A wider view of knowledge

Argues that current discussion about knowledge management begs the question as to what “knowledge” actually is. Suggests that definitions are usually based upon assumptions about rationality and objectivity, making knowledge propositional and its epistemology non‐intuitive. Highlights the way in which ends‐means and duty‐based factors help to shape knowledge and give it a strong ethical dimension. Argues that traditional managerial paradigms benefit from a wider interpretation of knowledge, as one where greater attention to how it is, as well as what it is, matter to people in organisations. Turns to Asian philosophical views of knowledge, suggesting that knowing and being and acting come closer together in them, and that decision making without such wider epistemological warrants is flawed, above all in environments claiming to exteriorise tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge.