The World without Bankruptcy Laws
Bankruptcy is one of the natural states which a company may find itself in. Entrepreneurship is primarily about taking risks. When companies take risks, some of them succeed, whereas others fail. Hence failure is a natural part of the business. However, many critics of bankruptcy laws believe that there isn’t a need for an elaborate […]
The Wirecard and Infosys Scandals are a Lesson on How NOT to Treat Whistleblowers
What is the Wirecard Scandal all about and Why it is a Wakeup Call for Whistleblowers Anyone who has been following financial and business news over the last couple of years would have heard about Wirecard, the embattled German payments firm that had to file for bankruptcy after serious and humungous frauds were uncovered leading […]
Why the Digital Age Demands Decision Makers to be Like Elite Marines and Zen Monks
How Modern Decision Makers Have to Confront Present Shock and Information Overload We live in times when Information Overload is getting the better of cognitive abilities to absorb and process the needed data and information to make informed decisions. In addition, the Digital Age has also engendered the Present Shock of Virality and Instant Gratification […]
Why Indian Firms Must Strive for Strategic Autonomy in Their Geoeconomic Strategies
Geopolitics, Economics, and Geoeconomics In the evolving global trading and economic system, firms and corporates are impacted as much by the economic policies of nations as they are by the geopolitical and foreign policies. In other words, any global firm wishing to do business in the international sphere has to be cognizant of both the […]
Why Government Should Not Invest Public Money in Sports Stadiums Used by Professional Franchises
In the previous article, we have already come across some of the reasons why the government should not encourage funding of stadiums that are to be used by private franchises. We have already seen that the entire mechanism of government funding ends up being a regressive tax on the citizens of a particular city who […]
Knowledge is the new lubricant that runs the world economy. We live in what Alvin Toffler called the “Third Wave Society”. A society built around the new and emerging paradigm around knowledge as the new capital. The information technology and related industries function on the basis of knowledge as the medium of input and output.
Truly, knowledge is wealth and whoever has the expertise has the power. In this article we discuss how Organizations improve their knowledge building capabilities around the concepts listed below. For illustrative purposes, we are taking into consideration an organization that operates in the Information technology space.
Data collection can be done through collecting inputs from the employees across the organization in the form of surveys, feedback etc. There are annual surveys that are conducted to elicit the information about the various serviced being offered by the organization.
Data collection can also be done through user forums and collective methods of data sharing. These should then be centralized into a repository accessible by all the employees.
Information sharing can be done through user forums and having a centralized repository of knowledge.
User forums are a means of interaction between the employees on technical, organizational, and other related matters. Questions can be posted on these forums that elicit responses on any subject by the so-called “Subject Matter Experts”
A centralized repository of knowledge can be built with the employees participating in contributing to the knowledge store. This can take the form of articles, how to do pieces and other artifacts.
The company intranet can be used as a medium of exchange of knowledge between the employees. As mentioned above, the repository can be hosted on the intranet making it possible for all the employees to access and share information and knowledge
An organization can invest in its own Information systems to handle the flow of knowledge through its arteries or buy an off the shelf product. There are several Knowledge management products available in the market. Creation of an intranet, document store (like Documentum) etc are some of the tools by which an organization can manage knowledge.
Typically, organizations have a continuous improvement process like Kaizen, Six Sigma etc in place. These serve the dual function of tapping the innovativeness of the employees as well as adding to the knowledge base. A spin off a continuous improvement process like Kaizen is the evolution of the knowledge store in the company intranet. There are tools like Autonomy that aggregate all the knowledge and serve the function of search engines, but, customized for an organization.
In this era of Knowledge, how organizations manage the voluminous amount of data that flows in and out and how knowledge is sifted from this mass is of vital importance to the success of the organization. These days, all organizations, big or small have a division or unit devoted exclusively to the management of knowledge.
An effective knowledge management system takes care not only of the existing information but also provides scope for continuous refinement of the process thereby leading to increasing gains from the intellectual property that the organization holds.
Notes
1. Toffler, Alvin. The Third Wave. New York: Bantam Books, 1980
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
The Age of Oversupply: Why the Future Would be Demanding on the Present Generation
February 7, 2025
Reasons for Failure of Participative Management
February 7, 2025
The Return on Knowledge
February 7, 2025
