Unlearning as a Future Challenge for Knowledge Management

Knowledge management (KM) practitioners have studied the processes through which knowledge is acquired, distributed, and used. However, they have generally not considered the fact that before learning something new, organizations have to revise, update, or, indeed, actively remove outdated, incorrect “knowledge.” In this regard, some researchers have shown the imperative need to analyze the concept of unlearning as a process that allows companies to regenerate, revise, update, or set aside existing knowledge that is no longer useful in its current form. The concept of unlearning has evolved from being seen as something negative (getting rid of knowledge) to something positive (updating knowledge). During this evolution, different classifications of the concept of unlearning have emerged: first, from the point of view of the causes of unlearning (accidental versus intentional) and, second, from the levels of execution of the process of unlearning (i.e., individual, group, or organizational). This chapter aims to highlight these different points of view with respect to the concept of unlearning, as well as to introduce the term “unlearning capability” as a challenge for future research on knowledge management. In addition, this chapter analyzes the dynamic view on unlearning, exploring the theoretical and practical challenges for knowledge management research. New lines of research and suggestions are proposed to knowledge management practitioners and researchers.