Karen Nelson

Information and Knowledge Management in Business Contexts: a Multi-method Study Karen Nelson

Many approaches seek to facilitate information andknowledge management (IKM) practices within businesscontexts. These approaches identify organizationalfactors (e.g. culture or IT) or to suggest managementprocesses (e.g. HRM) that are conducive to IKM. Existing work has tended to ignore the complexity oforganizational contexts and the interdependenciesbetween information and knowledge. This work reportson an interpretive multi-methodological research(MMR) study consisting of three sequential phases:action research, transition and case study. Thedata arising from the three research phases issynthesized to (1) confirm a suitable referent modelon which IKM frameworks can be based and (2) developa practical IKM framework. The referent modelfeatures two established concepts: (a) the domains ofIKM activity and (b) double and single loop feedbackloops. The practical IKM framework has threedimensions: (i) domains of IKM activity and feedbackloops (ii) organizational enablers (iii) projectcontext. This framework will be useful topractitioners needing managing the businessenvironment to ensure success of IKM projects orinitiatives.