AllThingsKM

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT VERSUS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Some see Information Management (IM) as a subsection of Knowledge Management (KM). A good IM provides the right information at the right time to the right people. KM creates systems that enable organization to tap into the knowledge, experiences, and creativity of their staff to enhance their achievement.

Knowledge and information are actually quite contrasting, as is tacit and explicit knowledge. So, while information and data management are certainly very functional, especially as information references are growing at exponential rates and with the new focus on big data, it is not synonymous with KM.

So what exactly is the difference?

Information and IM:

• Concentrate on data and information
• Deal with unstructured and structured facts and statistics.
• Advantage greatly from technology, since the information being carried is already organized and in an easily transferrable form.
• Concentrate on arrange, examining, and retrieving - again due to the organized nature of the information.
• About ‘know-what’, for example it offers a fact that you can then use to help create useful knowledge, but in itself that
• Fact does not convey a course of action (such as sales of product x are up 25% last quarter).
• Is easy to copy - due to its organized and easily transferrable nature.

Knowledge and KM:

• Concentrate on knowledge, understanding, and wisdom
• Deal with both organized and unorganized knowledge. Unorganized knowledge - the most valuable type of knowledge - is found in the minds of practitioners and is unarticulated, context-based, and experience-based.
• Technology is useful, but KM's focus is on people and processes. The most valuable knowledge cannot effectively be (directly) transferred with technology, it must be passed on directly from person to person.
• Focus on track down, understanding, allowing, and encouraging - by creating environments, cultures, processes, etc. where knowledge is shared and created.
• About “know-how”, “know-why”, and “know-who”.
• Is hard to copy - at least regarding the tacit elements.

A. Frost(2014). Information Management vs Knowledga Management. KMT, An Eductaional KM Site. http://www.knowledge-management-tools.net/IM_vs_KM.html