Knowledge inertia (KI) is a concept in

knowledge management Knowledge management (KM) is the collection of methods relating to creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve organisational objectives by making ...

. The term initially proposed by Shu-hsien Liao comprises a two dimensional model which incorporates experience inertia and learning inertia. Later, another dimension—the dimension of

thinking In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...

inertia—has been added based on the theoretical exploration of the existing concepts of experience inertia and learning inertia. One of the central problems in knowledge management related to

organizational learning Organizational learning is the process of creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge within an organization. An organization improves over time as it gains experience. From this experience, it is able to create knowledge. This knowledge is bro ...

is to deal with "

inertia Inertia is the idea that an object will continue its current motion until some force causes its speed or direction to change. The term is properly understood as shorthand for "the principle of inertia" as described by Newton in his first law ...

". Besides, individuals may also exhibit a natural tendency of inertia when facing problems during utilization of knowledge. Inertia in technical jargon means inactivity or torpor. Inertia in

context may be referred to as a slowdown in organizational learning-related activities. In fact, there are many other kinds of organizational inertia: e.g., innovation inertia, workforce inertia, productivity inertia, decision inertia, emotional inertia besides others that have different meanings in their own individual contexts. Some organization theorists have adopted the definition proposed by Liao (2002) to extend its further use in organizational learning studies.

Definition

Knowledge inertia (KI) may be defined as a

problem solving Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...

strategy using old, redundant, stagnant knowledge and past experience without recourse to new knowledge and

experience Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...

. Inertia is a concept in physics that is used to explain the state of an object either remaining in stationary or uniform motion. Organizational theorists adopted this concept of inertia and applied it to different contexts which resulted in the emergence of diverse concepts—such as, for example, organizational inertia, consumer inertia, outsourcing inertia, and

cognitive inertia Cognitive inertia is the tendency for a particular orientation in how an individual thinks about an issue, belief or strategy to resist change. In clinical and neuroscientific literature it is often defined as a lack of motivation to generate dist ...

. Some organization theorists have adopted the definition proposed by Liao (2002) to extend its further use in organizational learning studies. Not every instances of knowledge inertia result in gloomy of negative outcome: one study suggested that knowledge inertia could positively affect a firm's product innovation.

The concept

Knowledge inertia stems from the use of routine

procedures that involves the utilization of redundant, stagnant knowledge and past experience without any recourse to new knowledge and thinking processes. Different methodologies exist for diverse types of knowledge that could be applied to manage knowledge efficiently. Since KI is a component of knowledge management, it is essential to consider the circulation of various knowledge types in avoiding inertia. The theory of KI supposedly studies the extent to which an organization's ability on problem solving is inhibited. Numerous factors could be attributed as enablers or inhibitors of the abilities on problem solving of an individual or an

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

. Knowledge inertia applicable in the context of problem solving, therefore, may require inputs from all these diverse knowledge types, or it may require learning, new thinking, and experience. Emergence of new ideas to supplement the existing knowledge and assimilation of the same could be of help in avoiding the use of stagnant, outdated information while attempting to solve problems.

References

{{reflist Cognitive psychology Heuristics Knowledge management Problem solving *

Definition

The concept

See also

References