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Knowledge Management is the explicit
and systematic management of vital
knowledge - and its associated
processes of creation, organization,
diffusion, use and exploitation - in
pursuit of business objectives.
DEFINITION
Knowledge Management (KM) comprises
A range of practices used in an organisation to identify,
create, represent, distribute and enable adoption of
insights and experiences.
Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge,
either embodied in individuals or embedded in
organisational processes or practice.
Many large companies and non-profit organisations have
resources dedicated to internal KM efforts.
Often as a part of their 'Business Strategy', 'Information
Technology', or 'Human Resource Management'
departments.
Several consulting companies also exist that provide
strategy and advice regarding KM to these organisations.
Why Manage Knowledge?
The level of interest has grown dramatically during recent years because
of :-
More recently with the advent of the Web 2.0, the concept of
knowledge management has evolved towards a vision more based on
people participation and emergence. This line of evolution is termed
Enterprise 2.0. However, there is still a debate whether Enterprise 2.0
is just a fad, or if it brings something new, is the future of knowledge
management and is here to stay.
Knowledge Management
Strategies
One strategy to KM involves actively managing knowledge
(push strategy). In such an instance, individuals strive to
explicitly encode their knowledge into a shared knowledge
repository, such as a database, as well as retrieving knowledge
they need that other individuals have provided to the repository.
Another strategy to KM involves individuals making knowledge
requests of experts associated with a particular subject on an
ad hoc basis (pull strategy). In such an instance, expert
individual(s) can provide their insights to the particular person or
people needing this .
Other knowledge management strategies for companies
include:
rewards (as a means of motivating for knowledge sharing)
storytelling (as a means of transferring tacit knowledge)
cross-project learning
Activities Involved:
Knowledge management programmes involves following activities:-
Appointment of a knowledge leader - to promote the agenda,
develop a framework
Creation of knowledge teams - people from all disciplines to
develop the methods and skills
Development of knowledge bases - best practices, expertise
directories, market intelligence etc.
Enterprise intranet portal - a 'one-stop-shop' that gives access to
explicit knowledge as well as connections to experts
Knowledge centers - focal points for knowledge skills and
facilitating knowledge flow
Knowledge sharing mechanisms - such as facilitated events that
encourage greater sharing of knowledge than would normally take
place
Intellectual asset management - methods to identify and account
for intellectual capital.
A Success Story
Hoffman La Roche - through its Right First Time programme has reduced
the cost and time to achieve regulatory approvals for new drugs.
http://www.skyrme.com/resource/kmbasics.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_manage
ment
www.best-management-
practice.com/Knowledge-Centre
http://www.skyrme.com/insights/22km.htm