Managing information and knowledge in the public sector

209 Pages·2000·3.088 MB·English

by  Eileen M Milner

Managing Information and
Knowledge in the Public Sector
For the public sector, which is globally the largest employer of people and repository
of information, managing information and knowledge is an extremely problematic
area to address. The essence of both resources is that they are intangible—their
impact and value cannot be measured through traditional accounting methods—
yet they are also, paradoxically, where the greatest value and potential for
improvement is located. In this book Eileen Milner introduces the reader to the
concepts of information and knowledge and explores a variety of tools and
techniques which may be usefully adopted in actively managing and developing
these resources. Wherever possible, real-life public sector cases and examples are
used to illustrate good practice, as well as some of the pitfalls of poor application.
Down-to-earth and taking into account the critically important characteristics unique
to public services, this will be an illuminating text both for managers and policy
makers already working in the public sector and for those considering doing so.
Eileen Milner is a Principal Lecturer in Information Management at the University
of North London.

Managing Information
and Knowledge in the
Public Sector

Eileen M.Milner

London and New York
First published 2000
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
© 2000 Eileen M.Milner
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Milner, Eileen M., 1963–
Managing information and knowledge in the public sector/
Eileen M.Milner.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Knowledge management. 2. Information
technology—Management. 3. Organizational learning.
4. Information capitol. I. Title.
HD30.2 .M54 2000
352.3’8–dc21 00–020795

ISBN 0-203-45863-X Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-76687-3 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-20422-4 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-20423-2 (pbk)
This book is dedicated to the memory of Margaret
and Joe Milner

Contents

Preface ix
Acknowledgements xiii
1 Introduction: defining information and knowledge 1
2 Developing an information policy and strategy:
the foundations of information management 18
3 Information management strategy in action: making a
‘business’ case 40
4 Knowledge management 65
5 Managing information, ideas and solutions: a focus on the
employee 84
6 ICTs as tools of IKM 103
7 Tension and paradox: issues of information security,
ownership, access, liability and openness 125
8 IKM as a tool of social inclusion 145
9 Vision and revision: the case for IKM in the public sector 164
Bibliography 182
Index 189

Preface

A number of factors came together to persuade me, in 1997, that there was a need
for a publication that addressed itself specifically to issues of information and
knowledge management in the public sector. By then, as an information
management specialist with a primary interest in the concept of developing valuation
methodologies for information and knowledge assets, I had had the opportunity
(more by chance than foresight and planning) to lead important research into the
development of what is most often referred to as ‘electronic government’. This
research considered practice in the UK, Europe, Singapore, Canada, the United
States and Australia, and what I found was disquieting to say the least: for public
sector organisations seemed to have embraced the promises of information and
communications technologies with almost profligate enthusiasm, with little evidence
that the quality and structure of services being delivered had been significantly
enhanced, or that end-user satisfaction rates had been significantly improved.
Thus, the need for a text that focused on achieving some meaningful synthesis
around issues of information and knowledge management for a public sector
audience grew and evolved from a research context that showed these to be all-
pervasive as terms in the lexicon of public sector reform, but almost invisible when
actual application and implementation of change agenda were explored. From the
outset, it has been the author’s goal to achieve a text which is both rigorous and
theoretically defensible in its approach to these complex issues, while at the same
time striving to ensure that the work is accessible and relevant to as wide an audience
of academics and practitioners—and indeed aspiring practitioners—as possible.
Inevitably some degree of tension has emerged from lack of absolute convergence
between these two aspirations: where it has, the decision has usually been to curtail
emphasis upon an overly theoretical exploration of key issues and to focus instead
upon maximising the potential for learning through analysis of actual practice.
However, it should be noted that there has been no neglect of matters theoretical
by the author; rather, decisions around textual emphasis have sought to add clarity
in an area where little sector-specific work has taken place to date around the
synthesis of information and knowledge management issues. Yet this is not to deny
the critical foundation works in related areas, particularly those of information
policy, where key theoretical and conceptual frameworks have been provided by
Taylor and Bellamy, Feather and Dutton; these writers make a valuable contribution