Knowledge Management ¾ When Will People Management Enter the Debate?

This paper presents a case for research in Knowledge Management (KM) but argues, based on a review of the literature, that KM research is limited by its focus primarily on 'hard' information systems. Insufficient attention has been given to the 'people management' aspects of KM and to the complex, multi-faceted nature of knowledge itself. The results of a pilot survey of KM practice in projects across a wide sample of UK firms suggests that issues of people management (specifically organizational reward systems and willingness to share knowledge), rather than IT development, pose central constraints on KM. The literature review and survey highlight the need to develop a more critical view of KM. This paper hopes to contribute to this by addressing questions of why an emphasis on IT has dominated in the KM literature and what the implications of this emphasis are.