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Information and Knowledge Management

Unit code: HIT8478

Credit points12.5 Credit Points
Duration1 Semester or equivalent
Contact hours36 Hours
CampusHawthorn
Prerequisites
CorequisitesNil

Aims and objectives

This unit is designed to facilitate students’ learning of key Knowledge Management (KM) principles, and to investigate the proliferation of KM practices today for organizational learning.

Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit of study students will be able to:
  • Describe the nature of knowledge and the way in which it is created
  • Describe a set of knowledge management (KM) processes
  • Identify and describe the nature and scope of knowledge management (KM)
  • Describe some recent examples of the application of KM principles and the degree to which successful outcomes were achieved
  • Describe ways in which Computer-based information systems may facilitate KM practice and the critical importance of this contribution
  • Apply principles learnt to personal and group knowledge management

Teaching methods

Lecture (24 hours), Tutorial/discussion sessions (12 hours)

Assessment

Tutorial Participation, Presentation and Report, Examination

Content

  • The nature of knowledge, knowledge creation and KM processes
  • Kinds of knowledge and their interaction
  • The organizational context of KM
  • Guidelines for undertaking personal, group and corporate knowledge management
  • The contribution of IT to KM practice
  • The social technical and business orineted views of KM
  • The establishment of change programmes to introduce corporate KM
  • The role of KM is corporate strategic management and achieving competitive advantage
  • Review of some published case studies
 

References

A number of relevant journals are available in electronic form via the Swinburne library home page. These include:
  • Communications of the ACM 
  • Decision Sciences 
  • IBM Systems journal (particularly vol. 40, iss. 4)
  • Information Strategy: the Executive's Journal
  • KM review
  • Harvard Business Review 
  • Information Systems Management 
  • Sloan Management Review

Jashapara, A, Knowledge Management, an Integrated Approach, Prentice Hall, Harlow, Essex, UK, 2004.

Geoff, T & Jones, T, Introduction to Knowledge Management, Burlington MA, Butterworth Heineman, 2003.

Awad, EM & Ghaziri, HM, Knowledge Management, Pearson Education Inc. 2004.

Barnes, SE, Knowledge Management Systems: Theory and Practice. Thomson Learning, 2002.

Coakes, E, Willis, D & Clarke, S, Knowledge Management in the SocioTechnical World: The Graffiti Continues, London: Springer, 2002.

Firestone, M & McElroy, MW, Key Issues in the New Knowledge Management, Butterworth Heinemann, 2003.

President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard Business Review on knowledge management, Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 1998.