A New Taxonomy Of Knowledge Management Theory: The Turn To Knowledge As Constituted In Social Action

Abstract

This article offers a new taxonomy of KM theory which will enable the practitioner to more readily identify theories of interest. Theory is classified on two bisecting continua: knowledge as object vs. knowledge as social action, and the unit of analysis’ focus on organizational knowledge vs. personal knowledge. A trend towards a more ecological view of knowledge as social action is shown. Secondly, the paper focuses on the most influential theory in the domain of KM – the dynamic theory of the knowledge creating firm, contrasting this dominance with the concerted criticism to which it is subject. A fresh approach to the study, practice and theorizing of KM is offered as an alternative, building on existing work.