Knowledge Management and decision making based on informal learning activities in business

Abstract

The application of the Information and Communication Technologies to everyday life activities facilitates the availability of lots of information and knowledge which can be used for multiple purposes. One of them is learning processes within organizations. However, there are two questions which must be addressed: first, that people do not only learn in organizational contexts; and second, that not all the data gathered from learning systems is useful. This makes it necessary to find a way to gather information about informal learning activities in the workplace and to facilitate visibility of what employees learn outside the organization so that such knowledge may be accessed from within the organization and be used for decision making. In order to do so this study proposes a methodology based on the identification of informal learning instances by the employee and their ecognition by the organization. The methodology is supported by a technological framework based on a Personal Learning Network, a Portfolio, a Catalog of Competences and an institutional system which includes tools for optimization of decision making. The methodology has been implemented and evaluated in the context of a pan-European project. The main findings from this study suggest that, although decision making from informal learning instances is possible, both the methodology and tools used should be flexible enough to satisfy the needs of the organization.