Stuff or love? How metaphors direct our efforts to manage knowledge in organisations

Daniel G Andriessen

Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 2008, vol. 6, issue 1, 5-12

Abstract: This position paper addresses the way knowledge is conceptualised in knowledge management (KM) literature and practice. Using the work of Lakoff and Johnson on metaphors it will show how people use metaphors to think and talk about knowledge. In KM literature at least 22 different metaphors for knowledge are used. Further research shows that these metaphors are primarily Western metaphors while in Eastern philosophy many other metaphors for knowledge are used. The choice of metaphors for knowledge has great influence about the way we think about KM. They determine what we diagnose as KM problems in organisations and what we develop as KM solutions. To illustrate this, this paper presents the results of an exercise set up to determine the effect of metaphors on KM approaches in which two challenging metaphors for knowledge were used: knowledge as water and knowledge as love.

Date: 2008
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1057/palgrave.kmrp.8500169 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tkmrxx:v:6:y:2008:i:1:p:5-12

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/tkmr20

DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.kmrp.8500169

Access Statistics for this article

Knowledge Management Research & Practice is currently edited by Giovanni Schiuma

More articles in Knowledge Management Research & Practice from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().