Quality assurance in knowledge management

Interdisciplinary literature study and concept development on knowledge management

Commissioned by DaimlerChyrsler AG, inter 3 is developing a research plan on quality assurance of non-numerical information. Evaluating the quality of information and effectively securing and managing it, is becoming more and more important as the volume and significance of information increases. There is a need for research and optimisation in the area of quality assurance of non-numerical information in particular.

Objective: Quality assurance in the knowlegde management of organisations

The central question in the first analytical stage is through which means, processes and structures can an organisation assure the quality of its non-numerical information in knowledge management? The literature study focuses on business management and qualitative social research. It also refers to psychological and historical work and studies in knowledge management – a field establishing itself as a self-contained discipline. In the second applied stage stimuli from qualitative social research and business management for the identification of quality and improvement of quality assurance are named.

Approach: Interdisciplinary study - problem-focused research

Approaches to problem solving for non-numerical information are worked out in different discourse arenas: for example, management theory, social sciences, information technology, heuristics, historical sciences, library and archive sciences. Often these arenas do not, or only barely, acknowledge one another. An important objective of the study is therefore to highlight connections and different traditions and so to make the interdisciplinary knowledge integration in organisations possible.