Strategic Knowledge Management Best Practices:
- KM and Organizational Structures: Two types were defined: formal and informal.
- Formal structure: These will interfere with KM if very rigidly enforced. The choice of structure, and the physical division of the firm, will also affect knowledge flows. Studies seem to show that decentralized structures seem to be best for KM (Choi & Lee 2000, Claver-Cortés et al 2007, Chen & Huang 2007).
- Informal structures: The firm should be perceived as a community consisting of a collection of communities (Brown & Duguid 1992). Management can affect these through the use of project teams, teamwork, social functions, etc.
- KM and Organizational Culture Change: This must be recognized and managed carefully and deliberately. By introducing anomalies that challenge the accepted premises of organizational culture, management can influence organizational members to abandon certain aspects in favor of others (Gardner 1997). Use of incentives and common vision and goals are also effective tools. One of the most important goals is to create a culture where knowledge sharing is perceived as beneficial rather than detrimental to the individual.
- KM and Knowledge Retention: Knowledge retention is the part of KM that is concerned with making sure that important knowledge assets remain in the firm over time, e.g. when key employees leave the firm or retire. Formulating a knowledge retention strategy depends upon understanding which knowledge is important, which knowledge is at risk and what it takes to keep this knowledge in the organization. Depending upon its knowledge retention strategy a firm may choose to implement one of many initiatives and tools including reward structurers, mentoring, interviews, and utilizing knowledge knowledge from retirees.
- KM and Core Competencies: The management of core competencies consists of four processes: identifying, sustaining, building, and unlearning. KM plays a key supporting role throughout this process by:
- Identifying what the firm knows, and what its main expertise is.
- Leveraging knowledge assets across the organization.
- Building the right know-how and expertise to match strategic requirements.
- Isolating and removing/changing obsolete knowledge.
- KM and the External Network: As mentioned before, external knowledge sources include customers, suppliers, competitors, partners, mergers, etc. KM plays a role in the assessment of potential partners, by helping to determine what the organization knows, what it needs to know, and the best ways of getting that knowledge. It is also a key element during the cooperation process to ensure that the right knowledge is transferred and integrated into the organization.
- KM and Knowledge Management Systems: This very ambiguous category of systems refers to most systems used in the sharing, discovery, and creation of knowledge. Failures are generally due to an over reliance on technology, a lack of understanding of the limitations of these systems, improper fit with organizational practices, lack of acceptance, etc. Proper implementation implies paying attention to:
- Organizational fit: Carry out internal assessment of needs and work practices, cost-benefit analysis, etc.
- Organizational acceptance: by involving the user in the design and implementation, through managerial and technical support, and with product champions, etc.
- Continued use: A function of perceived attractiveness factors and content management (Gamble and Blackwell 2001).
This concludes the summary of knowledge management best practices. KM is a process that spreads throughout the organization. Its scope is difficult to define and its effects are hard to measure - e.g. how do you determine the ROI on a discipline designed to subtly improve most aspects of the organization? Nonetheless, if properly implemented, it is a worthwhile investment that will promote efficiency, learning, innovation, and competitive advantage.
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