The,Practice,Knowledge,Managem business, insurance The Practice of Knowledge Management

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Knowledge management is not about technology. It is aboutculture. To put it into the right perspective,the practice ofknowledge management will drive the organisation to develop astrong culture of competency and innovation. Such enterprise-wideculture will enable the organisation to achieve sustainablesuperior performance. In other words, by strategicallycapitalising on both tacit and explicit knowledge, anorganisation can secure and maintain a competitive advantage atthe market place. Information communication technology (ICT) isan enabler to facilitate the practice of knowledge management.For an organisation to successfully transform itself into aknowledge enterprise, it must leverage on the eight key focus ofknowledge management. The eight key focus are K-identification,K-acquisition, K-application, K-sharing, K-creation,K-development, K-preservation and K-measurement. These eight keyfocus will provide a systematic approach to introduce thepractice of knowledge management.A structured knowledge identification exercise or knowledge needsanalysis (KNA) exercise must be conducted to establish theknowledge gaps and deficiencies of an organisation. Forbusinesses to function at the speed of light, organisations needto identify the current and specialised knowledge required toimplement its competitive strategies. By comparing the requiredknowledge with existing knowledge capital, the knowledge gap canthen be defined. The larger the knowledge gap or deficiency, thegreater are the obstacles to achieve the desired goals of anenterprise.A positive environment must be created to induce intenseknowledge acquisition. Knowledge acquisition is to source forcurrent and specialised knowledge to close the knowledge gap of aparticular organisation. Knowledge can be derived within theorganisation, from existing employees, communities of practices(COPs) and communities of innovative networks (COINs). Knowledgecan also be imported from outside the organisation, namely fromcustomers, suppliers and even specialists from the various areasof businesses and expertise. Knowledge can also be attained fromK-products, such as reading materials, recorded CD-ROMs, on-linelearning, and through the World Wide Web. K-tools like learninghistory will assist an organisation to learn from the past,innovate on the future for today's consumption. Key emphasisemust be placed on real time acquisition, with short cycleapplication.Armed with critical, current and specialised knowledge, the nextfocus is to pursue an obsession in knowledge application.K-application will also induce spiral skills development, whereprofessionals are able to gauge their level of expertise throughcontinuous contribution to the organisation. Most importantly,knowledge gained must be immediately applied.The practice of knowledge management advocates knowledge sharing.Trust and mutual respect must be present to promote K-sharing.Sharing of best practices will spur constant innovation, and thiswill benefit the organisation. Enterprise recognition should begiven to encourage K-sharing in an organisation. Working ininnovative teams will provide a platform for K-sharing amongpeers. A structured K-policy supported by a variety of K-toolsand collaborative technologies such as the intranet will promoteK-sharing.K-development will focus on the development on conceptual,behavioural and technical abilities of an individual. Plannedefforts like structured competency based learning must beinitiated to build the overall competency of employees in anorganisation. In other words, organisations need to be competencydriven, ensuring a high level of competency in its employees.A passion to explore and innovate on ideas needs to becultivated. The enterprise must develop the ability to create newknowledge. New knowledge will form the platform for the dynamicsof continuous innovation. This can be achieved by integratingboth tacit and explicit knowledge that exists in an organisation.A high retention of knowledge can be achieved by creating aculture for knowledge preservation. Enterprise wide K-sharing,COPs and COINs can be used to preserve knowledge within anorganisation. K-preservation is about real time knowledgecapture, use, re-use and constant updating. Since knowledge has ashort 'life-span', the focus is on the frequency of using thecaptured knowledge to support intelligent decision making.Technology will be the enabler to store selective and currentspecialised knowledge. Knowledge preserved must be madeaccessible to every individual at any point in time.A knowledge measurement system must be implemented to gauge theknowledge capital of an enterprise on a periodic basis. The focusis to measure the K-inventory of an organisation.A new adage will then become apparent, an era where knowledgewill be power only if it is being used wisely. Hence, thefundamentals of knowledge management will be prominent in aneconomy where knowledge will be the deciding role in ensuring asustainable edge in an ever-competitive market. Article Tags: Knowledge Management, Specialised Knowledge