UTILIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE MIND MAPPING TO ESTABLISH STRONG DEPARTMENTS IN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The problem of managing knowledge is receiving considerable attention with the increased generation of new knowledge derived from meaningful information globally and daily. Knowledge management should thus not be seen as a means to an end but an end in itself. According to Mike (1996), knowledge management is important only to the extent that it enhances an organization’s ability and capacity to deal with and develop in four dimensions namely: mission, competition, performance and change. The value of knowledge management therefore relates directly to the effectiveness with which the managed knowledge enables the members of the institution/organization to deal with today’s situations and effectively envision and create their future. This paper examines how knowledge mapping can be utilized to portray a perspective of the players, sources, flows, constraints, and sinks of knowledge within an organization. A knowledge map (k-map) is a navigation aid to both explicit information and tacit knowledge, showing the importance and the relationships between knowledge stores and the dynamics. The authors focus is on how knowledge mapping could help discover the constraints, assumptions, location, ownership, value and use of knowledge assets, artifacts, people and their expertise, uncover blocks to knowledge creation and find opportunities to leverage existing knowledge. This is done with specific reference to universities as institutions of higher learning in Kenya. We shall use data collected from archives, interviews, newspapers and published reports. This paper challenges the current set up of knowledge management in Kenyan universities.

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