Page 43 -

26 Chapter 1

Some critical KM challenges are to manage content effectively, facilitate collabora-
tion, help knowledge workers connect, fi nd experts, and help the organization to learn
to make decisions based on complete, valid, and well-interpreted data, information,
and knowledge.
In order for knowledge management to succeed, it has to tap into what is important
to knowledge workers, what is of value to them and to their professional practice as
well as what the organization stands to gain. It is important to get the balance right.
If the KM initiative is too big, it risks being too general, too abstract, too top-down,
and far too remote to catalyze the requisite level of buy-in from individuals. If the KM
initiative is too small, however, then it may not be enough to provide suffi cient inter-
action between knowledge workers to generate synergy. The KM technology must be
supportive and management must commit itself to putting into place the appropriate
rewards and incentives for knowledge management activities. Last but not least, par-
ticipants need to develop KM skills in order to participate effectively. These KM skills
and competencies are quite diverse and varied, given the multidisciplinary nature of
the fi eld, but one particular link is often neglected, and that is the link between KM
skills and information professionals ’ skills. KM has resulted in the emergence of new
roles and responsibilities. Many of these new roles can benefi t from a healthy founda-
tion from not only information technology (IT) but also information science. In fact,
KM professionals have a crucial role to play in all processes of the KM cycle, which is
described in more detail in chapter 2.

Key Points

• KM is not necessarily something completely new but has been practiced in a wide
variety of settings for some time now, albeit under different monikers.
• Knowledge is more complex than data or information; it is subjective, often based
on experience, and highly contextual.
• There is no generally accepted defi nition of KM, but most practitioners and profes-
sionals concur that KM treats both tacit and explicit knowledge with the objective of
adding value to the organization.
• Each organization should defi ne KM in terms of the business objective; concept
analysis is one way of accomplishing this.
• KM is all about applying knowledge in new, previously unencumbered or novel
situations.
• KM has its roots in a variety of different disciplines.