KM emerged as a scientific discipline in the earlier 1990s. It was initially supported solely by practitioners, when Skandia hired Leif Edvinsson of Sweden as the world’s first Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO). Hubert Saint-Onge (formerly of CIBC, Canada), started investigating KM long before that. The objective of CKOs is to manage and maximize the intangible assets of their organisations. Gradually, CKOs became interested in practical and theoretical aspects of KM, and the new research field was formed. The research design is the logical plan for how the study is conducted. A broad range of thoughts on the KM discipline exist; approaches vary by author and school. Regardless of the school of thought, core components of KM include people, processes, technology (or) culture, structure, technology, depending on the specific perspective. Different frameworks for distinguishing between different ‘types of’ knowledge exist. Organized by topic area, this is a natural companion volume to Knowledge Management for the Information Professional and an important tool for anyone charged with contributing to or managing an organization’s intellectual assets.
