sometimes vague definitions of the field..." (more)
Key Phrases: knowledge claim evaluation, knowledge claim formulation, surviving knowledge claims, New York, Executive Information Systems, Level One (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book is essential for academics, managers, and consultants who want to increase innovation, effectiveness and strategic focus in their organizations. The authors adroitly link the often-abstract issues of information processing and knowledge creation with the tangible and crucial management issues of organizational learning, motivation and culture that executives often neglect when formulating a knowledge management strategy. By relating these concepts in a straightforward, relevant and empowering way, Firestone and McElroy achieve [in this book] what Peter Senge has done for the field of organizational learning. Their carefully conceived structure and highly accessible framework has the capacity not only to inform, but to transform organizations and those who work in them. I highly recommend this book and the others in KMCI’s series.”
- Benyamin Bergmann Lichtenstein, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises, Syracuse University
Enterprises, Syracuse University


“Joe Firestone's and Mark McElroy's new book is a welcome look at some of the pendant issues to be addressed by any formal attempt to build a conceptual and technical KM system. Their views, drawn from learned analyses and extensive practice, challenge several widely held conceptions. Serious KM professionals and students will find these issues both stimulating and refreshing. They are bound to be engaged by the pertinence of the authors' questions and they will either be convinced by their innovative answers or be inspired to find their own. Key Issues in The New Knowledge Management is a critical reading for anyone who envisions a place for themselves on the KM map in the years ahead.”
- Professor Francisco J. Carrillo, Director, Center for Knowledge Systems, ITESM -- Review

Review

"This book is essential for academics, managers, and consultants who want to increase innovation, effectiveness and strategic focus in their organizations. The authors adroitly link the often-abstract issues of information processing and knowledge creation with the tangible and crucial management issues of organizational learning, motivation and culture that executives often neglect when formulating a knowledge management strategy. By relating these concepts in a straightforward, relevant and empowering way, Firestone and McElroy achieve [in this book] what Peter Senge has done for the field of organizational learning. Their carefully conceived structure and highly accessible framework has the capacity not only to inform, but to transform organizations and those who work in them. I highly recommend this book and the others in KMCI's series."
- Benyamin Bergmann Lichtenstein, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises, Syracuse University
Enterprises, Syracuse University


"Joe Firestone's and Mark McElroy's new book is a welcome look at some of the pendant issues to be addressed by any formal attempt to build a conceptual and technical KM system. Their views, drawn from learned analyses and extensive practice, challenge several widely held conceptions. Serious KM professionals and students will find these issues both stimulating and refreshing. They are bound to be engaged by the pertinence of the authors' questions and they will either be convinced by their innovative answers or be inspired to find their own. Key Issues in The New Knowledge Management is a critical reading for anyone who envisions a place for themselves on the KM map in the years ahead."
- Professor Francisco J. Carrillo, Director, Center for Knowledge Systems, ITESM

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann; 1 edition (June 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750676558
• ISBN-13: 978-0750676557
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,117 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars KM's Key Issues, January 2, 2005

By	Olaf Brugman "Olaf" (Doetinchem, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

Key Issues in The New Knowledge Management, by Joe Firestone and Mark W. McElroy, is the book that goes on - in some respects - where The New Knowledge Management (Mark McElroy, 2002) stopped. The book discusses the New Knowledge Management model, discusses theoretical underpinnings, and provides food for conversation and discussion regarding topics such as metrics of knowledge management, the organization's social capital and knowledge management standards.

Key Issues is one of the few works in the field of knowledge management that presents its model in a transparant way, open and ready to accept criticism. It is also a brave book, since it provides a an explicit knowledge theory, and normative stance to KM. More than enough edges to rub yourself against. However, the book does not seem to draw the ultimate consequence from the model, that positions KM as a source of corporate social innovation. The positioning is there, the argumentation strong, but there is no sign of practical elaboration of this aspect. Instead, this is left up to 'accountants', and it seems as if the authors define this aspect out of scope and remove it from their own working agenda. That is a missed opportunity, in view of the strong appeals made in TNKM, their earlier book. And it is contradicting the importance given to the issue in the model.

The book counts 350 pages and eleven chapters. The first five chapters deal with a thorough reflection on knowledge theory, and its implications for a knowledge management theory. Chapters six to ten deal with The New Knowledge Management Model. And chapter 11 is called "Conclusions", although it is 45 pages long and an interesting read on its own.

The authors carefully lay out the basic concepts of their model, taking a pragmatic and fallabilist perspective on knowledge. This means that knowledge development - a form of model construction - is led by pragmatic criteria. Knowledge is like a 'lense' used to define problems, develop acceptable solutions, and guide knowledge development. By making their model transparant, they provide openings to systematic scrutiny and discussion of their model. Even if the authors do not explicitly refer to it, I interpret the rationale of KM methodological approach to be an example of systematic, pragmatic model building. TNKM The KM model itself is laid-out in its various components as already available in my review of The New Knowledge Management, so that it is not necessary to discuss the model itself again.

In view of the model-character of knowledge, the heart of the matter of organizational KM is: what are the models governing decision-making and organizational behaviour, what is the quality of those models, and how can we improve those models in case we see that things go wrong in practice? The questions above make KM vulnerable to being misused, and to KM practices being ineffective or even destructive. This will be the case if KM practices are being used in a situation where basic assumptions or directives cannot be questioned (for reasons of misuse of hierarchy, power, ideology, desinterest etc.). The answer to this source of vulnerability is the normative concept of the Open Enterprise, which says that any assumption or priority should be open for discussion and scrutiny. Clearly, whether such a state will be present or not in an organization depends on the organizational culture and attitudes and ethics of actors. The degree in which such capacity is 'working', can be understood as the organization's social innovation capital. The normative element needed to pave KM's way to be a source of social innovation capital shows that KM as a pure instrumental management instrument can never be a solid source of innovation and renewal. And that is why the development of KM itself needs to expand into the direction of intangibles, social capital, and social development. In this respect, Firestone and McElroy do not challenge their audience as strongly as TNKM. TNKM demands attention for social innovation issues. But in Key Issues, the appeal seems to have dissolved into two streams. First, the element of learning and change still is present in the knowledge management life cycle, a core element of the books KM approach. But there, the innovation character isn't very strong, and 'just' part of a normal management process cycle. I doubt whether this will bring across the message as strongly as TNKM did. Second, the authors call upon the accountancy profession to improve on intellectual capital accounting and intangible reporting.

To conclude, Firestone and McElroy point to some really crucial aspects of KM, and provide a comprehensive knowledge management model. However, they seem to leave it up to non-qualified others to put their ideas into practice. Since social innovation and intangibles are such an important element of TNKM, I wonder why the authors seem to define the issue out of scope in their working agendas.