Most knowledge transfers still happen informally through oral means. The difficulty in managing knowledge is in defining knowledge. We are all familiar with data, the basic raw material, which is processed to generate information. Thus salary data can be analysed to generate information about the region-wise staff costs. So far so good.
Tacit knowledge is communicated, if imperfectly, by face-to face dialogue with the expert.
One approach to knowledge management places greater emphasis on the cultural and behavioural aspects of the organisation. This approach believes that organisations are process driven and technology is of little use if the organisation lacks a knowledge-sharing culture. This approach is loosely related to the management disciplines of total quality management, business process re-engineering, benchmarking and best practices. The mechanistic approach to knowledge management is more down to earth. It concentrates on providing efficient tools to capture, organise and access knowledge as well as to facilitate its delivery to the right people at the right time.