Knowledge Management equals Knowledge Conformity

The most important thing I discovered about learning technologies this semester were examples and uses of knowledge management. This prescription is ideal to support human performance in relation to technology. Further still are benefits associated with using varied formats of multi-media to train, motivate, and change adults.

As a counselor for a management consulting company, SMEC, I advise on business services. This is achieved by looking at organizations behaviors that impact operations, innovation, and development. Interventions are then recommended to improve performance and advance the health of an organization. It has been in my experiences that while Ikujiro Nonaka distinguished between tacit (subconscious and internalized) and explicit (conscious and communicated), I have furthered this theory. My hypothesis is that although tacit and “un-coded”, adult’s information resources – correlated with knowledge access stages – can shape cultures and impede change.

Initial proof of this concept can be illustrated in the field of Organization Behavior. Take for example the common policy of workplace electronic monitoring potentially leading to an employee termination. Are these policies created in response to trends? Possibly. However, I would like to think that individual organizations mandate this directive in response to specific cultural abuses. If entities want to change, knowledge management prerequisites should include having had assessed tacit information that shapes development. Improper adherence to this warning has already led to:

¨ Innovation Rarity or lack of innovation
¨ Unmotivated employees
¨ Talent Management Retention issues
¨ “Unconnected” Employees
¨ Diversity Un-appreciation
¨ Independence Restrictions

Ultimately human – and subsequently, organizational – performances will be affected.

By incorporating multi-media technologies into knowledge management efforts, companies could gain a more competitive edge by learning about their employees. From a perspective based in Systems Theory, I believe that the behaviors of the employees shape the behavioral health of the business. If industry leaders use information to change their workers, then the converse should also be true. An organization’s health can be better managed if all of the active components that impact development are included in training projects.

Initial applications included the internet, and later, intranets. Global collaborations today are Wikipedia, peer-to-peer file sharing networks, and yes, the entertainment industry. Movements such as these are further manifested into social networks which not only contain knowledge, but they also share content and information via “word-of-text/type” marketing. “Web stars” are being born every fifteen minutes and the majority of the business industry is missing out because they are disengaged from the present and often rely merely on traditional advertising strategies to display their expertise. By remaining on the pulse of multi-media technologies, the future workforce, entities interactions and vertical lateralization opportunities are limitless. Archaic methods of hording knowledge should not be considered a best practice unless losing talent and revenue are in your organization’s strategic plan.


To further engage in this or other dialogues, I invite you to continue the conversation via your response or email at monique.bureyballard@myMail.roosevelt.edu.

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KEYWORDS: Adult Learning, Learning Technologies, Knowledge Management, Multi-Media Training, Organizational Health, Organization Behaviors, Organization Development, Innovation, Motivation, Talent Management, Retention, Unconnected Employees, Human Performance, Organizational Performance, Entertainment Industry, Change Management, Business Industry, Vertical Lateralization, SMEC, Monique Burey-Ballard.