Knowledge Management

1) Theoretical Background of Knowledge Management:

Major forms of knowledge:

We took some exemples to show these form of K:

1) Polanyi distinguished :

• Explicit (open to codification= books,documents)

• Tacit (complex: process of understanding + Cognitive + technical elements)

2) Individual and collective K: we can all guess what these two forms of K contains but what most people confuse is between Individual Knowledge and Individual Mental Models:

Individual Mental Models: internal symbolic representations of the world or aspects of the world: an individual modal concerning a topic includes individual definitions, procedure…

In short, it’s our own way of describe things which employs our tacit & implicit knowledge

A) Categories of Knowledge in Hotels

1. Task specific Knowledge

 Specific procedures, sequences, actions, and strategies. ( to do task )

 Allows employees to act in coordinated way

 Can be codified but need to be internalized by training (Ex : Opera -- need of routine )

2. Task related Knowledge

 Contains individual shared K not of a single task but of related task

 Contributes to ability to internalize similar working values (pour élargir l'étendue du K)

 Contributes to shared values of teamwork/ compromises the ability to reach a distinct level of quality in different service operations.

 Quality dimensions : empathy, reliability and assurance : eg tasks related K

 Shared attitude and values, norms and beliefs. ( Eg: Voiture, Usine textile )

 -Hyatt, Ritz Carlton

3. Transactive Memory :

“Transactive memory is a psychological hypothesis first proposed by Daniel Wegner in 1985 as a response to earlier theories of "group mind" such as groupthink.[1] A transactive memory system is a mechanism through which groups collectively encode, store, and retrieve knowledge.”

(Personnal K can be retreived by networks of the personn )

 Includes decentralized k of the other organizational membrers cognitive models

 To