Ontologies and the Dynamics of Organisational Environments: An Example of a Group Memory System for the Management of Group Competencies

Knowledge Intensive Organisations (KIOs), that is organisations built on their use intellectual capital, need to create an environment that facilitates the effective deployment and reuse of existing organisational knowledge. As people transform data, information and experiences into shared knowledge, the management of individual competencies has become increasingly important to these organisations. Knowledge gained during the normal execution of daily tasks is easily lost in the dynamic environment of modern business. The ability to find versatile employees and to be able to leverage their knowledge to meet differing corporate needs, is a matter of vital importance for KIOs. This paper describes an ontological framework focused on competence elements that are modelled as knowledge assets in a group memory. A group memory is taken to be a specific example of an organisational memory. The dynamics of group competencies as a key organisational resource is emphasised and a model for a group memory system to manage corporate competencies in a KIO is presented.