There are a lot of definitions of Knowledge Management out there. But after reading some of the sources of definition on books and articles, I can say that :
Knowledge Management is basically an implementation of the concept of Management on the Knowledge. There are some practices in Knowledge Management such as identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing all of the knowledge through the communication, opportunities and promotion of sharing. Knowledge management can be embodied in Individual or embeded in organization as the process or practice as mentioned before.
In the terms of organizational, Knowledge Management is always known as the multi-dicipline approach to achieve the goals and the objectives of the organization. Knowledge Management has the function to make the knowledge into its best form, so in today or in the future, the available knowledge can be used to achieve the objectives as expected in the most effective and efficient way.
We can know more about Knowledge Management by understanding its history and development. Knowledge Management efforts have a long history. It appeared operationally only in the mid-1990s. The earliest print reference appears to have been used first in the context of library and information work. In 1999, the term personal knowledge management was introduced which refers to the management of knowledge at the individual level (Wright 2005).
In terms of the enterprise, early collections of case studies recognized the importance of knowledge management dimensions of strategy, process, and measurement (Morey, Maybury & Thuraisingham 2002). Key lessons learned included: people and the cultural norms which influence their behaviors are the most critical resources for successful knowledge creation, dissemination, and application; cognitive, social, and organizational learning processes are essential to the success of a knowledge management strategy; and measurement, benchmarking, and incentives are essential to accelerate the learning process and to drive cultural change. In short, knowledge management programs can yield impressive benefits to individuals and organizations if they are purposeful, concrete, and action-oriented.
Most recently in this modern era, the knowledge management is driven by the increased ICT (Information Communication Technology) such as Internet. Today, people can write what they know and save it to the files, and can easily share their files through file transfer or email. In the terms of organizational, KM is usually related with the increased ICT. When they meet, the organization can have more advantages such as time savings, cost effectiveness, resources efficiency etc.
This writing is a summary from :
Knowledge Management (KM) Processes in Organizations, Theoretical Foundations and Practice by Morgan & Claypool, 2011
Nugroho A. Prasetyo 