Before elaborating these phases, it is necessary to present the main actors that are involved in execution of the process. 

They are as listed below. 

Decision maker: this actor is the one capable of identifying and establishing the problem to be solved in terms of stake, of risk or threat on the enterprise [4]. In other words, he knows the needs of the organization, the stakes, the eventual risks and the threats the organization can be subjected to [5].

Information watcher: This actor is responsible for locating, supervising, validating, and emphasizing the strategic information needed for solving decision problem. He works hand in hand with the decision maker right from the initial stage of making a decision problem explicit. He translates this problem into information search problem so as to begin the collection of relevant information for solving the problem.

The above-mentioned actors are involved in the various phases of EI process. Subsequently, summary of the phases are presented.

The starting point in EI process is the identification of decision problem (DP). This aims at defining a DP and its associated contexts in order to assess the scope of the DP. It is handled by a set of decision makers or policy makers who are charged with the responsibility of clarifying the concepts or terms in a DP. They also observe the internal and external environments of the concerned organization in order to determine the parameters associated with identified DP. The observation leads to formulation of assumptions that address the challenge of risk or likely threat (what is likely to be won or lost) associated to the DP if not appropriately handled. This phase includes a validation activity whereby the actors verify the concepts, clarify the stated assumptions and verify any related laws or theorems. The assumptions are checked in order to confirm ideas with respect to the parameters of the organization. This phase facilitates better understanding of the information needs of decision makers by information watchers. 

The phase is succeeded by the process of information search and gathering.

The watcher is concerned with the process of information search based on his understanding of the decision maker"s problem which has been defined and validated. In order for him to target the central aim of EI, that is, provision of relevant information to users" needs, he needs to identify and validate appropriate information search requirements that actually address the DP and its contexts. DP is translated into precise and adequate Information Search Problem (ISP) which will help to identify relevant information sources and to determine the assessment criteria for adequacy of the required information. 

Consequently, there is need to validate the adequacy of ISP 
with respect to DP before proceeding to information gathering. This requires strategic and conscious assessment of concepts and specification of the ISP by watchers [4] and decision makers. It is after a concession is reached before the ISP could be accepted. Subsequently, the relevant sources of information are identified and validated. The collection of relevant information is based on selection from information world 2 according to the specification of ISP. This information cannot be used directly by decision makers. Thus, the actors collaborate to analyze the validated information and to identify indicators that can be used to guide the required decision. The indicators are interpreted by the actor before decision is taken
[6]. It is important to note that all the expressed and collected information in EI process should be properly protected from unwise divulgation as well as from spies and competitors [2]. 

This constitutes the phase of protection of information heritage. All the information and communication that ensue from the collaborating actors in the course of solving DP
constitute knowledge.

B. The Concept - *Knowledge* Knowledge is regarded as a capital which has an economic value [7]. Knowledge is also considered as a strategic resource for gaining competitive advantage and for innovation in organizations. From related literature, it has been distinguished from data and information [8], [9]. Hitherto, there is no universal definition of knowledge. In the context of this work, knowledge is defined as facts with its attributed meaning, where meaning is a function of an observation, learning, experience, and understanding of a reality in a particular situation or context at a specific period of time by an individual [9]. Thus, knowledge is inseparable from individuals and it is reflected in the role designated to them.

There are two main types of knowledge, explicit 
(objective) and tacit (subjective) knowledge [10]. The various kinds of knowledge are illustrated in figure 1. They are referred to as knowledge resources in this work. Tacit knowledge refers to "know-how" of an individual while explicit knowledge is the articulated knowledge in form of documents, operation manual, video, etc. The latter could be readily transmitted across individuals formally and systematically. However, tacit knowledge requires a transformation process to convert it to explicit knowledge before it can be capitalized. According to Nonaka, there are four knowledge conversion processes for transforming tacit to explicit knowledge and vice-visa [10]. These include: 
 Socialization: a process whereby tacit knowledge is converted to tacit knowledge. This can take place in a discussion forum, team meeting etc. In EI context, socialization occurs in the course of communication among collaborating actors.

 Externalization: enables the transformation of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. In a situation where an individual expresses his knowledge in form of a document or experience report, he is actually converting his tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. In EI context, externalization occurs during decision problem elicitation.

 Internalization: a process whereby explicit knowledge is converted to tacit knowledge. A reading process is an example of internalization whereby a reader acquires tacit knowledge from an explicit knowledge artifact. In EI context, internalization occurs during the analysis of collected relevant information.