Progressive organisations are constantly looking for ways to take full advantage of resources, while increasing their efficiencies to effectively compete in today's highly competitive business world.
There are some who recognise the potential of the people within an organisation, realising it is these people, their knowledge and the supporting process that can make all the difference. It is here, says Ashley Ellington, MD, Softline Enterprise, that knowledge management lives and breathes: "It is here, where it all starts."
Ellington says knowledge management is the sharing of information, but in such a way that it is perceived as value and not just data or hard to understand facts. He says as much as people want to box it, knowledge management is not a CRM solution nor is it about content management.
Rather it is corporate data or information which is extracted, acquired or tailored to suit the needs of the organisation. Ellington believes while CRM is about finding and retaining customers, knowledge management is utilised to secure and maximise corporate knowledge for improved business and competitive advantage.
As one of Britain's greatest literary figures, Dr Samuel Johnson said: "Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it."
Ellington says the latter is also a key aspect of knowledge management. He says attempting to extract information based on a specific user's request is not unlike using the yellow pages, just more complex. "The principle is the same; it is the way you do it which matters."
Converting data into knowledge is what makes it meaningful. But, what if the data needed does not exist or is hard to find? Ellington says true knowledge management allows users not only to define the problem and find an answer as part of a search-and-retrieval process, but also to create a new answer when one isn't readily available.
He says tailoring the information is also key: "It is possible every user wants a different view of the data. When tailoring this knowledge it is important to address the vastly different approaches people and organisations use to interpret data," comments Ellington. He says knowledge management should be able to adapt and mould to the business requirements of the organisation, even as they change.
Critical to the success of knowledge management are four elements: integration into the day-to-day activities of the people using the systems; breaking free from silo-thinking and giving users access to information; obtaining buy-in from all levels within the organisation, especially management; and measuring and analysing the knowledge management efforts before and afterwards.
Much like the air we breathe, knowledge is all around us. The value of it is measured in its application. It has no intrinsic value of its own - it is only relevant when it is used. The value of knowledge is only real if you change the way business is done. "An effective knowledge management solution can successfully make this change and improve the bottom line of a business," concludes Ellington.
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