Abstract

The primary purpose of this whole systems study was to discover the essential framework for a socially systemic view of knowledge management and describe the fundamental relationships between that socially systemic view and large, complex and highly technical organizations that may use that process to develop guiding principles for their own organizational effectiveness. The definition I used for the Socialization of Knowledge is: a process of socially organizing and disseminating knowledge that advocates knowledge flow between individuals through organizational structures and functions, by fostering appropriate contexts and human relationships, with the intent of increasing knowledge creation, retention, utilization, and quality by the organization or enterprise, and its participating members, as measured by improved organizational responsiveness and performance. ;My primary motivation in the study was to determine whether the definition and the process were operative elements within the knowledge worker culture regarding organizational learning, and knowledge management, especially in large, complex, highly technical, global organizations. ;This treatise included a secondary purpose of determining the feasibility of using a whole systems methodology to conduct the study. I created a whole systems meta-construct for examining the Socialization of Knowledge, primarily in a business setting. ;A whole systems approach was shown to be the only framework that sufficiently enables this socialization process and effectively explores the knowledge worker culture and associated domains. ;The study determined that some organizations have used Socialization of Knowledge concepts to develop knowledge relationships that benefit organizational effectiveness. This study also provided sufficient justification that a Socialization of Knowledge process was beneficial to the knowledge worker culture. ;Finally, this study determined that the Socialization of Knowledge, in some fashion, appears to be a broad general goal for many organizations. It is definitely a valid construct for large, complex, highly technical global organizations, but also embodies general characteristics that should add value to other organizational types as well. It offers sufficient relationships to link the Socialization of Knowledge to any specific organization studied, especially those in the knowledge worker culture of technical and complex enterprises