Knowledge Management - an Introduction
The Internet, advanced telecommunications, reliable international shipping, and lowering trade barriers are all combining to bring the world closer together....along with more opportunities and threats from unlikely places! The challenge for businesses these days is to spot the right information that leads to actionable knowledge - knowledge that can be used to make better decisions. Not an easy proposition given the ever-increasing information overload.
Despite the value of knowledge, it is virtually impossible to come up with an objective definition for "knowledge management" that works for everyone. Indeed, there are many different definitions for "knowledge management" in the business literature and some people even think that the term itself is an oxymoron!
Knowledge management therefore means different things to different people. To put it in this way is very helpful because it follows that:
- There is no "one" right way of doing knowledge management.
- There is no "one" right knowledge management software program on the market.
- What works for organization A will not necessarily work for organization B.
Getting started
The goal of knowledge management is to make better decisions. It is about picking the right tools for the right job. However, knowledge management is not just about technology and often the solution that works best takes into account technological, organizational, and cultural factors. The bad news is that there are many approaches to choose from. The good news is that common sense will go a very long way to get started with knowledge management:
- Start with a business problem that relates specifically to knowledge. Low success rates of winning new customers, ineffective marketing and web site strategies or high personnel turnover are all examples of knowledge-related problems.
- Ask yourself what knowledge you need in order to address this problem. What makes sense?
Chances are that you know what the solution should look like. We are here to help you choose and implement the tools and techniques that will get you to that solution.
Why KM specifically for small businesses?
Knowledge management software vendors and consultants still overwhelmingly focus on selling their products and services to large businesses and government agencies. Large organizations have the resources to test lots of new ideas and software when they emerge, and then pick the ones that work for them. Small businesses do not have this luxury; they have to pick the right tools on a limited budget.
The trick is to take the lessons learned at large organizations and make them work in small businesses. At a fraction of the cost.