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Purpose – This paper aims to study hybrid knowledge visualization in police crime fighting and military operations. Making effective and timely use of all available, relevant knowledge is a major requirement for today’s police officers who strive to fight organized crime or resolve complex criminal acts under time pressure. As they share this knowledge integration challenge with many management contexts, the authors have examined the knowledge visualization practices of a leading regional police force (and of a military unit) to derive insights for corporate knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach – To examine the knowledge visualization practices of a leading regional police force, the authors have conducted on-site observations, focus groups and interviews, as well as site, document, tool and software analyses within the police headquarters. Findings – As one main result of their empirical investigation, the authors find that the police force’s practice of hybrid (i.e. digital and physical) knowledge visualization offers a useful strategy for corporate knowledge management as well. They also show how organizations can apply this dual approach to making knowledge visible, i.e. using sophisticated visualization software in combination with hands-on physical and permanently visible knowledge boards. Originality/value – They discuss how these two modalities can be combined to improve knowledge management and how this hybrid practice can be understood theoretically through the lens of boundary object theory. With this regard, this article also extends the boundary object theory by identifying nine dynamic qualities of collaborative visualizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore the potential of visualization for corporate knowledge management.Design/methodology/approach – The employed methodology consists of a taxonomy of visualization formats that are embedded in a conceptual framework to guide the application of visualization in knowledge management according to the type of knowledge that is visualized, the knowledge management objective, the target group, and the application situation. This conceptual framework is illustrated through real-life examples.Findings – The findings show that there is much room for knowledge management applications based on visualization beyond the mere referencing of experts or documents through knowledge maps.Research limitations/implications – The research implications thus consist of experimenting actively with new forms of visual knowledge representation and evaluating their benefits or potential drawbacks rigorously.Practical implications – The authors encourage managers to look beyond simple diagrammatic representations of knowledge and explore alternative visual languages, such as visual metaphors or graphic narratives.Originality/value – This paper consists of two elements: first, the systematic, descriptive and prescriptive approach towards visualization in knowledge management, and second the innovative examples of how to harness the power of visualization in knowledge management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]