A Churchmanian Theory of Knowledge Management System Design Sandra M. Richardson University of Central Florida srichardson@bus.ucf.edu James F. Courtney University of Central Florida jcourtney@bus.ucf.edu Abstract This paper employs Churchman’s [13] inquiring systems as a kernel theory on which to base knowledge management systems (KMS) design. We build on Churchman’s nine requirements for an object to constitute a system and his Singerian inquiring system to develop the notion of Churchmanian knowledge management systems (CKMS) and principles for their design. We define a CKMS as a purposeful and ethical information system that creates exoteric knowledge and provides a link between knowledge and action in an organization. The design principles involve a strong emphasis on ethical behavior, the development of success measures for CKMS, the need to ensure that the CKMS enhances the dignity of mankind, a highly participatory design process, the desire to unify the designers, the decision makers and clients, the need to shape CKMS components in relation to the system as a whole, and the need for a “guarantor” to validate knowledge residing in the CKMS. 1. Introduction It is widely observed that the society we live in today can be thought of as increasingly a “knowledge society” [5, 24, 62]. And as such organizations currently engage in knowledge management in order to create knowledge for strategic decisions [ 38 ,49, 59]. Knowledge management involves the creation of value from an organization’s intangible assets [34, 57]. Many organizations are developing information systems designed to facilitate the sharing and integration of knowledge. In doing so it is necessary to incorporate the notion that knowledge management involves more than just technology for facilitating knowledge sharing. Practitioners realize that people and the culture of the workplace are driving factors that ultimately determine the success or failure of knowledge management initiatives [57]. Despite the importance of KM to strategic decision processes, few design theories exist for how information systems supporting KM should be developed. For example, Alavi and Leidner [2] reviewed the knowledge management (KM) literature and found that “… the preponderance of knowledge management theory stems from strategy and organizational theory research,” but that in practice KM tends to rely on information technology and the theories don’t relate to design and use of IT. Attempts at KMS theory development have been undertaken. Boland, et al. [7] develop design principles for distributed cognition systems by integrating hermeneutics, inquiring systems and cognitive mapping. Similarly, Markus, et al. [43] provide a design theory and design guidelines for systems supporting what they refer to as “emergent knowledge processes” (EKPs). Following Walls, et al. [66] they develop a set of design principles, use those principles in an action research project and generate a set of revised principles as a result. In discussing future research, they pose the question, among others, as to whether there might be alternatives to their kernel theory [43, p. 207]. This paper takes a different approach to the development of design principles for knowledge management systems. Specifically, we adopt Churchman’s [13] theory of inquiring systems as our kernel theory [66] and propose a set of design principles (meta-requirements) for knowledge management systems based primarily on the Singerian inquirer. Using inquiring systems as the kernel theory has several advantages. First, inquiring systems are based on a long history of epistemology, the theory of knowledge, building upon some of the most well known philosophers of the ages. Second, our approach contributes to Keen’s [40] goal of continuity in IS research, as inquiring systems theory has been part of the IS literature since the early days [45]. Third, Churchman has done a large part of the work for us, as he has already viewed the epistemologies of five philosophers through the lens of systems theory. Fourth, since inquiring systems are considered to be part of the literature on information systems, this provides a theory that MIS can call its own, as opposed to being derived from a reference discipline. This paper explores Chruchman’s nine requirements that define systems in general, the Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2004 0-7695-2056-1/04 $17.00 (C) 2004 IEEE 1