Abstract:

A number of knowledge management models are available showing the relationship between knowledge and organisational infrastructures.  In practice the use of these models is limited, and they cannot give a detailed picture of the relationship between the business’s structure and knowledge.

This paper presents a review of the literature with regard to knowledge structures in organisations and introduces an alternative view of the role of knowledge within a business.  The model proposed presents the idea of a set of structural models that represent groupings of business operations based upon the relationship between knowledge and use in the creation of products or services.

The proposed model can be used as a foundation for the conceptualisation of more detailed structural models, and a suggested approach is based on a Soft System Methodology.

The proposed framework would give an organisation an insight into how may view itself with respect to its knowledge structures.