Juxtaposing Concepts of Knowledge: Knowledge as Object of Research and Knowledge as a Product of Research

摘要

Recent debate within the IS academic community concerning the perceived lack of relevance of much IS research motivated the author’s re-examination of assumptions concerning professional knowledge that emerged during his work as a practitioner and have evolved during his time spent in teaching and research. This personal reflection and discussion with colleagues revealed a perceived mismatch between the construct of knowledge as an object of study, using the knowledge management (KM) research stream as a proxy, and the social science research community’s production of formal knowledge. This paper reviews concepts or dimensions of knowledge included within the KM research literature, explores the apparent conflation of knowledge with theory within the social sciences, and suggests increased acceptance and use of historical research methods to help close the gap between theoretical and practitioner knowledge.