2.1. Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is aimed at gaining access to new knowledge resources. To this end, knowledge management relies on new theories such as the social knowledge management theory, which aims to gain access to the massive information resources of customers (Retna & Tee NG, 2011).
Today, building and keeping relationships with customers not only are important for the sales of products and services, but also help find access to the information and knowledge of the customer. This latter concept is discussed in the context of knowledge management systems (Winer, 2001).
Establishment of the knowledge management system in the organization leads to the development of an organization’s knowledge of customers. The knowledge management system can maintain and provide knowledge management procedures and systems necessary for achievement of the entire body of knowledge. This, in turn, can result in increased added value for the organization and customers. Knowledge management provides the instruments, procedures and databases required for sharing the available knowledge with customers and employees. This enables the organization to add to the value of integration of customers’ knowledge and eventually leads to an increase in quality of services. Hence, employees show more interest in sharing their knowledge of customers and experiencing the resulting added value (Murry, 2006). Knowledge management is a process through which organizations use the collected information (Tsong, 2009).
It is a system running knowledge assets of an entire organization (explicit and implicit knowledge) (Michael, 2004).
Liebowitz (2005) illustrated the concepts of data, information, knowledge, and organizational processes in a model, based on which data is transformed into practical information. Information also results in knowledge, which is used for enhanced individual and organizational processes (Mian M. Ajmal, 2009).
According to the definition of the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), knowledge management refers to a strategy aimed at providing proper knowledge to the proper user at a proper time (Chin-Tsang, 2009).
Wig defines knowledge management as a set of activities conducted to obtain an overall understanding of attitudes and to benefit from areas requiring the attention of the management. It also includes identification of prominent alternatives, recommendations of methods for handling definitions, and direction of activities to achieve the desired results (Chan, 2007).