Knowledge management as a management tool.

This study is on the concept of knowledge management and how it can be applied in the organisation as a management tool. Although various organisations are implementing the concept, many managers are very uncertain what the concept entails. The research problem is the misconception that exists about the term knowledge management and how knowledge management can be used as a management tool in the organisation. The research problem is further divided into three sub-problems: what does the concept knowledge management entail, various misconceptions that exist between the concepts information management and knowledge management and what is the contribution of knowledge management to managing a business. The overall research objective that forms the basis of the study is whether knowledge management is a beneficial tool for management in an organisation. The research objective is divided into four objectives. The first objective is to distinguish between related concepts, namely data, information, knowledge and wisdom. The second research objective is to explore the essence of knowledge management. The third research objective is to examine the role, essential character traits and skills of a chief knowledge officer. The fourth research objective is to evaluate knowledge management. The research methodology that was utilised for this research was literature from books and academic journals. The Internet was utilised as major source to obtain papers written by researchers and theorists on the subject of knowledge and knowledge management. Interviews were obtained online from consultants who interviewed managers from around the world on knowledge management and their view were incorporated into the research. The research was able to meet the overall objective that knowledge management can be a beneficial tool for management. However, it has to be utilised following a certain strategy to be successful in an organisation. This strategy will vary for each organisation as each organisation has different goals and objectives and a different manner in which it utilises knowledge.Prof. N. Lessin