ABSTRACT
The field of knowledge management has attracted considerable attention, most notably due to recognition of the value of knowledge, particularly tacit knowledge, for organizational competitive advantage. However, the field is fraught with debates, controversies and divergence in terms of definitions of knowledge, whether it can be managed and whether such management is beneficial and for whom. While the early work in the field and perspectives on the ‘management’ of knowledge came from information systems and practitioner literature, more recent attention comes from the organizational learning literature. With this comes a more social perspective on the ‘management’ of knowledge. Given the value of knowledge to organizations, it is imperative to engage in the discussion about whether knowledge can be managed. However, it is also imperative to consider how more social approaches such as individual, interpersonal or organizational HR practices may be flawed in their attempts to ‘manage’ knowledge or indeed may have negative consequences surpassing the benefits obtained by ‘managing’ knowledge. This chapter reviews the various discourses on knowledge management and the implications of these for definitions of knowledge, strategies for its management and for attracting critique. It reviews how recent progress towards greater integration of the knowledge management and organizational learning fields may help to progress the debates around definitions of knowledge and whether it is manageable. The chapter then draws on recognition that the social paradigm of knowledge management and organizational learning point to the value of HR practices for the purposes of knowledge circulation and organizational learning. A critical perspective is utilized to examine the role and consequences of individual, interpersonal and organizational HR practices for knowledge circulation and organizational learning.
