Knowledge and Process Management Volume 5 Number 1 pp 65–66 (1998)

" Book Review

Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know

Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak, Harvard Business School Press, 1998, $29.95US,ISBN 0-87584-655-6

In the past few months the Journal has been somewhatremiss in not providing readers with some guidance con-cerning the vast number of books and articles that haveappeared in the field over the last year. The editors and ourreviewers will attempt to provide the beginnings of a roadmap to this treacherous terrain in the coming issues. In thisissue I want to focus on one book, Working Knowledge byTom Davenport and Larry Prusak. Both Tom and Larry areold hands and have a very considerable history in theKnowledge Management field.Working Knowledge providesus with a view of knowledge associated with work. It alsoprovides us with an understanding of knowledge thatworks—not the esoteric knowledge of how many angels fiton a pin, but knowledge that allows us to design betterwork processes, understand customers better, or makebetter judgements.Davenport and Prusak have written a commendably

readable guide to knowledge management. As I suspectthey intended, they have carefully trodden a line betweenthe esoteric and the pragmatic. In order to highlight some ofthe complexities of knowledge and knowledge manage-ment they use a number of mechanisms. For example, onemechanism that Davenport and Prusak use to investigateknowledge is what they refer to as the knowledge market.For a knowledge market to exist there need to be sellers,buyers and brokers. As in their previous discussions thisobservation leads to a number of straightforward butnonetheless valuable insights. Sellers of knowledge will onlyexist if there is some reason for a seller to sell. Sellers willexchange their knowledge if there is some expectation ofreturn, if there is some shared set of values that encourageexchange, or out of altruism. Thus organizations must createone or more of these conditions if they want knowledge tobe exchanged. Buyers will exist to the extent that indi-viduals are able to acknowledge that they do not knoweverything. It may also be necessary for there to beorganizational values supporting the search for knowledgeoutside the organization.Davenport and Prusak spend a considerable amount of

time discussing the functions of knowledge brokers. Theyargue that they, the knowledge brokers, have often beenundervalued. In future, there is a need to recognize theimportance of knowledge brokers and the skill they have

developed. In many ways this is similar to the problem ofrecognizing and rewarding those individuals capable ofworking with clients to identify their requirements forinformation systems and match them with what can actuallybe built. We pay the technically skilled individuals for theirtechnical skill and often fail to recognize or reward theapparently vaguer and more tacit skills of the businessanalyst.I really don’t have sufficient space to review in detail all

of the ideas that Davenport and Prusak present. Theydiscuss in some detail approaches to codifying and transfer-ring knowledge. Their approach is both thoughtful andpragmatic—a laudable combination. In addition to provid-ing a discussion of these topics they also provide a varietyof interesting and revealing examples.In the context of technologies they review a variety of

the most popular technologies being used by organizationsfor knowledge management. Chief amongst these tech-nologies are Lotus Notes and Web-based tools. In additionto highlighting some of the successes that have beenachieved with these technologies, Davenport and Prusakremind us that technology alone is not sufficient. Organiz-ational culture, individual attitudes, incentives and so onhave to be aligned in order for a technology to be usedcreatively.In the last two chapters of the book they discuss issues

relating to the management of knowledge projects and whatthey term ‘the pragmatics of knowledge management’. In asense much of the book addresses the pragmatics ofknowledge management. Still, in their final chapter theyexplore some of myths of knowledge management. At thecentre of their discussion is the belief that, as a recentadvertisement for IBM announces in a different context,knowledge management will change everything or, at least,if not everything, a great deal. Timidity with respect toknowledge management may well yield some results butwill fall far short of its real potential.In summary, this is an excellent overview of knowledge

management and its ecology. Davenport and Prusakadmirably alert us to the promise and perils of knowledgemanagement. Their approach is neither breathlessly opti-mistic nor blackly cynical. They show us some of whatcan be gained through thoughtful approaches to

CCC 1092-4604/98/010065-02$17.50? 1998 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Cornwallis Emmanuel Ltd.

knowledge management and alert us to the links betweenknowledge management and other recent initiatives such ascustomer-focus and quality programs. In their thoughtfulprose they remind us of the multi-faceted nature of organ-izations and the individuals who seek meaning and rewardworking for and within them.

Anthony WensleyUniversity of Toronto

Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6,Canada

Knowledge and Process ManagementBOOK REVIEW

66 Book Review