Personal Knowledge Capital: The Inner and Outer Path of Knowledge Creation in a Web World

Citation

Mesquita, A. (2013), "Personal Knowledge Capital: The Inner and Outer Path of Knowledge Creation in a Web World", Online Information Review, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 664-665. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-05-2013-0119

This work is somewhat different from most organisation‐focused works on knowledge management (KM) is different because in that it deals with the KM worker, knowledge creation and third generation KM. It presents knowledge creation as the result of a balance between body and mind, the inner and outer path. While the inner path focuses on tacit knowledge in knowledge creation and points out the importance of inner value, resulting in a model for personal knowledge awareness, the outer path explores how to communicate in an effective way and exploits knowledge in a modern business world. In her introduction Janette Young explains why this discussion is needed and what is the added value of her work. As she states, her purpose is “to explore the integration of mind versus body in relation to tacit knowledge within the domain of knowledge creation theory”.

These two dimensions (inner and outer, body and mind, the tacit and the explicit) constitute the two parts of the book: Part 1 (four chapters) on the inner path of knowledge creation, and Part 2 (seven chapters) on the outer path of personal knowledge capital in a web environment. In the first part Young addresses knowledge creation and tacit knowledge, focusing particularly on how the knowledge worker can process cognitive personal knowledge to gain control in a variety of work environments. The ultimate goal in Part 1 is the creation of a knowledge awareness model for knowledge creation that extends the existing SECI model of knowledge creation to include personal knowledge awareness. This is interesting and challenging reading.

In Part 2 the author also aims at developing a model, this time for knowledge creation in the web environment; this she presents in Chapter 12 as a “knowledge cube” that brings together aspects discussed in the preceding chapters. This is a model generated as a metaphor for knowledge creation in virtual space. The six chapters leading up to this model take the reader through the role and value of networking, the place and value of social capital, the place of communities and cultures in knowledge sharing and the application of knowledge creation theory. Each chapter in both parts includes an abstract, summary and self‐assessment questions. The work concludes with a glossary and consolidated list of references

All in all, this work is relevant for anyone concerned with personal knowledge capital, from researchers and professionals looking for personal knowledge management, to lecturers wanting to develop their own personal knowledge capital. This is a book to read, to put into practice and to read again.