Reconceptualizing the Knowledge Hierarchy for Management Education

Education is undergoing a crisis. Among the several remedial approaches proposed, this article contributes to the promotion of structured teaching for constructed knowing. One of the neglected areas of concern in the current education revolution is the structure of knowledge itself. The Data-Information-Knowledge (DIK) hierarchy was originally suggested to explain the differences between the three levels of knowledge; however, it does not capture them very well. Aiming at re-conceptualizing the DIK hierarchy from an up-to- date knowledge acquisition and management perspective, the authors start by making an argument for splitting each of the data and information levels into two. Instead of simply data, the authors propose the two levels of raw data and processed data. Likewise, they propose the two levels of potential information and actual information. Since knowledge expressions of other individuals constitute another source of potential information, they replace the three new levels of raw data, processed data and potential information with a single level, which they call the environment, and that embraces all means of acquiring information, whether through data collection and processing or potential information filtering. The authors thus propose a framework of knowledge acquisition based on an Environment-Information-Knowledge (EIK) hierarchy more indicative of actual teaching and learning processes.