The Next Generation of Knowledge Management: Mapping-Based Assessment Models

Abstract

After three decades of conceptualisations and investigations, the field of Knowledge Management (KM) can be now considered mature. Concepts such as knowledge, strategic knowledge management, knowledge processes and criteria for assessing knowledge and intellectual capital within organisations are well established and acknowledged. However, despite the large amount of studies dedicated to the subject, which have been accompanied by the development of specialised and focused international research outlets such as, in particular, Knowledge Management Research and Practice (KMRP), Journal of Knowledge Management (JKM) and Journal of Intellectual Capital (JIC), the discipline and practice of knowledge management seems yet not fully integrated into the fabric of organisations. This means that the knowledge management practices are not part of everyday managerial and operational practices. There could be different reason explaining why this is the case. One of the key reasons is the lack of research and practical approaches as well as tools supporting managers to fully disclose and assess the value and benefits of KM. Therefore, it is our perspective that the next generation of KM has to focus the attention on the development of assessment models and particularly on the development of mapping-based methodologies and tools to explain and disentangle how KM drive value creation for organisations. In this light this chapter provides a contribution to the definition of new KM models specifically aimed to a better understanding of KM outcomes and value. Based on some previous works of the authors, the chapter analyses how to elicit the mechanisms of conversion of knowledge resources into value through the use of visual techniques and presents an AHP based mapping model that allows to identify the knowledge asset value drivers on which management attention should be focused as well as to highlight and assess the network of relationships between and among knowledge assets, and between knowledge assets and organisational performance.