Agile Knowledge Management; A Review, Reconceptualization, and Extension to Military Applications

The purpose of this research is to explore the conceptual background of agility in knowledge management, re-conceptualize it and extend it to military applications with a special focus on Counterinsurgency (COIN). An initial qualitative exploration of agility in knowledge management was performed. Three different concepts and their interrelationships were analyzed: (1) knowledge management, (2) agility in operations, and (3) military organizations in the COIN environment. Findings from this initial qualitative analysis were used to inductively redefine, re-conceptualize and extend the concept of Agile Knowledge Management (AKM), as well as, to compare and adapt the AKM concept to the military environment of COIN. An additional qualitative analysis was performed to validate the extended concept of AKM. While this study is mainly focused on AKM in dynamic multinational and joint military environment of COIN, conclusions may be applicable in a broader context. The results of this research can be used by engineering managers and knowledge management practitioners and academics with particular focus on the military environment as foundation for (a) further research and development in agile knowledge management (b) developing customized agile knowledge management education programs and (c) extending the concept of AKM and its application to other environments