“Knowledge management is not dead. It has changed its appearance. And it will continue to change”

• Author: Maayan Nakash,Dan Bouhnik
• Published date: 01 January 2021
• Date: 01 January 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1655

RESEARCH ARTICLE

“Knowledge management is not dead. It has changed its

appearance. And it will continue to change”

Maayan Nakash

1

| Dan Bouhnik

1,2

1

Information Science, Bar-Ilan University,

Ramat Gan, Israel

2

Computer Science, Jerusalem College of

Technology, Jerusalem, Israel

Correspondence

Maayan Nakash

Email: Maayanan2207@gmail.com

Dan Bouhnik

Email: Bouhnik@jct.ac.il

This study aims to examine the place and future of the Knowledge Management

(KM) discipline, in view of the claims of its decline. In doing so, we explored the

meanings attributed by international KM experts regarding statements made about

the death of the discipline, or at the very least, its illness. A case method was chosen.

The study was conducted through fifteen semi-structured in-depth interviews, as

part of the qualitative research paradigm. The findings provide evidence not only of

the vitality of the field, but also of its significant growth and impressive evolutionary

development since it was founded. The Findings section presents a snapshot of KM

experts' perception of the source of the pessimistic statements about the discipline

and offer significant insights into the question of where this field is going. We find

that the future of KM lies in developing automated mechanisms for knowledge flow

that rely on machine learning tools, artificial intelligence, and advanced cognitive

capabilities. Furthermore, we ponder the possibility of a rebranding of KM, given the

experts' feeling that narrow, partial, or misconceived conceptions about it are preva-

lent. The importance of this pioneering research is reflected in the adoption of a

critical-skeptical approach, which is almost completely absent from the KM literature.

The uniqueness of this research is also reflected in the voices of KM professionals. In

addition to the theoretical contribution, this study has implications on the practical

level regarding the necessity of the KM profession and the necessity for further

empirical research in the field.

KEYWORDS

future of work, knowledge management dead, knowledge-intensive organization,

organizational performance

1|INTRODUCTION

In the age of knowledge, intellectual capital is seen as a top strategic

resource for organizational survival, stability, growth, and improve-

ment (Gunjal, 2019; Handzic, 2017; Hassan & Al-Hakim, 2011). This

capital represents the accumulated knowledge of the individual

and/or the organization, whose development, utilization, and manage-

ment enable it to derive great value. Various organizations operate in

a business environment characterized by frequent changes, new

changing technologies for controllers, changing customer needs, and

high competition for market share, resources, information, and

knowledge. Because knowledge is seen as a guiding principle for

gaining competitive advantage (Bouhnik & Marcus, 2015;

Rahimli, 2012), organizations want to maximize knowledge resource

development to achieve their goals (Tseng & Lee, 2014) and better

adapt to the dynamic business environment (Bouhnik & Giat, 2015).

The more developed, managed, leveraged, and utilized the

knowledge in the organization, the greater its value (Mei, Lee, & Al-

Hawamdeh,2004). Therefore,knowledge implementation is the founda-

tion ofKnowledge Management(KM) (Abualoush,Masa'deh,Bataineh, &

Alrowwad,2018; Dalkir, 2005). Arguably, KM has been conducted since

the dawn of history, as in ancient times human beings were engaged in

Received: 3 May 2020 Accepted: 6 November 2020

DOI: 10.1002/kpm.1655

Knowl Process Manag. 2021;28:29–39. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/kpm © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 29