Publication

Knowledge management is not just about technology

The term, ‘knowledge’, for the purposes of this article at least, covers everything from data (raw inputs from the business environment) through information (raw data organized in meaningful ways) to expertise and insights (the meaning derived from applying information in a particular context).

Today’s organizations recognize the importance of using organizational knowledge to generate business value, whether through increased innovation or efficiency in operations. Effectively managing the organization’s knowledge has become a strategic priority for IT: almost two-thirds of executives in a recent survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit believed that knowledge management and business intelligence tools would be the most important technology underpinning their company’s goals.

Most organizations have implemented a knowledge management (KM) improvement project of some sort, however few have achieved their desired outcomes: two-thirds of executives complain that they are unable to turn the large volumes of data in their IT systems into information that they can act on.

It is often thought that IT projects fail because they focus solely on technology – this applies to the KM space too. Turning knowledge into value is a business issue which requires more than just the installation of a new technology (such as collaboration tools or blogs) or the improvement of an existing system. Deriving value requires changes not just to the technical operations of the business, but also a shift in the way the business operates, including changes in processes, behaviors, culture and leadership.

This article explores how organizations can drive value from their knowledge by making non-technical changes to their business, supported by case studies from organizations that have successfully done just that.