Registration, access and use of personal knowledge in organizations

Organizations have managed information regarding knowledge of employees using processes such as codification, knowledge mapping, network analysis and personalization. Recently, personal knowledge registration (PKR) has become another way of managing this knowledge. Little is known about how organizations support PKR, and how PKR facilitates the flow of information and knowledge. This paper examines how different information management professionals access and use PKR. It is a multiple case study, with 43 semi-structured interviews and an analysis of strategic documents. The purpose is to shed light on strategic intentions with PKR, its collaborative tasks and qualities. A conceptual model was built for this purpose. The aim is to better understand how PKR works and to examine how information on education, training and the skills of employees is managed in organizations. The findings demonstrate that organizational strategies portray elaborate intentions regarding knowledge seeking and sharing, while less emphasis is put on knowledge registration or management. Interviewees expressed lack of appropriate actions to support PKR. Access and use of PKR is limited and the organizations still struggle to manage the PKR of their employees.