This paper say all about various Knowledge Management Solutions in IT. How it can be systematically and properly been utillised as a powerful tool of customization of organization''s knowledge buildup.
Managing an organization’s knowledge more effectively and exploiting it in the marketplace is the latest pursuit of those seeking competitive advantage. The interest in knowledge management has surged during the last few years, with a growing number of publications, conferences and investment in knowledge management initiatives. In a year long study of international best practice (Skyrme and Amidon 1997), two main thrusts were identified. The first is that of making better use of the knowledge that already exists within the firm, for example by sharing best practices. This addresses the oft cited lament: “if only we knew what we knew”. Too frequently people in one part of the organization reinvent the wheel or fail to solve customer’s problems quickly because the knowledge they need is elsewhere in the company but not known or accessible to them. Hence, the first initiative of many knowledge management programs (between a third and a half according to surveys) is that of installing or improving an Intranet, and adding best practice or ‘expert’ databases. The second major thrust of knowledge focused strategies is that of innovation, the creation of new knowledge and its conversion into valuable products and services. This is sometimes referred to as knowledge innovation (Amidon 1997). This requires an environment where creativity and learning flourishes and knowledge is encapsulated in a form where it can be applied. One way is to embed knowledge into products, where it is more easily disseminated. Products from tractors to domestic appliances are getting ‘smarter’, while other products, such as software, represent packaged knowledge. The range of knowledge management activities is broad, and touches many aspects of business operations, for example: · Creation of knowledge databases - best practices, expert directories, market intelligence etc. · Effective information management - gathering, filtering, classifying, storing etc. · Incorporation of knowledge into business processes e.g. through the use of help screens in computer procedures or access to experts from icons · Development of knowledge centers - focal points for knowledge skills and facilitating knowledge flow · Reuse of knowledge at customer support centers e.g. via case-based reasoning · Introduction of collaborative technologies, especially Intranets or groupware, for rapid information access · Knowledge webs - networks of experts who collaborate across and beyond an organization’s functional and geographic boundaries · Augmentation of decision support processes, such as through expert systems or group decision support systems.
What is new, and therefore makes knowledge management more fundamental than simply a passing fad are the following factors: · The value of an organization’s wealth is increasingly in its intangible assets - its people, know-how, brands, patents, licenses, customer relationships etc. · Knowledge can command a premium price in the market - Applied know-how can enhance the value (and hence the price) of products and services. Examples are the ‘smart drill’ that learns how to extract more oil from an oil field, and the hotel chain that knows your personal preferences and so can give you a more personalized service. · bsp; As suppliers and consumers get more globally connected (e.g. through the Internet), access to critical knowledge becomes easier and more cost effective. · As organizations become more efficient at what they do, they need to apply new learning and talent to help them differentiate themselves in the marketplace. · By retaining knowledge as organizations downsize or restructure, organizations can save costly mistakes and prevent “reinventing the wheel”.
The significant change as companies respond to these factors is that their knowledge processes become more explicit, more systematized, more cross-organizational and more geographically dispersed. As a consequence they more readily lend themselves to the application of information and communications technologies (ICT). Thus, surveys (e.g. Murray and Myers 1997, Chase 1997) have shown email, Intranet, Internet as effective knowledge management tools. Also, videoconferencing, document management, online information sources and decision support tools are quite widely used as such, although views diverge as to their effectiveness.
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