What is Knowledge Management?
I recently answered a question on LinkedIn Answers. The question was, “Can someone please provide a definition of “Knowledge Management?” Since I am often faced with blank stares when I use the term Knowledge Management, I thought I would provide my answer…..
That’s a whopper of a question and means many things to many people and changes depending on the industry or organization. I have to admit I like the definition that’s in Wikipedia: “Knowledge Management (KM) comprises a range of practices used in an organisation 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 organisational processes or practice”.
The words “Knowledge Management” are as good as any to represent the total activities of connecting people to people and people to information within organizations. It represents cross division, cross region, cross department knowledge sharing, capturing, creating, reusing, organizing, etc….
It is about expecting a set of behaviors within an organization that allows for continual learning ultimately for the benefit of increasing profits and sales. KM strategies, implemented well can have a significant impact on finding ways to reduce costs, drive standardization into business processes to increase quality and customer satisfaction, build and expand the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees; and, most importantly, KM Strategies can increase knowledge sharing and knowledge seeking resulting in new and innovative products and services.
I’ve seen KM described as technology. However, anyone experienced in deploying technology in general will know that it’s not about technology, it’s about changing the way we work (processes) and the behaviors we use when we work (culture). Technology comes in as the enabler after you have determined Culture and Process.
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POINTS TO CONSIDERED IN DEFINING KM
Aware by the reality that Knowledge (Management) is hard to define caused by the level of its complexity is higher compared with Information regarding both of them are the staging of human act or human enlightment process, I insisted to develop a version of mine on definition of KM
Within my perception, Knowledge already behaving as subject – dynamic active – consciousness, in contrast with Information which is just an object and pasive not yet having consciousness (see the related discussions at following Links :
• http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/the-latest-paradigms-and – THE LATEST PARADIGMS AND TRENDS IN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM) ,
To summarise, by knowing the essential difference between Information and Knowledge we should treated differently to each of them. We treat Information as object and we should treat Knowledge as subject.
CONTRIBUTING MY DEFINITION OF KM
My submitted definition of KM considered on 4 (four) factors or determinants I’ve comprehended so far empirically as well as philosophically :
1. Knowledge (Management) is the staging of Human Enlightment Process
2. The process is to managing the transformation of Information content into Knowledge and beyond (Wisdom)
3. The Goals is towards Learning, Growth and Innovation
4. The management should leveraged by Standards, Tools and Process Framework