In his book "Knowledge Management in Modern Organizations" (2007), Murray E. Jennex wrote that the true essence of knowledge management is "leveraging relevant knowledge assets to improve the organization's business performance."
Nevertheless, reality shows that in many cases, knowledge management processes implemented in organizations do not lead to their intended goals, namely better organizational performance.
Despite technological tools enabling diverse and advanced solutions and the widespread understanding in most organizations that knowledge management plays a central role in the organization's success and survival, it seems that knowledge management processes implemented in organizations are often lacking.
Here are four principles that contribute to the success of a knowledge management process:
1.Connection between knowledge and business performance
Knowledge management exists primarily because it allows organizations to achieve their business-economic goals. If it does not promote the achievement of these goals, there is no point in the significant investment in building a complex system that combines knowledge, experience, and data and is supposed to make them accessible to many different factors. Therefore, knowledge managers must identify the business and economic value of the knowledge management project in their organization.
2.Setting goals at the project or specific unit level
Heather Kreech, Knowledge Manager at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, wrote in her article "Success Factors in Knowledge Management Processes" (2005) that "knowledge sharing works best when knowledge managers meet and communicate knowledge at a specific project/activity/unit/field level before generalizing it to the organization-wide level." Setting clear goals for the knowledge management project at the project or unit level leads to characterizing a knowledge management solution with a better ability to fit its specific clients' unique needs and character.
3.Adapting the knowledge management platform: The knowledge management process includes the entire life cycle of knowledge
Knowledge creation, storage, and accessibility to those who need it. The chosen knowledge management system must support each of these stages. It is not enough to have a system capable of storing vast organizational information. For the stored knowledge to be helpful, participants must be able to locate and retrieve it quickly and when needed. Therefore, the technological platform should include intelligent search options tailored to the target audience. Training on the technological platform and deep familiarity with it will strengthen the confidence of those using it and increase their chances of success in searching for the knowledge they need.
4.Recruiting supporters
As with any other project, enthusiastic supporters greatly assist a knowledge management project. These supporters help recruit the support and commitment of different project partners, from senior management to employees and end-users. Gaining management support can facilitate obtaining the budgets and resources essential for the project's success and its implementation in the organization, whether these are economic resources needed for selecting the appropriate technological platform, implementation and training of partners, or access to experts who enable better mapping of the organization's knowledge gaps and needs.
In conclusion, those involved in a knowledge management project should remember that for the project to succeed, it cannot consist of merely storing and transferring knowledge. It must be remembered that the primary goal of knowledge management is profitability. The means to achieve this goal is empowering the partners in the knowledge management process through processes and knowledge platforms that promote learning and accumulating practical knowledge.
The article is based on "Success Factors in Knowledge Management."
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