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Bridging the Research-Practice Gap: The Role of Risk-Based, Responsible and Inclusive Knowledge Management���by Prof. Susanne Durst

KM Triversary Forum

14-15 October 2025

HÁSKÓLINN Í REYKJAVÍK | REYKJAVIK UNIVERSITY

HÁSKÓLINN Í REYKJAVÍK | REYKJAVIK UNIVERSITY

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Agenda

A plea for more communityship!

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AGENDA

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WHERE DO WE STAND?

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The world is / we are fragile!

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WE ARE EXPOSED TO A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES

  • Skills shortage
  • Succession planning
  • Progressive digitalization
  • Climate change
  • Migration
  • Increase in political (geographic) risks
  • …

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MANY OF THE CHALLENGES ARE RELATED TO KNOWLEDGE…

  • Risks related to human resources
  • Relational risk
  • Risks related to decision-making relating to new strategies etc.
  • Risks related to knowledge gaps
  • Risks related to outsourcing of business functions
  • Risks related to the progressive digitalization
  • …

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    • Knowledge is dynamic: knowledge that is valuable today may hold little value tomorrow
      • however, this does not mean that we should condemn old knowledge per se
    • Knowledge is not automatically something of value or always significant

→ A “knowledge at risk” - perspective is needed!

A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES ON ‟KNOWLEDGE“…

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WHAT CAN WE DO? (I) – MY PROPOSAL

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Moving toward inclusive knowledge management or more precisely responsible knowledge management

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WHAT CAN WE DO? (II)

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  • KM was developed primarily for private companies that are clearly focused on creating and maintaining competitive advantage.
  • It falls short when it comes to challenges that occur at a higher, overarching level.

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WHAT CAN WE DO? (III)

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Responsible knowledge management (rKM) defined (my proposal):

rKM focuses on responsible KM practices such as the creation, transfer, preservation and application of knowledge for the common good, i.e., for measures that benefit society as a whole or contribute to a better society.

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RKM AND WHAT IS IS ABOUT? (I)

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  • rKM is human-centred, inclusive and collaborative and invites everyone to contribute but also to take responsibility.
  • rKM is based on collaborative communityship.
  • rKM recognises the value and importance of risk management and risk management literacy

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  • rKM acknowledges that recent developments as well as upcoming challenges can only be addressed through a world perspective
  • rKM goes beyond organizational/national/etc. boundaries
  • rKM acknowledges that only a collaborative and inclusive approach involving partners of equal standing is able to tackle present and future challenges

RKM AND WHAT IS IS ABOUT? (II)

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  • rKM seeks and appreciates the skills and competencies of everyone regardless of the person’s role, function, education, age, ethical background, etc…
  • rKM carefully applies the increasingly available digital tools and technologies for the greater good

RKM AND WHAT IS IS ABOUT? (III)

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE RESEARCH-PRACTICE GAP?

  • We need more research that is participatory and inclusive from the outset.
  • Instead of looking for shortcomings in the literature, researchers should talk to practitioners.
    • Stop talking about practitioners and start talking to them.
  • Everyone should complete an internship or, ideally, vocational training in order to better understand organisations and their possibilities and limitations.
  • Everyone should reduce any reservations they may have. Start thinking in terms of similarities rather than differences.

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Stop talking about “gaps“ in this regard, “untapped potential“ seems to sum it up better.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

I look forward to working together with all of you to create a collaborative rKM-based society!

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Thank you very much!

susanned@ru.is

Háskólinn í Reykjavík  |  Menntavegur 1  |  101 Reykjavík  |  Sími: 599 6200  |  www.hr.is

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AI STATEMENT AND REFERENCES

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AI was not used!

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  • Durst, S., & Khadir, Y. (2025). Towards Responsible Knowledge Management. In: Knowledge Management at the Crossroads. Synthesis Lectures on Technology Management & Entrepreneurship (pp. 79-88). Springer.
  • Durst, S., & Foli, S. (2025). Responsible and Inclusive Knowledge Management Made Concrete. In Handbook of Inclusive Knowledge Management (pp. 1-12). Auerbach Publications.
  • Durst, S. (2024). A plea for responsible and inclusive knowledge management at the world level. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems 54(1), pp. 211–219.

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HÁSKÓLINN Í REYKJAVÍK | REYKJAVIK UNIVERSITY