Knowledge Management Involves Sharing Insights
Intellectual Capital Consists of Insights Gained from Experience
Oct 25, 2009
It is the insights gained during actual business (or non-profit) operations that make an organization able to function effectively. It is these insights from experience that we call knowledge and its management involves organizing the knowledge and making it available to employees who need it.
Management of Knowledge
In a practical context, knowledge can be seen as the acquired skill to complete a task successfully. For example, an organization learns from experience things like:
- How to make a product at a minimal cost
- How to distribute the product efficiently and effectively to its users
- How to get employees work with commitment to the organizational goals
- How to improve organizational performance using techniques like knowledge management
Knowledge can be tacit or explicit. It is tacit when it is internalized by an individual to a degree that the person is not really aware he has some special knowledge. This internal know-how helps the person execute specific tasks successfully. However, if called upon to explain how he does the task so well, the person might find himself at a loss to put it in words.
Explicit knowledge consists of things its possessor is clearly aware of, and consciously uses in executing tasks. This can be easily communicated to others if needed.
Managing knowledge is to a large extent converting the tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge that can be shared in the organization. The explicit knowledge must then be internalized by the learners to produce desired results. Management of knowledge is an essential part of management development in an organization.
Knowledge Management Practices
Knowledge management (KM) is not something that is new. It has existed even earlier in such forms as:
- Formal apprenticeships
- Discussing the work on-the-job
- Case study of management practices
- Performance improvement studies and practices
What is new is the extensive use of Information Technology in KM. Modern knowledge systems enables knowledge transfer to employees in a systematic manner. IT applications include:
- Use of computers to collect, organize and retrieve knowledge acquired by an organization
- Expert software that can be consulted for answers and guidance in particular fields
- Improved collaboration technologies such as Group Decision Support Systems
- Implementation of Intranets for storage and distribution of information generated all over the organization
Benefits of Knowledge Management
KM typically has the objectives of:
- Improving overall organizational and individual functional performance
- Gaining a competitive advantage
- Successful innovation management
- Sharing the lessons learned from experience across the whole organization
Successful KM can:
- Eliminate the wasteful and common practice of 'reinventing the wheel'
- Minimize redundant work, another common problem
- Speed up training of employees
- Retain intellectual capital even if an employee with high-value knowledge leaves
- Make adaptation to changing markets and environments an efficient process
Knowledge management seeks to share the accumulated insights gained through experience by an organization among its employees, thus leading to more effective practices and eliminating many wasteful ones. Case studies, use of IT and the Intranet, and creation of a knowledge base and expert software are some of the ways that organizations use for the purpose.
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