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Knowledge Management

KnowledgeKnow Management and the Need for Intranet systems
Knowledge management (KM) refers to a range of practices used by organizations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge for reuse and learning across the organization. Knowledge management applications/ knowledge management tools are used to tie organizational objectives to the achievement of specific business outcomes such as improved performance, competitive advantage, and higher levels of innovation. The managing of knowledge through systematic sharing is assuming a larger role in organizations around the world.
Sharing knowledge: The idea that knowledge should be shared is obviously not new. The pursuit of any significant human activity, including economic development, typically leads to the acquisition by those involved of know-how and expertise as to how the activity may be successfully conducted. Insofar as what is learned in the process can be captured, and communicated and shared with others, it can enable subsequent practitioners -- or even generations -- to build on earlier experience and obviate the need of costly rework or of learning by making the same repetitive mistakes. Even in highly sophisticated modern knowledge organizations, the most valuable knowledge -- the know-how in terms of what really gets results and what mistakes to avoid often resides mainly in people's minds. Interactive knowledge-sharing mechanisms have always been used -- from village square debates, and town meetings, to conclaves, professional consultations, meetings, workshops, and conferences -- all functioning to enable individuals to share what they know with others in the relevant area of knowledge. Today, a range of technologies from computers to video-conferencing for distance learning offers unprecedented opportunities to disseminate know-how and insights rapidly and cheaply to a worldwide audience.
Explicating knowledge: The reach of know-how and experience possessed by individuals can be...