芬蘭職業教育與訓練機構中的管理高層對於知識管理的認知（上）

Top Management's Perception of Knowledge Management in a Vocational Educational Education and Training Organization in Finland

本文也將辨認出知識立基之發展的主要領域。本文之目標在於連結管理過程中的知識鴻溝，而過程乃指支持教師達至不同的知識任務，例如：蒐集、創造、分享以及闡述知識的過程。設計／方法／進路：質性研究被用於揭示在芬蘭的一所職業教育機構中的知識過程。經驗的資料在兩個階段中被蒐集。首先，管理團隊成員的知識需求透過電子郵件的調查而被勘測。其次，同一個管理團隊接受了團體訪談。這些訪談的資料透過知識立基的管理文獻而被討論和分析。研究發現：研究結果指出，知識管理與教育組織之價值創造過程非常密切地聯繫在一起，因此，知識管理應被視為現代教育管理的一個本質部分。立基在此觀點之上，本文主張，必須更為強調關聯於教育功能知識的掌握，以及支持此功能之知識架構創造。實踐意涵：本文提供實踐者有關教育機構中現存知識立基之管理過程的基本理解，它同時把焦點轉移至知識的使用，而非僅止於知識的供給。此外，本文亦為教育機構中的系統模型、知識整合發展以及合作，提供了一個基礎。原創性／價值：本文將知識管理的活動連結於教育服務之價值創造過程。鑑於現存的教育管理文獻似乎認為知識管理主要是做為一種支持的功能，這裡所呈現的討論聚焦在此觀點上，並且主張，知識密集的教育機構應當建立起機構策略管理的本質部分。

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to report top management's view of knowledge management in an educational organization. The paper also recognizes the main knowledge-based development areas. The aim of this paper is to bridge a knowledge gap regarding managerial processes that support teachers in their diverse knowledge tasks; gathering, creating, sharing and explicating knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach-A qualitative case approach was applied to uncover the knowledge processes of a vocational education organization in Finland. The empirical data were gathered in two phases. First, the existing knowledge needs of management team members were mapped by an e-mail enquiry. Second, a group interview was held with the same management team. Interview themes were derived from the literature and from the first empirical phase. The interview data are discussed and analyzed in light of the knowledgebased management literature.
Findings-The results of the study indicate that knowledge management is so closely related to education organizations' value creation processes that it should be considered an essential part of modern educational management. Based on this notion the paper argues that more emphasis is needed especially on mastering knowledge that relates to the education function and the creation of enabling knowledge structures that support this function.
Practical implications-The paper provides practitioners with a basic understanding about the existing knowledge-based management processes in education organizations. It also turns the focus onto knowledge usage instead of mere information provision. Furthermore, the paper provides a basis for a systematic modeling and development of knowledge integration and coordination in educational organizations.
Originality/value-The paper links knowledge management activities to the value creation processes of education services. Whereas the existing educational management literature seems to consider knowledge management mainly as a support function, the discussion presented here makes it the main focus and argues that for knowledge-intensive education organizations it should form an essential part of their strategic management.