Is KM just a passing fad like some believe Facebook is? Is there a window of opportunity we may miss? What is coming next? Only last year did 47% of managers believe that Knowledge management was a temporary topic. If you ask managers now, that percentage would probably be more around 10%. Which proves what I have been saying the past couple of months - developing and exploiting organizational knowledge is becoming fundamental like e-banking. Sharing knowledge e.g. of best practice, can improve productivity. Embedding knowledge into products can enhance value. Connecting different knowledge sources can create innovative products.
To gain some insights on the likely future of knowledge management, it is instructive to look at how some earlier 'fads' have evolved. Few large companies today do not practice Total Quality Management, at least in some form. Quality has become embedded in all their products and processes - although you still frequently find companies who are not practicing what they preach. Similarly, most organizations have introduced some form of Business Process Reengineering, even if not restructuring as radically as Hammer and Champey defined it. The point is, that these concepts have matured into a set of desired management practices, that in turn have stimulated a thriving industry for experts, suppliers of tools and techniques, training and other services. So if we have all these tools and techniques set in place, then why do companies have product call backs and deffects?
Posts
