Strategy & Operations » Leadership & Management » It ain’t what you know.

It ain't what you know.

Knowledge management projects may be the latest IT management fad, but many organisations are having trouble making the systems work properly.

According to research from KPMG and PMP Research, 30% of companies trying to implement such systems, which allow companies to sort and reuse the experience and expertise of their staff using sophisticated databases and communications tools, have a problem with staff reluctance to take part. “It is unrealistic to assume employees will automatically take an altruistic approach to knowledge management and agree to add their experience and expertise to the knowledge repository,” says KPMG knowledge management partner David Parlby. “There’s a fear that their usefulness to the organisation will in this way be reduced.” KPMG recommends companies institute a rewards system for staff who contribute to the knowledge management database; and a measurement system to assess both the contribution of individuals and the effectiveness of the overall knowledge database. The financial value of managed knowledge has been notoriously hard to quantify. Financial Director is a sponsor of Online Information 98 at National Hall & Olympia 2 in London, 8-10 December, www.learned.co.uk/events or 01865 388000.

Share
Was this article helpful?

Leave a Reply

Subscribe to get your daily business insights