Chief Knowledge Officers: Managing Knowledge for Organizational Effectiveness

Abstract

The Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) is often portrayed as a catalyst for knowledge management programs. However, this organizational entity is new, often not well understood and frequently not without controversy. In this chapter, the CKO function, the rationale for its existence and the challenge people in this role face are examined. The theoretical underpinnings for such a position and the importance of the implicit-to-explicit knowledge conversion process to a CKO’s knowledge management program are explored, as is the potential for knowledge exchange protocols to facilitate this process. Finally, arguments for potentially not implementing a CKO function are discussed.