KM in Practice

Over the past decade, Knowledge Management (KM) is receiving increasing attention from researchers and practitioners alike. However, a well-integrated and holistic framework that would unify the discipline and guide practice is currently missing. In an effort to address the identified gap a holistic, modular and easy to use KM implementation methodology is proposed. The KMinPractice Methodology aids the structured and gradual realization of KM, through the provision of practical guidelines and useful tools.

The KMinPractice Methodology©KMinPractice.com

The main phases of the proposed approach include:

• Initiation: The establishment of the leadership and the development of a wide understanding and acceptance of the KM phenomenon are considered fundamental preparation steps, and thus constitute the first phase of the proposed methodology.
• Strategic Planning: Strategic planning intents to set the high level direction for KM in alignment with the overall business strategy and corporate objectives. In simple words this phase aims at defining the KM goals, along with how the organization will go about achieving them. A crucial milestone is the organization wide communication of the corporate KM goals.
• Analysis & Design: This phase lies at the heart of the proposed methodology, since it aims at the analysis and design of the organization’s KM model. The major aspects that have to be specified include the required processes and organizational structures, the structure of knowledge assets and finally the supportive IT infrastructure.
• Objectives & Measurement: This phase aims to support the quantification of KM’s outcomes and impact on organizational performance, in order to monitor and control its application, ascertain that expectations are realized and convince stakeholders as to its value. In doing so, it explains the process of developing targeted measures based on the proposed KM Scorecard.
• Application: The application of the developed designs and models is the final phase of the proposed methodology. More specifically, it is proposed to gradually introduce the new discipline to the organization through some initial pilot projects before the company-wide roll out. The reason for these is to gain experience through the pilot projects, resolve infant diseases and get ready for the next big step.

A fundamental characteristic of the proposed methodology, not mentioned above, is the feedback loop that aims at embodying in the approach what is known as strategic learning. As time passes the organization’s KM level, environment and the corresponding needs evolve and change. As a result a mechanism that captures this evolution and directs it back to the strategic planning process is required. In this way strategy and finally practice adapts to the changing business and knowledge reality assuring that KM corresponds to the organization’s current requirements and business goals.

Last update: 15-04-2008 09:54