The paradoxes of knowledge management: An eastern philosophical perspective

This article proposes paradox as a novel lens for viewing and understanding KM and the role of information technology. The article builds a paradoxical framework that integrates extant understandings of paradox from philosophy and organization studies. The framework includes the discussion of the nature of paradox, its usefulness for understanding KM, its management and finally an alternative, paradoxical view of KM. Using the proposed view of KM we then review KM-related studies mainly in the field of information systems and organization studies and identify exemplary tensions and paradoxes in KM phenomena. This review serves three purposes: (1) it organizes and structures the jumble of topics in KM by analyzing critically the way the literature approaches those topics; (2) it illustrates the implicitly unitary view of KM by extant studies; and (3) it illustrates the potential value of the paradoxical framework for fostering creative and complex insights into future inquiry of KM. Then, we discuss how to embrace and even nurture KM tensions and paradoxes and, from a paradoxical view, discuss organizational characteristics and information technology necessary for successful KM practices. Finally, several implications for research and practice are drawn.