Top Ten Knowledge Management Books

Top Ten Knowledge Management Books

1. Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management
   The Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management is the single most valuable book to read on KM. It is a significant collection of the leading articles that were published by the best thinkers in KM. This one book will provide you with the supporting reasons for implementing KM in your organization. It will provide you with the processes and practices for creating knowledge and managing a learning organization. Additionally, the book presents notable case studies in KM.
2. Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management
   Japan now has a business school to compete with the leading schools in the west. One of the leading thinkers in corporate strategy, Michael Porter wrote, “The Hitotsubashi Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy is a new kind of business school in Japan, shattering every convention. This book, the product of the School’s outstanding faculty, reveals the new dynamism in Japanese business thinking.” Japanese corporations have taken hold of the value in KM and this book presents the reasoning of “why” and also covers the “how.”
3. Handbook on Knowledge Management: Knowledge Matters Vol. 1
   This is the first book of the two-book set. As written in the books description, this book covers “from classic foundations to cutting-edge thought, informative to provocative, theoretical to practical, historical to futuristic, human to technological, and operational to strategic.” This is a comprehensive work for the comprehensive practitioner.
4. Handbook of Knowledge Management: Knowledge Directions Vol. 2
   This is the second book of a two-book set. As written in the books description, this book covers “from classic foundations to cutting-edge thought, informative to provocative, theoretical to practical, historical to futuristic, human to technological, and operational to strategic.” This is a comprehensive work for the comprehensive practitioner.
5. Knowledge Management
   This is the first book that you should purchase and a book that should remain readily available for the Knowledge Activist. In fact, you should buy multiple copies of this book. It is compact and yet thorough. It is an ideal book to suggest to a partner who needs a quick read on what is KM.

6. Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice
This is the best textbook of which I know that specifically covers Knowledge Management. This is a great reference to cover most of the modern theories in the field. The textbook also covers common practices and processes at several of the prominent organizations actively implementing Knowledge Management.
7. Knowledge Management: Social, Cultural and Theoretical Perspectives
The most common hindrance to a successful Knowledge Management practice is the human factor. This is an awesome book that targets the human perspectives in the organization’s social and cultural influences. Any practitioner, whether at a large organization with a current Knowledge Management practice or a corporation new to the field, would benefit from information present in this book.
8. Knowledge Management
This is one of the first textbooks in use at colleges and universities with courses in Knowledge Management. It is a well regarded, systematic reference manual to this topic and a value in excess of its weight in gold. With high reviews from the instructors who require this text, it is a selection for someone who needs to thoroughly learn Knowledge Management.
9. Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management
This product is an encyclopedia and definitely not light reading for the casual intellect. This is a reference book for the office of Knowledge Management practitioners who require a hard copy edition that, as the product description reads, “provides a broad basis for understanding the issues, technologies, theories, applications, opportunities and challenges being faced by researchers and organizations today in their quest for knowledge management.”
10. Knowledge Networks: Innovation Through Communities of Practice
A successful Knowledge Management implementation requires developing organizational learning. The major concentration of organizational learning is challenging and mentoring the Knowledge Worker and the Knowledge Teams. This book addresses the common impact of Communities of Practice in the education and support of the Knowledge Worker as well as the innovation and new knowledge that results of Communities of Practice.