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Knowledge Management Strategy 337

the “ as is ” or current state of the organization with respect to KM, and helps in mea-
suring progress toward organizational culture change and other KM goals.
• The two most commonly encountered KM application goals are reuse and
innovation.
• A good KM strategy will diagnose the existing status of the organization, compare
this with what stakeholders want to achieve in the future, and come to an assessment
of how far apart the two are: a gap analysis.
• A short-term horizon of one to three years is best for detailed recommendations — an
action plan that includes cost, resources, and measuring components.
• The proposed KM strategy should not only clearly address business objectives (not
KM objectives) but should be compatible with the prevailing cultural and technologi-
cal enablers of the organization.
• It is crucial that a balance be maintained between fl uidity and institutionalization
in a given organization.

Discussion Points

1. Compare and contrast KM applications that are driven by an objective of reuse
versus those driven by an objective of innovation.
2. What are the major steps involved in developing a KM strategy? What sorts of
information is needed in order to recommend a KM strategy to an organization? List
the major categories of stakeholders who should be involved in the strategy formula-
tion process.
3. What are some of the pros and cons of a web-based questionnaire versus face-to-
face interviewing when conducting a knowledge audit (refer to chapter 4)?
4. Why is it important to conduct an audit before eliciting stakeholder
objectives?
5. What are some criteria that may be used to prioritize both KM objectives and KM
recommendations?
6. What are the major differences between the short-term and long-term strategy?
How do they fi t together?
7. Why is it important to maintain a balance between fl uidity and institutionaliza-
tion? What are some of the mechanisms that can be used to achieve this balance?
How can KM applications upset this balance?
8. List and provide examples for some different types of knowledge assets. What are
some typologies that can be used to categorize them?