Distinguishing Knowledge from Information. A Prerequisite for Elaborating KM Initiative Strategy

Although the technological approach of Knowledge Management (KM) is greatly shared, without awareness, when elaborating KM initiative’s strategy, we can confuse the notions of information and knowledge, and disregard the importance of individual’s tacit knowledge used in action. Therefore, to avoid misunderstanding during the strategic orientation phase of a general KM initiative development, it is fundamental to clearly distinguish the notion of information from the notion of knowledge. Further, we insist on the importance to integrate the individual as a component of the Enterprise’s Information and Knowledge System (EIKS). In this paper, we argue that Knowledge cannot be considered as an object such as data are in digital information systems. Consequently, we propose an empirical model enabling to distinguish the notions of information and knowledge. This model shows the role of individual’s interpretative frameworks and tacit knowledge, establishing a discontinuity between information and knowledge. This pragmatic vision needs thinking about the architecture of an Enterprise’s Information and Knowledge System (EIKS), which must be a basis of discussion during the strategic orientation phase of a KM initiative.