Knowledge management and knowledge security—Building an integrated framework in the light of COVID-19

Abstract

This paper presents a framework of knowledge risk management in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, derived from the literature on knowledge management, knowledge security, and COVID-19. So far, both researchers and practitioners have focused on knowledge as an asset and their efforts have been aimed at the implementation of knowledge management in various organizational contexts. However, with increasing threats related to cyberattacks or hazards associated with knowledge loss (as magnified by the COVID-19 crisis), there is a growing need to account for knowledge-related risks. In this conceptual paper, we integrate the contributions from the knowledge management and knowledge security fields, together with research on COVID-19 to help organizations protect the knowledge they create, store and share. Based on a structured literature review, our investigation provides researchers and managers with a framework for securely handling organizational knowledge in a critical situation. Our framework revolves around two foci: one the one hand, building appropriate knowledge risk measures and controls; on the other hand, holistically tackling knowledge risks as part of knowledge management activities.