VNUnet :: Reap the long-term rewards of knowledge management
by Michael Gubbins
...Knowledge management has previously been a big disappointment for many companies. What's changed now? The big problem with knowledge management (KM) has been lack of focus - lots of grand vision, little practicality. KM strategies now need to built on more secure foundations, says leading expert Fons Trompenaars, of Trompenaars Hampden-Turner.
He believes that at the heart of knowledge management is a misleadingly simple question: 'How do you extract meaning from all the data around you?'
That's not just a technical task; it also takes in issues like company attitudes and multiculturalism. To create practical business policies is difficult unless you have clear objectives. Trompenaars suggests companies look at tasks as business dilemmas to be reconciled: eg transnational solutions versus localised centres of excellence, or rewarding individual endeavours or collaborative teamwork.
'Companies need to ask what they can learn from mistakes and understand that erring and correcting are both part of the reconciliation process.'
Knowledge management is enshrining the process in business practice...
K-Collector