The role of communication in current debates on knowledge management

‘The management of knowledge goes far beyond the storage and manipulation of data, or even of information. It is the attempt to recognize what is essentially a human asset buried in the minds of individuals, and leverage it into an organizational asset that can be accessed and used by a broader set of individuals on whose decisions the firm depends.’ The ability to manage human intellect and its conversion into useful ‘product’ is, perhaps, the most critical management skill in our age, providing the ultimate in competitive edge. Unfortunately, in most organisations managing intellectual capital remains largely unexplored territory, especially understanding the human side of knowledge management. Moreover, given the centrality of communication to organising, it is surprising how little recent work in the field of knowledge management or intellectual capital focuses on, never mind even mentions, the concept of communication per se. Perhaps it is time that organisation communication scholars tackled this void. This paper then takes up such a challenge, reflecting on the role organisation communication might play in dealing with knowledge management in contemporary and future organisational practice.