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does contribute to improved exploitation of the information and knowledge resources
available to the company. In a longer-term perspective, knowledge management
builds the new foundation for improved business advantages and strengthens the
capabilities for a sustainable future.

Key Points

• Knowledge management is a complex undertaking, one that involves people and
cultural issues, not just technology-related decisions.
• Information seeking, particularly on the World Wide Web, should not always be
taken at prima facie — there are political, commercial infl uences in addition to techni-
cal constraints and these will all affect the type and volume of content that can be
easily retrieved.
• Organizational knowledge repositories should ensure information seeking is both
objective and optimized, if not to each individual user at least to the different thematic
groups or CoPs that exist within the company.
• The type of organizational culture will often prove to be a KM barrier — this profi le
needs to be assessed and characterized in order to allow for proactive actions to be
taken.
• The paradox of the value of an intellectual or knowledge asset is one of the
major issues facing KM today. Human, structural, and customer capital will need
to be codifi ed to some extent and their sharing promoted actively throughout the
organization.
• One of the most important challenges in ensuring success of KM applications is
putting into place the appropriate rewards and punishments to motivate knowledge
workers to share knowledge. This means there has to be “ something in it for me ” as
well as for the CoP and the organization.
• KM has enjoyed a steady and pervasive growth into many business functions and
the future of KM lies in KM becoming part of the how knowledge workers carry out
their professional tasks.
• There continues to be a need for KM to be able to demonstrate its value.
• KM requires a holistic perspective, one that encompasses business goals, people,
processes, technologies, and organizational context.
• KM requires a comprehensive approach, one that addresses each step in the KM
cycle.