Data, information, and Organizational knowledge - Essay Example

Knowledge is one the leading, if not the only, principal factor, which makes organizational, personal, as well as societal intelligent performance possible. Data refers to facts that are precise and timely, specific and planned for a reason, offered within a context that gives it significance and relevance, and can enhance understanding and reduce uncertainty. Information is priceless because it can influence behavior, a choice, or result. For instance, if a manager is informed that his/her company's net profit declined in the past month, he/she might use this information as a motive to cut financial expenses for the following month.

A piece of information is regarded valueless if, after getting it, things still remain unchanged (Leonard & Swap, 2005). People can refer to information as data, particularly when it is in the form of statistics or facts that they can analyze. In the American English dictionary, data is normally a plural noun. The knowledge-based theory of the organization regards knowledge as the most tactically significant resource of the organization (Levinson, 2007). Its proponents quarrel that since knowledge-based resources are socially complex and difficult to imitate, diverse capabilities and knowledge bases among organizations are the key determinants of sustained competitive advantage, in addition to superior corporate performance.

This knowledge is entrenched and carried through numerous entities comprising of organizational culture and identity, routines, policies, documents, employees and systems. Initiating from the strategic organization literature, this viewpoint builds upon and goes beyond the resource-based view of the organization (RBV) originally endorsed by Penrose (1959) and later lengthened by the likes of (Barney 1991, Wernerfelt 1984, Conner 1991) (Levinson, 2007). Even though, the resource-based view of the organization recognizes the significant role of knowledge in organizations that accomplish a competitive advantage, supporters of the knowledge-based view quarrel that the resource-based perception does not go far enough.

Particularly, the RBV regards knowledge as a common resource, instead of having unique traits. It, hence, does not differentiate between different kinds of knowledge-based competences (Levinson, 2007). Information technologies can play a significant role in the knowledge-based view of the organization in that information systems can be utilized to enhance, synthesize, and speed up large-scale inter- and intra-organization knowledge management. Not all information is significant. Hence, it is up to individual organizations to decide what information meets the criteria of knowledge-based and intellectual assets (Leonard & Swap, 2005).

In general, nevertheless, knowledge-based and intellectual assets fit into one of two categories: tacit or explicit. They are incorporated among the former assets such as trademarks, patents, business plans, customer lists and marketing research. As a universal rule of thumb, explicit knowledge takes in anything, which can be archived, documented and codified, frequently with the help of IT. More complex to understand is the perception of tacit knowledge, or the expertise contained in an individual’s minds.

The dispute inherent with tacit knowledge is finding out how to generate, recognize, share and run it (Wiig, 2009). While information technology in the form of a groupware, e-mail, instant messaging and correlated