The significance of the context for managing organisational knowledge

The traditional realm of information systems has been the management of data and information. For the past few years information systems researchers and practitioners have been increasingly concerned with the management of knowledge. Knowledge management, however is not the sole concern of the information systems community but is also the concern of management and accounting researchers. According to much of the literature on knowledge management a conducive organisational culture is a prerequisite for the effective management of knowledge. In particular, organisations which emphasise the role and importance of the individual, often in a competitive arena, are less likely to foster sharing of knowledge. Much attention in the information systems community has been focused on the types of organisational knowledge and the usefulness of information technology in managing it. This paper rather than addressing these themes examines the context for knowledge management. The issue of appropriate organisational cu...