Knowledge management is quickly becoming an important factor for success in many organizations. In the 1990s Chevron set a priority for managing and sharing knowledge and has stated that it has been a key part of reducing operating costs by over $2 billion over seven years. By sharing best practices for managing energy use, Chevron has reduced energy costs by $200 million per year (Derr, 1999). In order to effectively use knowledge management, organizations must understand the knowledge management problem, the tools available, and the process of implementation. For a knowledge management solution to be successful it must solve the major problems of gathering and disseminating knowledge. To manage knowledge there are many different technology and non-technology based tools available. In order to use these tools effectively organizations must properly implement and support their knowledge management solutions.

According to the Australian Standard on knowledge management, knowledge management has four parts. These include people, processes, technology and content (Robertson, 2007). Knowledge management is often thought of as technology solutions such as a database. However, knowledge management does not necessarily need to be technology based. Knowledge management can include training and mentoring programs, communities of practice, workshops, and seminars. Knowledge management consists of a range of practices used to identify, develop, store, and share knowledge for training, reuse, and sharing across an organization. Knowledge management helps organizations train employees, collaborate across great distances, and share the best methods for accomplishing and managing tasks.

Knowledge management can provide organizations with competitive advantage through the sharing of best practices, better training programs, and provision of easy access to information. In order to increase efficiency and reduce costs, organizations can assist employees by promoting knowledge sharing throughout its ranks. Knowledge management can also support the retention of knowledge from experienced workers that are leaving the organization as a result of turnover or retirement. Knowledge about the failures and successes of past projects can be stored and shared so the results of successes can be repeated and failures can be avoided. In order to make the best use of knowledge management it is necessary for organizations to understand what problems knowledge management will solve and the benefits it will provide for their specific organization.
 

References

Derr, Kenneth (1999). Proceedings from Knowledge Management World Summit

Managing Knowledge the Chevron Way. San Francisco, CA.

Robertson, James (March 5, 2007). There are no “KM Systems” . Retrieved April 28,

2007, from www.steptwo.com.au/papers/cmb_kmsystems/pdf/CMb_KMSystems.pdf.