Mapping the Field: Knowledge Management

Abstract

Knowledge Management labours under the weight of research orientations and practical applications that proceed under its banner but do little to help clarify the nature of KM or the solutions it offers. A thematic analysis of relevant literatures verifies dominance of KM by Information Technology (IT) approaches and helps account for the field's popularity. However, questions are raised about the role of non-IT disciplines and literatures to sustain KM in light of the IT downturn, and the maturation of the field generally. Further bibliometric analysis is conducted to identify core and secondary KM literatures informing the field. Ideas and models from the complexity sciences are used to help conceptualize KM, and these too are probed in the literature for bibliometric evidence of relevance.