Definition Of Knowledge Management That You Might Need To Know

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Knowledge management is the name of a concept in which an enterprise consciously and comprehensively gathers, organizes, shares, and analyzes its knowledge in terms of resources, documents, and people skills. In early 1998, it was believed that few enterprises actually had a comprehensive knowledge management practice (by any name) in operation. Advances in technology and the way we access and share information have changed that; many enterprises now have some kind of knowledge management framework in place.

Knowledge management involves data mining and some method of operation to push information to users. A knowledge management plan involves a survey of corporate goals and a close examination of the tools, both traditional and technical, that are required for addressing the needs of the company. The challenge of selecting a knowledge management system is to purchase or build software that fits the context of the overall plan and encourages employees to use the system and share information.

Knowledge management (KM) is the process of capturing, developing, sharing, and effectively using organisational knowledge. It refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organisational objectives by making the best use of knowledge. Knowledge management is a concept in which an enterprise consciously and comprehensively gathers, organizes, shares and analyzes its knowledge in terms of resources, documents, and people skills.

Knowledge management is essentially about getting the rightknowledgeto the right person at the right time. This in itself may not seem so complex, but it implies a strong tie to corporate strategy, understanding of where and in what forms knowledge exists, creating processes that span organizational functions, and ensuring that initiatives are accepted and supported by organizational members. Knowledge management may also include new knowledge creation, or it may solely focus onknowledge sharing, storage, and refinement.

An established discipline since 1991 (see Nonaka 1991), KM includes courses taught in the fields of business administration, information systems, management, and library and information sciences (Alavi & Leidner 1999).

Most of us need knowledge in some form to do our jobs well.

No matter what your job is, you need this knowledge if you're going to do a good job.

Knowledge management is the practice of organizing, storing, and sharing vital information, so that everyone can benefit from its use. In this article, we'll look at exactly what knowledge management is, and how you can start organizing knowledge within your own organization, thereby saving money and increasing productivity.

 Columbia University, Kent State University and the University of Haifa offer dedicated Master of Science degrees in Knowledge Management.

Many large companies, public institutions 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. Knowledge management efforts typically focus on organisational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and continuous improvement of the organisation. KM efforts overlap with organisational learning and may be distinguished from that by a greater focus on the management of knowledge as a strategic asset and a focus on encouraging the sharing of knowledge. What is Knowledge?

Words like "data," "information," and "knowledge" are often used interchangeably. Data is a specific fact or figure, without any context. Information is data that's organized. So, pieces of information are "Tom Smith is a CEO" and "1,000 widgets." Knowledge, then, builds on the information to give us context. Knowledge is "Tom Smith is the CEO of our company's biggest competitor, and his company ships 1,000 widgets every hour."

The key difference between knowledge and information is that knowledge gives us the power to take action. There are also two different types of knowledge, explicit and tacit:

Explaining your company's safety protocols to a new team member is demonstrating explicit knowledge.

Tacit knowledge is less quantifiable. The overall objective is to create value and to leverage, improve, and refine the firm's competences and knowledge assets to meet organizational goals and targets. Implementing knowledge management thus has several dimensions including:

KM Strategy:Knowledge management strategy must be dependent on corporate strategy. The objective is to manage, share, and create relevant knowledge assets that will help meet tactical and strategic requirements.

Organizational Culture:The organizational culture influences the way people interact, the context within which knowledge is created, the resistance they will have towards certain changes, and ultimately the way they share (or the way they do not share) knowledge.

Organizational Processes:The right processes, environments, and systems that enable KM to be implemented in the organization.

Management & Leadership:KM requires competent and experienced leadership at all levels. There are a wide variety of KM-related roles that an organization may or may not need to implement, including a CKO, knowledge managers, knowledge brokers and so on. Technology:The systems, tools, and technologies that fit the organization's requirements - properly designed and implemented.

Typically, failed initiatives have often placed an undue focus on knowledge management tools and systems while neglecting the other aspects. This issue will also be addressed throughout the site, and particularly in the knowledge management strategy section.

The goal of a knowledge management system is to provide managers with the ability to organize and locate relevant content and the expertise required to address specific business tasks and projects. Some knowledge management systems can analyze the relationships between content, people, topics and activity and produce a knowledge map report or knowledge management dashboard.  

Knowledge management efforts have a long history, to include on-the-job discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. With increased use of computers in the second half of the 20th century, specific adaptations of technologies such as knowledge bases, expert systems, knowledge repositories, group decision support systems, intranets, and computer-supported cooperative work have been introduced to further enhance such efforts

In 1999, the term personal knowledge management was introduced; it refers to the management of knowledge at the individual level. In the enterprise, early collections of case studies recognized the importance of knowledge management dimensions of strategy, process, and measurement. Key lessons learned include people and the cultural norms which influence their behaviors are the most critical resources for successful knowledge creation, dissemination, and application; cognitive, social, and organizational learning processes are essential to the success of a knowledge management strategy; and measurement, benchmarking, and incentives are essential to accelerate the learning process and to drive cultural change. In short, knowledge management programs can yield impressive benefits to individuals and organizations if they are purposeful, concrete, and action-oriented.

Benefits of Knowledge Management

The major benefit of knowledge management is that information is easily shared between staff members, and that knowledge isn't lost if someone goes on vacation, gets sick, or leaves the company.

This can result in substantial savings to an organization's bottom line. People are easily brought up to speed, and valuable knowledge assets are never lost (which means that you don't lose time and money when people have to learn new information quickly).

Because ideas can be shared easily, knowledge management may also increase innovation and help create better customer relationships. And if the company has a global team, knowledge management can create a more powerful workforce when all of those different cultures are brought together to share assets.

Knowledge management gives staff members the knowledge they need to do their jobs better. 

Implementing Knowledge Management there are two different ways of managing knowledge: using technology-based systems, or using softer systems.

Any technology-based system will have challenges. Who will keep the information up to date? How will people access the information?

Every company and culture is different.

Softer systems – These are things like specific actions or meetings that take place to share knowledge and help people connect with one another.

Consider the following methods as part of your soft knowledge management systems:

Shadowing.

Mentoring  .

Instant messaging   and intranet forums.

Specific actions, like After Action Reviews   after significant events, and Post-Implementation Reviews   after a project has been completed.

Voluntary groups, also called communities of practice, that help team members doing the same thing in different areas to meet informally and share information.

Keep in mind that technology-based knowledge management systems are great at capturing explicit knowledge, but not so great at capturing tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is more often captured by softer systems, like the ones listed above.

This is why knowledge management approaches should try to use both approaches.

Tips for Implementing Knowledge Management Systems

Identify tacit knowledge first – Many organizations find that identifying their team's tacit knowledge is the biggest hurdle. If you implement a knowledge management system in your department or company, start with a brainstorming session with your team to get their ideas flowing on how to capture this.

Start with a small team – It's very easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge that could be shared. Help staff feel comfortable about sharing knowledge – It might be hard to "sell" knowledge management to your team. After all, you're asking them to share their hard-won knowledge and experience, the very things that make them valuable to the company. (This can be a powerful incentive for people not to share their knowledge!)

        Make knowledge sharing part of the company culture, and something thateveryone does. Make it as easy as possible for your team to share information – Everyone is busy. If being part of a knowledge management program is difficult or time-consuming, people may not want to be involved. Plan for retiring team members – Retirement is a major reason why so many organizations are trying to quickly implement knowledge management systems right now.

Knowledge management is becoming increasingly important to organizations. Having an effective knowledge management system not only protects revenues, it may also improve retention, increase productivity, and promote innovation.

Knowledge management systems should try to implement a two-part approach: using a database or wiki to collect explicit knowledge, and connecting colleagues to one-another to share tacit knowledge.