Knowledge Management Forecast - The Road Ahead is Long
- Dr. Moria Levy
- Sep 1, 2003
- 4 min read
Knowledge management is a field that is developing in more and more organizations.
In the early years, we asked ourselves about the future; we wondered whether knowledge management was a fad in organizations, another buzzword in the long series we had already become accustomed to, or whether this time it was something real — a change or innovation worth investing in, learning, and implementing in the organization.
Today, this question is resolved. Knowledge management is here, and it's here to stay; at least now, at least in the coming years, and certainly even after the recession period.
Nevertheless, the field is still in its infancy, and extensive development is required. What does the future hold for us in the field of knowledge management? The answer is multidimensional, exactly like knowledge management itself.
We are accustomed to speaking about three aspects of knowledge management: computational, cultural, and procedural.
The forecast: The world of knowledge management will incorporate a fourth dimension: content.
If we examine organizational knowledge, we see that it is organized in a multi-faceted manner. Part of it is tacit and needs to be made explicit; part of it is explicit, but still in employees' heads and needs to be formalized and transferred to a documented structure; part of it is documented but not computerized (you'd be surprised, but there's a lot of such knowledge in organizations); part of it is documented and even computerized, but not accessible: it needs to be organized, catalogued and in some cases, even processed. The issue of content management and its organization is gaining awareness, and even computing tools are already offered to anyone who requests them.
And when it comes to computing, the forecast is also interesting.
The forecast: Niche products will continue to dominate the market. There will be no takeover in the coming years by a single, all-encompassing solution (although portals continue to attempt to lead this trend). Comprehensive solutions will emerge, but will not provide quality solutions, so organizations will mostly continue to be interested in niche solutions. And furthermore–
The forecast: Knowledge management products will mature. They are already on their way there, although for most of them, the road is still long. We all hope that with the exit from the recession, more organizations will invest in software procurement, which will lead companies (that didn't succumb to the recession) to invest additional funds in developing and improving the products in their possession. In any case, maturation is already visible, especially since most products are not domestically produced (and in the wider world, the situation has begun to improve).
And from computing, a small glimpse into the procedural dimension. This dimension is gaining momentum year after year, from one organization to another, and from one project to another.
The forecast: The growth trend, in which the center of gravity in knowledge management projects is more procedural (at the expense of the computational and cultural dimensions), will continue and intensify.
The forecast: Even though content needs may be similar between organizations and processes are similar, solutions will not be copied generically between organizations in the next two to three years. Ready-made applications for knowledge management in the content world X will not (yet) be offered, as the adaptation delta from organization to organization is approximately 20%. Each organization will look at its needs. Each organization will solve its own house. The level of overlap between solutions offered to large organizations is unlikely to be significant. In other words, we assess that there will still be a lack of a mechanism for knowledge sharing between organizations engaged in knowledge management in similar environments.
And on the cultural side, where are we headed?
Over the past year, there has been a trend of seeking practical solutions. An escape from the cultural dimension accompanies this. It's not that there aren't any organizations dealing with this dimension, but the total engagement, compared to previous years, and the centrality of this engagement have decreased. The above is both a continuation of the recession, in which here-and-now solutions are required (and quick results do not characterize cultural change), and also a reaction to the past, in which the cultural dimension was the only or primary one.
The forecast: The cultural dimension will become a stronger component in knowledge management projects, although not immediately. The strengthening will only be after the exit from the recession, and only after (and because) the lack resulting from direct engagement with solutions without an adequate cultural dimension is felt again. Still, the strengthening will not bring the cultural dimension back to its former place.
And in summary, more and more knowledge managers will flourish in organizations. Still based on a course here, training there, but in a few more years, knowledge management will become a recognized track in every university and academic institution. We won't ask ourselves whether it's appropriate for a knowledge manager to have originally been a librarian, programmer, IT person, or human resources professional. A knowledge manager will originally be a knowledge manager.
But as we said, the road ahead is still long...
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