Communication 170

Knowledge
Management

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 CHAPTER 1
KNOWLEDGE
Rationale
Chapter 1 will enable you to learn what constitutes as knowledge; the
types and characteristics of knowledge and to develop critical thinking in
differentiating knowledge and wisdom.

Learning Objectives
At the end of Chapter 1, the learner should:

a. explain the definition of knowledge;

b. enumerate the kinds and characteristics of knowledge;
c. discuss the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

General Objective
The learner should be able to explain and understand the concept and
ideas related to knowledge.

Schedule of Class Discussion for Chapter 1

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 Before we start our class, I’d like to introduce
myself first.

My name is Irene Abigail S. Guerrero, and I

shall be your Comm 170 Knowledge
Management teacher for the 1st semester of AY
2020-2021. My friends and students call by my
nickname, Aiks.

I am faculty of the College of Arts and

Sciences under the Department of Languages
and Literature.

I have a bachelor’s degree in Film, College of

Mass Communication, from the University of
the Philippines, Diliman. I took both my Masters and Doctorate degrees in
Communication from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños. I have been
teaching in the University for eight years now.

My family and I are living in Ilocos Sur. I have a son who is currently in Junior
High School, and my husband works for a private company. I can understand
the Iloko language as I am an Ilokana; my dad is from Ilocos Sur while my
mom is from Ilocos Norte. However, I cannot speak fluently the language.

In class, you may call me as ma’am Aiks.

I don’t like being called Dr. Aiks. Please. 

For my contact information, you may reach me through any of the following
channels from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday:

Facebook Page: fb.me/4DLoveOfLearning

Facebook messenger: m.me/4DLoveOfLearning.
E-mail address: isguerrero@mmsu.edu.ph

Welcome to Comm170 Knowledge Management

A pleasant day to everyone!

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Today, we shall start our class in Comm 170 Knowledge Management.

What is Knowledge?

Google dictionary (n.d.) offers the following definitions of the word knowledge:

1. Facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or

education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.
"a thirst for knowledge"

2. What is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information.

"the transmission of knowledge"

3. In Philosophy, these are what we regard as true, justified belief; certain

understanding, as opposed to opinion.

4. Awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.

From the definitions given, we may be able to get keywords as we understand

what constitutes as knowledge. Let us discuss these more:

a. Facts [of] information

Knowledge then are backed-up by evidence. As we work with facts, we
are able to treat an idea or concept as knowledge when this is empirically
proven.

b. Skills acquired through experience or education

We are also able to acquire knowledge as we learn something. When we
experience a certain event or process, we become accustomed to the
things we do, say, think, and even behave – all these constitute to
knowledge.
c. Theoretical or practical understanding of a subject
As we also become familiar with a certain process, event, or task, we are
able to add to our expertise or specialization. Thus, we become more
competent and credible at doing the task or work. This application is
knowledge in itself.

d. What is known
Knowledge should always be known. It cannot be stated that someone is
knowledgeable but does not know certain facts about a particular concept.

Example:

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 We all know that vaccines work by enabling our body to produce
immunity when we contact certain diseases/viruses.

However, we, as non-medical experts, do not necessarily have the

knowledge to discuss what the specific molecular composition of
vaccines do in order to make us immune to certain diseases.

But, a molecular biologist or a biochemist may be able to explain this

without much difficulty as they have the knowledge to do so.

e. Justified belief
When we add the word ‘justified’ to describe a belief, we refer to
empirical data to support this belief. This means that knowledge, for it to
be considered as such, needs to be verifiable, maybe even tested, and
proven.

How do we differentiate data, information and knowledge?

KMT (2018) offers helpful definitions for us to understand these three words:

Data
Facts and figures which relay something specific, but which are not
organized in any way and which provide no further information regarding
patterns, context, etc. A definition for data presented by Thierauf (1999),
states that it is "unstructured facts and figures that have the least impact
on a person."

Information
For data to become information, it must be contextualized, categorized,
calculated and condensed (Davenport & Prusak 2000). Information thus
paints a bigger picture; it is data with relevance and purpose (Bali et al
2009). It may convey a trend in the environment, or perhaps indicate a
pattern of sales for a given period of time. Essentially information is
found "in answers to questions that begin with such words as who, what,
where, when, and how many" (Ackoff 1999).

Knowledge
Knowledge is closely linked to doing and implies know-how and
understanding. The knowledge possessed by each individual is a product
of his experience, and encompasses the norms by which he evaluates new
inputs from his surroundings (Davenport & Prusak 2000).

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 Please look at the definition presented by Gamble and Blackwell (2001),
based closely on a previous definition by Davenport & Prusak:

"Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual

information, expert insight, and grounded intuition that provides an
environment and framework for evaluating and incorporating new
experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the mind of
the knowers. In organizations it often becomes embedded not only in
documents or repositories, but also in organizational routines, practices
and norms."

In order for KM to succeed, one needs a deep understanding of what constitutes

knowledge. Now that we have set clear boundaries between knowledge,
information, and data, it is possible to go one step further and look at the forms
in which knowledge exists and the different ways that it can be accessed,
shared, and combined.

Types

Alexander (2018) explains three types of knowledge which we shall further

discuss:

Explicit
Knowledge that is easy to articulate, write down, and share.

Explicit knowledge is the most basic form of knowledge and is easy to

pass along because it’s written down and accessible. When data is
processed, organized, structured, and interpreted, the result is explicit
knowledge. Explicit knowledge is easily articulated, recorded,

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 communicated, and most importantly in the world of knowledge
management, stored.

Examples of explicit knowledge are reports, presentations, researches,

and financial statements.

Implicit Knowledge
The application of explicit knowledge. Skills that are transferable from
one job to another are one example of implicit knowledge.

Implicit knowledge is the practical application of explicit knowledge.

There are likely instances of implicit knowledge all around our
organization.

For example, consider asking a team member how to perform a task. This
could spark a conversation about the range of options to perform the task,
as well as the potential outcomes, leading to a thoughtful process to
determine the best course of action. It is that team member’s implicit
knowledge that educates the conversation of how to do something and
what could happen. Additionally, best practices and skills that are
transferable from job to job are examples of implicit knowledge.

Tacit Knowledge
Knowledge gained from personal experience that is more difficult to
express.

Tacit knowledge is the knowledge that we possess that is garnered from

personal experience and context. It’s the information that, if asked, would
be the most difficult to write down, articulate, or present in tangible form.

As an example, think of learning how to make your grandmother’s

famous recipes. Sure, she gave you the recipe in a paper, but when you
try it on your own you feel as if something is missing. After years of
experience, she has learned the exact feel for the dough, or exactly how
long something should be in the oven. It’s not something she can write
down; she can just feel it.

In the workplace, tacit knowledge is the application of implicit

knowledge that’s specific to our organization. As employees move from
job to job, the application of their implicit knowledge will change based
on what’s unique about their business. An example of this is a sales
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 representative who can not only give a great demo but has also learned
specific buying signs while talking to prospect clients.

Take a look at the picture of the iceberg above.

As the iceberg is to be taken as 100% whole; how much of it can
we visibly see on top? And how big is the part that is hidden
from our view?

Let’s look at the top part as our explicit knowledge – this is knowledge which is
easily seen or accessed. While the bottom part is what makes up our implicit
and tacit knowledge.

Characteristics

Tallinn University (n.d.) lists ten characteristics of knowledge as follows:

1. Knowledge is contextual and it can be re-used.

Thus, we are able to pass on knowledge through training, experience,
teaching and even simulation.

2. The benefits of knowledge are obtained only if it is applied.

What good is knowledge if one cannot apply it?
When one is able to create or impact another through knowledge
application, then we are able to see its benefits or goodness in our lives.

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 3. The values of knowledge may change over time.
This is because what is timely and important knowledge now may not be
relevant in the future.

For instance, 100 years from now, they may be referring to COVID-19 as
an ordinary flu virus, and not as deadly as it is now. Maybe in 100 years,
people have developed immunity to the virus or a vaccine has been
developed.

Thus, the need for learning and practicing health protocols such as
wearing of face mask and face shield, and maintaining physical
distancing may not be that important 100 years from now.

4. Knowledge has to be renewed or maintained.

For something to be taken as true or factual, it should be ‘maintained’,

For instance, the traffic lights refer to red as stop; yellow means get ready
to stop, and green means go. A new driver has to familiarize himself with
road signs for him to be able to practice road safety.

5. It can be difficult to transfer, capture and distribute knowledge.

6. It is developed through learning processes.

7. It depends on memory, past experience, expertise, knowledge

transfer mechanisms, and opportunities.

8. Facilitates effectiveness and ‘sense-making’.

Knowledge has to make sense. This means, for something to be taken as
factual, it has to be connected with our lives.

For example: We know that in eating too much candy, we may suffer
from toothache sooner or later. Plus, we may develop cavities.

Thus, when you see a child eating too much candy; you then reprimand
the child and explain the consequences. Sense-making refers to being
able to connect the dots of data, and apply this in a ‘real-life’ situation.

9. Knowledge enables higher learning.

You certainly would not be allowed to enroll in Comm 170 if you did not
pass Comm 20.
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 You wouldn’t be enrolled in College if you did not graduate from
Elementary and High School.

10.Knowledge creation and utilization is enhanced with technology.

We always apply knowledge to create new things.
The things we create offers convenience and comfort.

Let’s look at some of these:

a. Without the printing technology, our books wouldn’t be a reality.

b. Without the light bulb technology, we would still be using candles.

c. Without the projector technology, we wouldn’t enjoy Marvel films.

d. Without the engine, we would still be walking or using horses for our
transportation. And we would be manually rowing boats through
oceans to get to another country.

e. Without laboratories and medical breakthroughs, we would have been

susceptible to deadly diseases like polio, measles, and hepatitis.

f. Without computer technology, we would not be able to use our mobile

phones and computers.

Let’s try a little icebreaker game.

Can you find all SIX words related to basketball in this picture? (Bhavini, 2016)

Encircle the words you find. You have 3 minutes to find all six words.

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How many words were you able to find? ______

You were able to find these words in the photo because you are familiar with
basketball. You have a grounded idea of concepts related to the game. You were
able to connect the dots from data and use these to make sense of the words
hidden in the photo. When you saw the words, you applied knowledge. 
Ways of Knowing

TOK (n.d.) has identified eight ways of knowing:

1. Language
 
Language is defined as a system of symbols or signs that have a particular
meaning.

Language is always based on certain rules.

For example, the word “Dog” means the same thing to everyone who
speaks the English language because we all share the same vocabulary
(which is essentially a set of rules).

On top of this, language is always intended, meaning that we always

intend to send some sort of meaning when we use language. 

While language can be confined to only a select group of people (like

only for people who speak French), language can also be universal.

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 As with all ways of knowing, language has limitations, which is
important to consider. The main function of language is to communicate
knowledge, which is sometimes imperfect. Think about translating
something into another language or conveying sarcasm over text -- it’s
not always easy! 

The main thing you should take from this way of knowing is that we can’t
function as a society without it, but that there are flaws to it.
 
2. Sense Perception
 
Sense perception is all about how we experience the world around us,
using our senses.
 
Now you probably know the 5 basic senses; sight, taste, touch, smell and
hearing, but you should be aware of the fact that there are actually a few
more. For example, if you were to close your eyes and have a friend pull
your hand up or down, you would probably be able to tell which way
your hand is moving, this is due to what is known as proprioception in
medical terms.
 
Sense perception is obviously also essential to our survival as it allows us
to interact with ourselves and the environment.

However, sense perception is limited in a few ways:

First of all, we can only use this to know about things that are
biologically able to be sensed. For example, we would never have known
about distant galaxies unless we had developed powerful telescopes that
could go beyond what is within our realm of sense-perception.

Secondly, our senses and perception can easily be manipulated. Think

about an optical illusion where the eyes can be tricked into seeing what is
not actually true.

Again, let us be aware of the limitations of the way of knowing.

 
3. Emotion
 
Emotion is a way to make sense of ideas experiences and behaviors.

As a way of knowing it is extremely powerful, as we tend to make most

of our day-to-day decisions based on our emotions. However, this is
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 limited by the fact that it can only really bring knowledge to an
individual, and never to a group of people.

For example, two individuals may experience the same stimulus but
achieve very different emotional responses, so although it is a powerful
way of knowing, it is not necessarily reproducible, or consistent to all.
 
4. Reason 

Reason allows us to form knowledge without relying on our senses.

With reason, we take the knowledge that we already have and then
synthesize new knowledge therefrom. Reason allows us to deduce what
we can not immediately experience for ourselves.

For example, if you are sat indoors, and hear that there are no clouds
outside, you can reasonably deduce that it is also not raining. Hence, you
are obtaining new knowledge through the assimilation of other pieces of
information.
 
5. Imagination
 
This is when we form new images, ideas or concepts that aren’t actually
there in the real world.

However, imagination is often crucial for the development of new

knowledge.

For example, many companies or products are created by the founder

imagining them and then later attempting to bring them to life.

A major limitation to our imagination is however that the extent to which

we can imagine something is limited by our real world experiences.

For example, it can often be difficult to imagine what life would be like
for someone that grew up under very different circumstances to oneself.
 
6. Intuition
 
This is when a knower has a gut feeling, which is often based on past
experiences which can not be explicitly identified.

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 For example, when a doctor with many years of experience sees a patient,
he or she might be able to come to the correct diagnosis with seemingly
less information than what a junior doctor would require, simply because
they can detect very subtle clues which are seemingly invisible to others.
 
This way of knowing is limited by its inability to make very precise
predictions and is often very difficult to obtain. Hence, only very few
people can produce reliable knowledge using intuition.
 
7. Memory

Some students are confused by how memory can act as a way of forming
new knowledge, surely if you remember something, are you are simply
recalling old knowledge from experiences or ideas?

However, in order to form new knowledge, you often have to rely on

concepts from your memory. Think about when you tried to understand
how to read; you were forced to use your memory of the meaning of
letters, to understand how words and then sentences are formed, it’s all
interconnected.
 
The major disadvantage of memory is that it is often unreliable. Research
has shown that your memory of past events is influenced by many
different factors including your emotional states at the time of forming
the memory, as well as environmental factors (eg. what others thought of
the same event you are remembering).
 
Hence although memory is important, it should be used with caution. 
 
8. Faith
 
Faith is often disputed and by some not regarded as a way of knowing.

This is due to the nature of faith itself, which is complete confidence in

something based on spiritual conviction. This doesn’t necessarily need to
involve religion, as many students believe, as faith can also be based on a
person, organization or movement.

One limitation of faith is that it can not be proven and that it can often
clash with evidence.

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Knowledge and Wisdom

We have in the previous lesson defined and explained what is knowledge.

Today, we shall differentiate it from wisdom.

What does wisdom mean?

Dictiinary.com (2020) explains that wisdom is defined as “the state of being
wise,” which means “having the power of discernment and judging properly as
to what is true or right: possessing discernment, judgement, or discretion.”

It’s older (recorded before the 900s), and joins wise and -dom, a suffix that can
convey “general condition,” as in freedom. Wisdom is typically gained from
experiences and acquired over time.

While wisdom and knowledge are synonyms, the other synonyms for each
word, respectively, don’t overlap much. And they give more hints at each
word’s unique meaning.

For example, other synonyms for knowledge include:

ability awareness education expertise
familiarity grasp

Other synonyms for wisdom include:

caution experience foresight judgment
prudence

Perspective

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The primary difference between the two words is that wisdom involves a
healthy dose of perspective and the ability to make sound judgments about a
subject while knowledge is simply knowing.

Anyone can become knowledgeable about a subject by reading, researching,

and memorizing facts. It’s wisdom, however, that requires more understanding
and the ability to determine which facts are relevant in certain situations.

Wisdom takes knowledge and applies it with discernment based on experience,

evaluation, and lessons learned.

A quote by an unknown author sums up the differences well:

“Knowledge is knowing what to say. Wisdom is knowing when to say it.”

Wisdom is also about knowing when and how to use your knowledge, being
able to put situations in perspective, and how to impart it to others.

For example, you may be very knowledgeable about how to raise a baby after
reading countless books, attending classes, and talking to wise friends and
family members. When that precious little person comes home, however, most
new parents would kill for an ounce of wisdom to help soothe their screaming
baby … and their fears.

To put it another way, there is this simple fruit salad philosophy:

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in
the fruit salad.”

Scheduled Class Meeting

I shall schedule one Google Meetings for our class.

This is for me to explain further the topics covered in
this module.

However, it is expected that you have read the topics covered here
before joining the class meeting.

Session 1: Date _______________ Time __________

CHAPTER 1: Long Exam – A

You shall be given a link to the online examination which is done via
________.
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The following guidelines shall be in-effect for the Long Exam:

1. Please be reminded that you can only access ONCE the online
examination. Once you log-in, you cannot anymore log-out or pause it,
otherwise, you lose the chance to complete the examination. Make sure
you are ready before taking the examination. I will not entertain any
excuses on this rule. In my 8 years as an online student, I have not had
any problems with taking online examinations.

2. The exam has a time limit. When you log-in, the time will automatically
start.

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