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The concept of "just-in-time" knowledge delivery is appealing. It suggests that knowledge can be made available to associates when and only when they need it. Based on an assumption similar to that supporting the Information Processing Model of Knowledge Management, "just-in-time" knowledge delivery assumes that knowledge, like information, canbe broken down into a collection of independent entities. Furthermore, since there is a costin time and effort to transfer these entities to associates, unless a particular knowledgeelement is perceived to be broadly useful, the just-in-time philosophy says it should not be given to associates just in case they might need it. Another view, more aligned to the Personal Communication Model of Knowledge Management, holds that knowledge cannot be reduced to a single entity, but is the result of a complex interplay of information,experience, skill, and attitude across a number of related (and sometimes even seeminglyunrelated) areas. If this is the case, it would often be insufficient to deliver a single"piece of knowledge" to an associate just in time. Rather, it is necessary toto "educate" associates by exposing them to a wide variety of problems and solutionsthereby giving them the background they need to effectively diagnose and solve newproblems without having to recover (or "re-discover") a previous instance of thatparticular solution. This view corresponds with one of the classic distinctions between education and training, namely that education is achieved through a broad exposure to the seminal concepts and practical applications in a discipline. By being educated to a specified level - bachelors degree, masters degree, doctoral degree - the graduate is expected to be able to contribute ideas and solve problems across the entire field. Training takes a narrower approach, focusing on the preparation of the student to solve only those problems or those classes of problems to which they have previously been exposed.
©D. Verne Morland, 2003.
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