The knowing organization as learning organization

Abstract

Examines the information processes that support organisational sense‐making, knowledge creation and decision making. Sense‐making involves interpreting the raw data of the environment by enactment, selection and retention. New knowledge is created by knowledge conversion, knowledge building, and knowledge linking. Completely rational decision making would involve identifying alternatives, projecting the outcomes of each alternative and evaluating the alternatives and their outcomes according to known preferences and objectives. In the organisational knowing cycle, a continuous flow of information is maintained between sensemaking, knowledge creating, and decision making, and the outcome of information use in one mode provides the elaborated context and the expanded resources for information use in other modes. An illustration is given of a knowledge cycle in the World Health Organisation Smallpox Eradication Programme in which continuous cycles of interpretation, innovation and adaptive action underpinned the success of the project.