5 Responses

1. for what it’s worth
   Mark
   This is limited to one organisation, a global multinational.
   -Knowledge management was a very expensive activity due to the complexity of the IT required
   -It required an intensive and ongoing education and communication programme to actually encourage people to contribute-“my knowledge is my power, if I share my knowledge I am dispensible”
   Sorry it is all so negative
   Rus

2. KM
   Mark
   Henley have some useful info on KM approaches. A bit is openly available on the main web site though much more is avialable to members of their KM forum, which I can recommend. Try http://www.henleymc.ac.uk/henleyres03.nsf/pages/kmf and
   http://www.gurteen.com/
   For specifics on policy/strategy try:
   http://www.nelh.nhs.uk/knowledge_management/km2/strategy_toolkit.asp – a good starting point based on experience within the NHS.
   Finally try http://www.csrc.lse.ac.uk/asp/aspecis/20000202.pdf – an academic piece linking KM to organisational learning in the UK construction sector (is that the sector you work in?)
   Graham

3. KM and the information professional
   The specific information of all organisations will be different of course. However the management of access to information and knowledge is supported by very well developed principles, the main ones focusing on promotion, presentation and access. A library and information professional is well versed in these principles and a good person to get to know in terms of supporting your need to pull down the silos and open up knowledge and information for everyone.

   If there isn’t such a person in your organisation (they are still sometimes called librarians!), approach your local public library for support. I’m sure you’ll find them helpful, but do ask for the senior manager.

   In the unlikely event that you draw a blank there,do let me know.

4. Arian Associates Ltd
   I agree with Rus’s comment below.

   Knowledge Management is essentially breaking down the barriers of the ‘Knowledge is Power’ syndrome that an awful lot of organisations still seem to suffer from, even in this day and age.

   You almost need a change of company culture to implement a KM policy, and if you haven’t addressed it before you are going to meet some massive resistance – especially from the older, longer serving members of staff who will probably have all their knowledge tucked up in their heads, and be very reluctant to release it into the public domain and share it.
   Your comment does not give any indication of wether you are familiar with KM or not. If you are looking for information to assist with formulating your policy and approach to KM then I suggest you get hold of a copy of the ‘Managing for Knowledge’ open learning workbook in the ‘Universal Manager’ series endorsed by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). This is used on Diploma, Executive Diploma and higher level NVQ programmes and is an excellent read.

   Good Luck !

5. The new KM?
   Just as we’ve been getting used to KM principles and practice we now have ILM:

   “implementing an “Information Lifecycle Management” (ILM) strategy, and putting systems in place to support intelligent archiving of non-critical data is crucial. These systems can help lower storage costs by assigning non-critical data into different, cheaper, storage types such as tape backup.”

   Taken from:

   http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=5774

   Access is still the key of course but sophisticated storage systems willbe essentialfor large organisations with needs comparable with public authorities as highlighted in this piece.