What is Knowledge Management?
Knowledge Management is the collection of processes that govern the creation,
dissemination, and utilization of knowledge. These processes exist whether we
acknowledge them or not and they have a profound effect on the decisions we make and
the actions we take, both of which are enabled by knowledge of some type. If we accept
the premise that knowledge management is concerned with the entire process of discovery
and creation of knowledge, dissemination of knowledge, and the utilization of knowledge
then we are strongly driven to accept that knowledge management is much more than a
“technology thing” and that elements of it exist in each of our jobs.
Knowledge Management process cycle
” Identify, extract knowledge from primary sources
” Edit, refine haw knowledge into processed knowledge
” Organize processed knowledge and making it accessible
” Packaging, publishing , disseminating knowledge
” Manage the whole cycle, design the information architecture
Following are five steps that are crucial to the success of a KM initiative:
1. Understand key business drivers. To be worth the investment, a KM initiative must
improve the bottom line by either increasing revenue or reducing cost. If the value of the
initiative cant be defined before it is implemented, what chance is there that it will be
adopted by your organizations people and deliver value once it has started?
2. Get executive sponsorship. One of the goals of a KM initiative is that employees will
collaborate with each other more willingly and effectively, sharing their knowledge and
skills. This can amount to a momentous change of organizational culture, and it is never
