The effective knowledge organization

Citation

King, W.R. (2003), "The effective knowledge organization", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 9 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/bpmj.2003.15709caa.002

The effective knowledge organization

William R. KingKatz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Knowledge management (KM) is currently very popular in corporations and among academics. Recently, a colleague of mine suggested that KM is merely a fad that will not exist in a few years.

Although I think that KM is very important, I agree with him at one level. Just as the term “total quality management” (TQM) was popular in the 1980s and early 1990s, and now is seldom used by managers, I would not be surprised if the term “KM” also falls into disuse.

The reason that this is so with TQM, and will likely be so with KM, is that these activities have and will become integrated into the normal operations of business. Just as there were many people with titles such as “VP of quality” in the 1980s, there are now many “chief knowledge officers”. The former title has all but disappeared, as will the latter one, but not nearly as rapidly.

“Knowledge officers” tend to focus on knowledge per se rather than on the applications and consequences of knowledge. Nonetheless, these positions will exist and be useful for some time if firms recognize and organize for their various knowledge-related activities to create what I designate as an “effective knowledge organization” (EKO) – an organization that creates, explicates and communicates knowledge and applies it to create improved decision making and organizational behaviors that positively influence overall performance.

An EKO is made up of a number of elements, each distinct because the activities and the required underlying cultures are so different, but which, taken collectively, can make the overall organization more effective.

These knowledge-related components of an EKO are:

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  An individual learning component which focuses on developing human intellectual capital by enhancing the knowledge of individuals through such mechanisms as formal class work, e-learning and mentoring.

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  An organizational development component which utilizes adaptive learning to create social capital through such devices as the use of teamwork and partnerships and other strategic alliances with other firms.

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  An intellectual property management component that deals with knowledge that has already been converted into explicit form such as patents, research reports and trademarks, with the objective of generating greater revenues for the firm through licensing, brand extensions and the creation of new products.

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  An innovation component which focuses on generative learning to create new products and processes through creative thinking and which manifests itself in forms such as “idea fairs”, and small financial grants for exploring new ideas.

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  A knowledge management component which focuses on the explication of the tacit knowledge that exists in the minds of organizational participants and that knowledge which is embedded and in the process and relationships of the organization. Once made explicit, such knowledge can be stored and communicated throughout the organization.

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  An information/communication system infrastructure which enables these components to operate and to be integrated into an overall supporting structure for the EKO.

An organization that develops these knowledge-related capabilities and which implements them in an integrated manner, can become an EKO which uses and enhances its knowledge, implements improved behaviors and decision making, and improves its overall performance.

Organizations that do not develop these capabilities will, in the long term, become unable to compete with those that have done so. At some point, just as was the case with quality, these capabilities will become an integral part of the various business activities that the EKO conducts, at which point there will be little need for executives who hold the title of “knowledge officer”.