ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses conventional information and knowledge management approaches. It looks at the nature of knowledge, the sources of knowledge, and the use of knowledge. The chapter discusses the role of knowledge and managing knowledge in complex business environments, the fallibility of knowledge, and the role of wisdom in more effectively applying knowledge in management decision making. In management theory, and more specifically, in the field of management decision support systems, knowledge is defined in terms of information processed and applied in a decision situation. Intuition allows a decision maker to effectively deal with even complex decision situations without any conscious reasoning and objective analysis. Unlike empiricism and positivism, Apriorism contends that knowledge can be acquired through non-inductive means. A better understanding of the relationship between wisdom and knowledge might lead to the kind of fresh thinking needed in management strategies for dealing with emergent and future-oriented decision situations. The knowledge hierarchy has three layers: data, information, and knowledge.
