A sensemaking model of knowledge in organisations: a way of understanding knowledge management and the role of information technologies

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to demonstrate how a sensemaking model of knowledge enables better and deeper understanding of knowledge management (KM) processes in organisations and the role of information technologies (IT) in these processes. Inspired and informed by a sensemaking view of organisations, the model identifies four types of knowledge, corresponding to four sensemaking levels: the individual, collective, organizational, and cultural. Each knowledge type, as the paper shows, is of different nature and has different characteristics but is constituted and affected by all other knowledge types. An organisation is thus seen as a ‘distributed knowledge system’ composed of numerous instances of these four knowledge types and their dynamic interplay. By drawing from three empirical studies, the paper illustrates how the sensemaking model of knowledge can be applied to investigate different ways companies (try to) manage knowledge and use IT-based systems to improve KM and ultimately company performance. A deeper understanding of these processes through the lens of the model reveals mechanisms and forces underlying KM phenomena that help explain why some processes were successful and others failed. The paper intends to make the following contributions: propose a theoretical framework of knowledge and KM in organizations, which is reasonably comprehensive and empirically grounded and also demonstrate its relevance and usefulness to both researchers and practitioners as they investigate and make sense of specific KM processes and IT applications in practice.