Managing the KM Trade-Off: Knowledge Centralization versus Distribution

KM is more an archipelago of theories and practices rather than a monolithic approach. We propose a conceptual map that organizes some major approaches to KM according to their assumptions on the nature of knowledge. The paper introduces the two major views on knowledge ­objectivist, subjectivist - and explodes each of them into two major approaches to KM: knowledge as a market, and knowledge as intellectual capital (the objectivistic perspective); knowledge as mental models, and knowledge as practice (the subjectivist perspective). We argue that the dichotomy between objective and subjective approaches is intrinsic to KM within complex organizations, as each side of the dichotomy responds to different, and often conflicting, needs: on the one hand, the need to maximize the value of knowledge through its replication; on the other hand, the need to keep knowledge appropriate to an increasingly complex and changing environment. Moreover, as a proposal for a deeper discussion, such trade-off will be suggested as the origin of other relevant KM related trade-offs that will be listed. Managing these trade-offs will be proposed as a main challenge of KM

Enabling Distributed Knowledge Management: Managerial and Technological Implications

In this paper we show that the typical architecture of current KM systems re.ects an objectivistic epistemology and a traditional managerial control paradigm. We argue that such an objectivistic epistemology is inconsistent with many theories on the nature of knowledge, in which subjectivity and sociality are taken as essential features of knowledge creation and sharing. We show that adopting such a new epistemological view has dramatic consequences at an architectural, managerial and technological level

Knowledge Nodes: the reification of organizational communities. A case study

In our work a new approach, the Distributed Knowledge Management (DKM) approach, is used and organizations are seen as constellations of communities, which \own" local knowledge and exchange it through meaning negotiation coordination processes. In order to reify communities within a DKM system, the concept of Knowledge Node (KN) is used and then applied in a case study: a complex Italian national firm, the Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A. All communities of practices are un-veiled and rei ed as KNs within a high level architecture of a DKM system. In this paper it is argued that, even if knowledge has to be organized and made useful to the whole organization, there are types of knowledge that must be managed in an autonomous way, and the DKM approach is a good system which to deal with coordination/negotiation processes

Knowledge Nodes: the Building Blocks of a Distributed Approach to Knowledge Management

Abstract: In this paper we criticise the objectivistic approach that underlies most current systems for Knowledge Management. We show that such an approach is incompatible with the very nature of what is to be managed (i.e., knowledge), and we argue that this may partially explain why most knowledge management systems are deserted by users. We propose a different approach - called distributed knowledge management - in which subjective and social (in a word, contextual) aspects of knowledge are seriously taken into account. Finally, we present a general technological architecture in which these ideas are implemented by introducing the concept of knowledge node

Rationality, Autonomy and Coordination: the Sunk Costs Perspective

Our thesis is that an agent1 is autonomous only if he is capable, within a non predictable environment, to balance two forms of rationality: one that, given goals and preferences, enables him to select the best course of action (means-ends), the other, given current achievements and capabilities, enables him to adapt preferences and future goals. We will propose the basic elements of an economic model that should explain how and why this balance is achieved: in particular we underline that an agent’s capabilities can often be considered as partially sunk investments. This leads an agent, while choosing, to consider not just the value generated by the achievement of a goal, but also the lost value generated by the non use of existing capabilities.We will propose that, under particular conditions, an agent, in order to be rational, could be led to perform a rationalization process of justification that changes preferences and goals according to his current state and available capabilities. Moreover, we propose that such a behaviour could offer a new perspective on the notion of autonomy and on the social process of coordination

Peer - Mediated Distributed Knowledge Management

Distributed Knowledge Management is an approach to knowledge management based on the principle that the multiplicity (and heterogeneity) of perspectives within complex organizations is not be viewed as an obstacle to knowledge exploitation, but rather as an opportunity that can foster innovation and creativity. Despite a wide agreement on this principle, most current KM systems are based on the idea that all perspectival aspects of knowledge should be eliminated in favor of an objective and general representation of knowledge. In this paper we propose a peer-to-peer architecture (called KEx), which embodies the principle above in a quite straightforward way: (i) each peer (called a K-peer) provides all the services needed to create and organize "local" knowledge from an individual's or a group's perspective, and (ii) social structures and protocols of meaning negotiation are introduced to achieve semantic coordination among autonomous peers (e.g., when searching documents from other K-peers). A first version of the system, called KEx, is imple-mented as a knowledge exchange level on top of JXTA

A Peer-to-Peer Architecture for Distributed Knowledge Management.

Most of the knowledge management systems of complex organizations are based on technological architectures that are in contradiction with the social processes of knowledge creation. In particular, centralized architectures are adopted to manage a process that is intrinsically distributed. In this paper, assuming a Distributed approach to Knowledge Management (DKM), is proposed that technological and social architectures must be reciprocally consistent. Moreover, in the domain of Knowledge Management, technological architectures should be designed in order to support the interplay between two qualitatively different processes: the autonomous management of knowledge of individuals and groups - here called Knowledge Nodes (KNs) -, and the coordination required in order to exchange knowledge among them. Finally a peer to peer architecture to support knowledge exchange across distributed and autonomous KNs is presented

Teleportation improvement by inconclusive photon subtraction

Inconclusive photon subtraction (IPS) is a conditional measurement scheme to force nonlinear evolution of a given state. In IPS the input state is mixed with the vacuum in a beam splitter and then the reflected beam is revealed by ON/OFF photodetection. When the detector clicks we have the (inconclusive) photon subtracted state. We show that IPS on both channels of an entangled twin-beam of radiation improves the fidelity of coherent state teleportation if the energy of the incoming twin-beam is below a certain threshold, which depends on the beam splitter transmissivity and the quantum efficiency of photodetectors. We show that the energy threshold diverges when the transmissivity and the efficiency approach unit and compare our results with that of previous works on {\em conclusive} photon subtraction.Comment: slightly revised version, to appear in PR

Radiation to atom quantum mapping by collective recoil in Bose-Einstein condensate

We propose an experiment to realize radiation to atom continuous variable quantum mapping, i.e. to teleport the quantum state of a single mode radiation field onto the collective state of atoms with a given momentum out of a Bose-Einstein condensate. The atoms-radiation entanglement needed for the teleportation protocol is established through the interaction of a single mode with the condensate in presence of a strong far off-resonant pump laser, whereas the coherent atomic displacement is obtained by the same interaction with the radiation in a classical coherent field. In principle, verification of the protocol requires a joint measurement on the recoiling atoms and the condensate, however, a partial verification involving populations, i.e. diagonal matrix elements may be obtained through counting atoms experiments

K-Trek: A Peer-to-Peer Approach To Distribute Knowledge In Large Environments

In this paper, we explore an architecture, called K-Trek, that enables mobile users to travel across knowledge distributed over a large geographical area (ranging from large public buildings to a national park). Our aim is providing, dis-tributing, and enriching the environment with location-sensitive information for use by agents on board of mobile and static devices. Local interactions among K-Trek devices and the distribution of information in the larger environment adopt some typical peer-to-peer patterns and techniques. We introduce the architecture, discuss some of its potential knowledge management applications, and present a few experimental results obtained with simulation