Page 71 -

54 Chapter 2

Assess

Knowledge capture Knowledge sharing
and/or creation and dissemination

Contextualize

Knowledge acquisition
and application
Update
Figure 2.11
An Integrated KM Cycle

signifi cant experience in making use of this content. Contextualization also implies
identifying the key attributes of the content in order to better match to a variety of
users; for example, personalization to translate the content into one preferred by the
end user or the creation of a short executive summary to better accommodate the time
constraints of a senior manager. Finally, contextualization will often succeed when
the new content is fi rmly yet seamlessly embedded in the business processes of the
organization.
The knowledge management cycle is then reiterated as users understand and decide
to make use of content. The users will validate usefulness, that is, they will signal
when it becomes out of date or when situations are encountered where this knowledge
is not applicable. Users will help validate the scope of the content or to what extent
the best practices and lessons learned can be generalized. They will also, quite often,
come up with new content, which they can then contribute to the next cycle
iteration.

Strategic Implications of the KM Cycle
Knowledge represents the decisive basis for intelligent, competent behavior — at all
three levels: individual, group, and the organization itself. Only a conscious and
organized refl ection of lessons learned and best practices discovered will allow com-
panies to leverage their hard-won knowledge assets. A knowledge architecture needs
to be designed and implemented in order to enable the staged processing and trans-