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9 Knowledge Management Strategy

You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.
— Charles de Gaulle (1890 – 1970)

This chapter addresses the common building blocks that are developed in order to
apply and gain benefi t from knowledge management (KM) applications. The major
steps involved in developing a KM strategy are presented: the knowledge audit, the
gap analysis, the elicitation of KM objectives, the short-term road map, and the long-
term KM strategy. The general KM objectives of innovation and reuse will be discussed
in terms of how best to balance creativity with organizational structure.

Learning Objectives

1. Provide examples of major KM objectives and how specifi c KM initiatives can be
implemented to address them.
2. Illustrate the major elements of a KM strategy and discuss the processes involved
in each step.
3. Outline the key steps in the evolution of an innovative new idea and the institu-
tionalization of a best practice that forms the object of reuse.
4. Discuss and evaluate the different approaches that may be undertaken in order to
achieve an optimal balance between creativity and organizational structure.
5. List the different types of knowledge assets that result from KM initiatives.

Introduction

This chapter introduces the addition of a sound KM strategy that is linked to the overall
business objectives of the organization to the integrated KM cycle (see fi gure 9.1 ).