Knowledge Management (KM) comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization 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 organizations as processes or practices.
An established discipline since 1991, KM includes courses taught in the fields of business administration, information systems, management, and library and information sciences. More recently, other fields have started contributing to KM research; these include information and media, computer science, public health, and public policy.
Many large companies and non-profit organizations 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 organizations.
Knowledge management efforts typically focus on organizational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and continuous improvement of the organization. KM efforts overlap with organizational 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. It is seen as an enabler of organizational learning and a more concrete mechanism than the previous abstract research.
KM from an industry practice is to keep the collective knowledge of the organization within the organization. How this knowledge is stored and shared within the organization is what knowledge management is all about. The tacit knowledge in form of the experience an employee has is more valuable to the organization and trying to capture these within the organization is what KM consultants set out to achieve.
Our consultants focus on strategy and implement the necessary policies and tools so that the personnel in the organization can share their experiences, capture their insights and share knowledge with others within the same organization. Findability is one of the key elements in KM, if the implemented system is able to capture all the information but the users are not able to find the information at the correct time when needed, the information becomes untapped.
Contact Us, if you would like to find out more about how we can help you strategize and implement Knowledge Management (KM) to the benefit of your organization.