Knowledge Management in Organizations Review
Knowledge Management in Organizations by Donald Hislop is an academic yet accessible synthesis of KM theory and practice. It situates KM in organizational behavior, sociology, and information systems, clarifying concepts and critiquing hype.
Overview
The book reviews KM definitions, tacit/explicit knowledge, communities of practice, social and technical approaches, culture and incentives, technology platforms, and evaluation. It contrasts codification versus personalization strategies and examines power and politics in knowledge work.
Summary
Hislop argues KM is socio-technical: repositories and taxonomies help, but trust, identity, and practice move knowledge. He examines adoption barriers, governance, and measurement challenges, urging context-specific designs rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.
Authors
Donald Hislop is an organizational scholar. His writing is clear, critical, and well-referenced, making it suitable for courses and reflective practitioners.
Key Themes
Social construction of knowledge; tension between codification and personalization; importance of culture, incentives, and power; technology as enabler within a wider system.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths: balanced theory, critical perspective, and structured summaries. Weaknesses: fewer implementation templates and limited treatment of modern cloud/AI stacks. Use it to ground practice in sound concepts.
Target Audience
Students of KM and organizational studies, KM practitioners seeking theoretical grounding, and leaders designing socio-technical interventions.
Favorite Ideas
Communities of practice as living systems; critique of naïve codification; evaluation that looks at behavior change, not just repository size.
Takeaways
Design KM to fit your organization’s social reality. Blend codification with community support, align incentives, and evaluate by changed practice and outcomes.
