Being and Knowing – Ontological Perspectives on Knowledge Management Systems

This paper undertakes an ontological analysis of knowledge management systems from two perspectives: Popperian and Heideggerian. Earl’s taxonomy of knowledge management schools is used as the proxy for the variety of systems that can be found in practice. The paper takes two contrasting ontological systems to identify generic strengths and weaknesses at the level of the School. The argument is made that many of the issues and difficulties frequently encountered in organisations are