Healthcare Articles

Understanding Knowledge Management

Knowledge management: buzz word or key tool to developing corporate capability?

There is no question - knowledge management is essential if an organisation wants to develop and lead its market.

It promotes an integrated approach that a company can incorporate into their existing structure to access and use its 'Intellectual Capital' for the betterment of its customers, markets, products, services and even its own internal processes.

There are several key aims of knowledge management.

• to command a competitive advantage
• to increase awareness and competitiveness
• to increase innovation and creativity
• to reduce risk
• to control costs.

Essentially, what it is about is connection: connecting people with people; connecting people with information; enabling information to be converted into knowledge and encouraging innovation and creativity through the nurturing of a 'knowledge environment'.

Knowledge management is also about communities, or groups of people with a common sense of purpose and common interests, sharing work related knowledge and experience. Communities operate through relationships that are built on trust, respect, loyalty and friendship, as well as for mutual advantage. It is essential to remember that people need to feel that what they do is a valued activity.

In this ideal working environment, there are many positive spin offs. For example, it is one that encourages ideas, rewards successes and when and if there are any failures, deals with them appropriately, not automatically dismissing them as is often the case in a business environment.

Through the system of knowledge management, knowledge workers are created. People are allowed to fail and learn from their failure, to admit to problems and reflect upon them. In fact, knowledge management actively encourages people to ask for help! It is a two way street. Employers and employees learn to recognise and acknowledge that there will be failures from time to time, and come to view these failures as a valued activity that can be viewed as part of the learning curve.

But what makes knowledge workers valuable employees?
Several essential qualities:-

• Knowledge workers are highly adaptable and eager to learn new things
• they are good at searching for, evaluating and managing information
• they are computer literate; self-motivated; creative and innovative
• they have excellent communication skills
• they are good at working in teams and have good networking skills.

Knowledge management, as well as identifying a company's competitive advantage, can actually increase effectiveness and competitiveness. It can increase innovation and creativity, reduce risk and control costs.

The more knowledge a company can have about its business capabilities, of the competitive forces it is operating in, the better it is equipped to deal with competition, whether from a new player in the industry or an existing rival.

Armed with this knowledge, a company is in a far stronger position and is better able to identify the key factors that driving its competition and can implement strategies that will have a positive influence on the way it goes forward.

Knowledge management is a key tool and can have highly beneficial payoffs for businesses with profit and growth on their mind in the twenty first century.

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By Dr Glenn Carter, Managing Director of Pharmaceutical Professionals, a Sydney professional services company.

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