Abstract
Most organizations already have a basic form of knowledge base in their standard operating procedures (SOPs), company policies, transaction records, etc. But organizational knowledge also includes the combined experience of all of the organization’s employees – the human capital of the firm (Penrose 1959). This type of knowledge, diffused throughout the organization, is called “migratory knowledge” (Badaracco, 1991) in that it is only ‘on loan’ to the organization as long as the individual that holds it remains an employee. It is the combination of the diffused and migratory nature of this knowledge, along with its continual creation, that makes the sharing of this knowledge both difficult and imperative. Unfortu- nately, much of an organization’s newly created ‘know- ledge’ is never captured or shared; it never moves beyond those who actually experienced its creation. Thus, this non-collected, non-shared knowledge is continually being lost as employees simply forget their experience or leave the organization.
Recommended Citation
Higgins, Guy and Dennis, Alan, "The Human Metaphor for Knowledge Management Systems" (1999). AMCIS 1999 Proceedings. 162.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis1999/162