Introduction
Currently, the control, direction and expectations of organizations is based, in a fundamental way, on the mastery with which the information that flows in every imaginable way inside and outside the organization is managed. It is the way in which the convergence of all this information is taken advantage of, which gives it efficiency for decision-making, and allows it to obtain competitive advantage and permanence in an increasingly dense and complex market, where customer knowledge, the quality and flexibility to adapt to the needs and requirements of both the client, the environment, and the environment in general.
It is important to emphasize that information, as information is that, sets of data and experiences, which, without focus, will continue to be information.
The difference stands out in the fact of handling that information, but, to handle that information it must be interpreted, and to interpret it, it must be integrated, assembled and classified, to determine in what area, aspect, situation, moment, and opportunity to use it, both as independent information, or as part of more information, so that knowledge is finally generated, knowing that what was previously considered as "Information is power" has now evolved into "Knowledge is power", decision-making power and power of action. It is the great difference between knowing that making a jump to "Know how".
2. Difference between "Information" and "Knowledge".
The difference between information and knowledge lies initially in, as mentioned before, the fact that the information is limited to data, quantitative or quantitative, without necessarily delving into the nature of said information. Information by itself does not provide a fundamental basis, nor a perspective, nor a reason or direction that help man to know how to act, how he acts or how to decide.
Knowledge, which starts from information and information sets, is therefore a broader “Knowledge”, which, depending on the information, transforms it into a living and participative element of organizational decisions.
Therefore, knowledge as a definition:
A dynamic human process of justification of personal belief in search of truth.
It is important to highlight the difference between Eastern and Western information and knowledge, since Eastern culture tends to recharge its concept of knowledge more in interiorization and reflection, and the Western concept tends to handle it more as a reflection of power and easy and indispensable to exhibit.
The information makes it possible to establish differences based on comparisons, allows immediate interpretations, and to obtain certain meanings that are easily or logically visible.
Knowledge is the consequence, and the learning obtained through information and the immediate qualities that information offers.
Knowledge provides the capacity for conscious and directed action and execution.
3. "Diffuse," Tacit "and" Explicit ".
Information at a personal or organizational level can be divided into two categories:
DIFFUSED Information-
Information that is unclear and can be widely dispersed and very imprecise.
TACITA information.-
Information that generates knowledge that is not expressed or that is difficult to interpret or relate to understand its meaning, which is often misunderstood, and many times it is misinterpreted, not knowing how to assemble it or integrate it with other information, for lack of tools or knowledge to create the real meaning of the relationship between them.
EXPLICIT information.
It is the information that is clearly expressed, regardless of whether it is correct or incorrect information, there is no doubt about the content of the information that is being transmitted or generated.
IMPLIED Information.
It is information that, although it is clear, contains other meaning, it is what is vulgarly "It is not said, but it is implied.
4. Creation of TACITO (subjective) and EXPLICIT (objective) knowledge in an organization.
THE TACITO knowledge (Subjective: way of thinking, feeling and often interpreting based on the first two).-
It is the knowledge created by individuals, it is personal, and difficult to communicate. It is the true position and opinion of each individual about the activities carried out within an organization. It is the information that is often considered tribal, since when a section or area of an organization disappears or fragments, it takes with it the understanding and knowledge that should have been generated, hindering or slowing down the continuity, and the decisions and actions within an organization.
Explicit knowledge (Objective: that personal considerations do not influence their judgment or behavior).-
It is knowledge that, based on information, is transmitted in a clear and formal way, but it has the defect of being so formalized that it does not contain the essence and bases of tacit knowledge. Hence the expression " We can know more than we can express."
Classification of the two types of knowledge
As already mentioned, there are two types of knowledge worldwide, based on the perspective of the most traditional cultures at the organizational level, which are the Western and the Eastern.
For example, Japanese organizations give much greater importance to tacit knowledge, hence the time of reflection for decision making is so important in their organizational culture.
Western cultures give more importance to explicit knowledge, hence more importance is given to the reflection of actions and the fact of seeing people in action.
However, the two ways of knowing are not separate, but rather complement each other by way of interaction and exchange, in a dynamic model of integration that is shown in the diagram below, later explaining their ways of combining to create knowledge:
Dynamic table of knowledge creation
Socialization.
It consists of sharing experiences thus creating knowledge such as unwritten or documented technical skills, through observation and signs or samples, imitation and practice.
This phase of knowledge conversion involves the simple questions:
1. What (What information is sought to obtain)
2. Because (Because we want to obtain it)
3. How (The way in which the event for which we wish to obtain information is made or happens)
4. Who (The direct participant or participants in the events, and who in turn are the basic points of observation).
The externalization.
It is a knowledge creation process in which tacit knowledge is made explicit through documentation, images, analysis, and supported by concepts that support the conversion of information to knowledge that is being carried out.
In this concept, the creation of an inductive and deductive environment is used , which consists, at least from the Japanese point of view, in creating the relaxation environment necessary to deal with the most delicate and determining issues of the future of organizations.
Combination.
It is the creation of knowledge through documented information, in meetings, communication networks and information processing software. In this way knowledge is classified and categorized.
Internalization.-
It is a process of converting explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge. Although it is related to the concept of “Learning by doing”, it is the phase in which, in addition to ensuring that individuals understand the information that is being transmitted to them, it is also creating knowledge with commitment, which will make the three combinations The former and the latter generate a cycle of INFORMATION - LEARNING - KNOWLEDGE.
In this way, what is known as the spiral of knowledge is created, which is the integration of the modes of information processing, and the creation of knowledge to form organizational systemic thinking; it is then the integration of fuzzy information, as shown then.
6. The 5 phases of creating organizational knowledge.
1. Share tacit knowledge.
The tacit knowledge of individuals is the basis of good attitude and organizational knowledge. In other words, starting from the emotions, feelings and attitude of the individuals in the organization is vital before starting to extract their tacit knowledge and make it formal and documented. This extraction must be carried out under the appropriate conditions, that is, interacting or executing their tasks, or seeing them work in groups, to know how they work and react under real working conditions, and to listen and interpret the tacit knowledge about their daily tasks, which often dominate unconsciously.
2. Creation of draft concepts.
Once the tacit information is obtained, drafts or information sketches are created that serve to know, with knowledge of the facts, what to specifically ask those involved. As mentioned before, it is possible that it is information that the individual did not even know he had, so in this way he is faced with either diagrams, drawings, or easily digestible tables, the information that was extracted from him. himself, but now he visualizes it as something he already knows, and that he can improve even more, with the rest of the information he has.
3. Conversion to concepts.
At this stage, information becomes a concept, a belief. It is documented and made available and applied in the areas involved.
4. Model construction.
In this step, and verified the veracity and reliability of the information converted into knowledge obtained, in the case of production, new products are generated, in the case of organizational management systems, an operating mechanism.
5. Distribution of knowledge.
Finally, the knowledge acquisition model is extended, and a feedback cycle is ensured to ensure its permanence and its expansion and growth.
Diagram of the 5 phases of the creation of organizational knowledge
To ensure the successful conversion of information and knowledge, it is essential that each unit of the organization has the necessary autonomy to use the developed knowledge and freely apply it at all levels.
INTERNAL staff turnover within the organization, redundancy, and the variety of communication channels facilitate the conversion of information and knowledge from tacit to explicit, and finally internalized.
