Total quality management in a knowledge management perspective

There are similarities between information management (IM) and knowledge management (KM), but the latter is wider in scope and includes (especially) aspects of process and learning which are not major concerns of information management as generally understood. This article presents theoretical considerations on both similarities and differences between IM and KM, and summarises the points made into a conceptual model of basic KM processes. It is emphasised that KM operates in a quite different way from IM and that management must see ‘knowledge’ in a much wider sense than that of document storage and retrieval per se. The point is made that a knowledge management perspective on business processes, training and achievement of business objectives is relevant in a different way from IM which has up till now been used in an information service way to refer to repository‐based systems. This point is illustrated by using total quality management (TQM) as an example. The examination of TQM‐based management tools reveals that the application of these tools is interesting from a KM point of view, having significant consequences especially in terms of knowledge creation, accumulation and sharing.