| Purchase options: |
Details: |
 |
ISBN: 0-9543897-7-8
|
|
Published by Ark Group .
|
|
Written by Jela Webb
|
|
Book published 2004
|
|
Title:
Knowledge Management for SMEs - Solutions and Strategies
Review:
'Knowledge management' is not a term you hear much in SMEs. Partly
it's because they're too busy getting on with doing the work of
running the business to worry too much about analysing it and partly
because knowledge management has been associated with big business.
Corporates operating internationally with thousands of employees need
to share information in order to be competitive. In small businesses,
there's a large enough informal network to enable people to get the
job done. With most of the literature focusing on big biz, it's easy to see why SMEs on the whole show little interest in knowledge
management.
The irony is that small businesses have much more at stake: because
there are fewer employees, each one is likely to be more important to
the business's continuity. When an employee dies, a significant chunk
of business expertise and experience might die with them. If it's the
founder or a key salesman, the business itself could go under. SMEs
that don't plan knowledge management measures are tempting fate.
The book 'Knowledge management for SMEs' by Jela Webb is more of an
analysis than a how-to guide. Good ideas for knowledge sharing can be
lifted from the case studies, such as having a policy to copy others
on emails and conducting vivas before promotion to identify knowledge
gaps. But the book presents more analysis than advice - there's a
whole chapter dedicated to defining the SME and several pages
discussing the EU's plans to become a leading knowledge-based economy
by 2010. While this will be of interest to researchers - and will
provide many jumping-off points for deeper research - I can't imagine
many small business owners finding these sections useful in their
work.
The size of the companies profiled in case studies varies
significantly with companies of 40, 75 and 200+ employees all telling
their story. For small business owners, the most compelling case study will be that of Bailey Solutions, a business with just five employees. This study revolves around succession planning and knowledge transfer to ensure that the business is not forever dependent on its founder. The solution Bailey adopted was a combination of using IT to provide secure access to information and holding meetings to share knowledge. The knowledge discussed in this case is mostly relating to client relationships, and it would have been interesting to see more discussion of process documentation in a business of this size so that everyone knows - as far as is predictable - how each job is to be done in the absence of the leader. Nevertheless, any small business owner with aspirations to retire will find this a thought-provoking read.
The book is written in a friendly business magazine style, with
chapters concluding with summaries, key points and action lists. This
helps make the material accessible to everyone. Its core audience
though is likely to be among researchers, analysts and those in medium sized companies about to undertake a major knowledge management project. For them, this book is strongly recommended.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Sean McManus is a business and technology writer. He is the founder of
media careers advice site JournalismCareers.com
http://www.journalismcareers.com and fun mood-surfing website Wild
Mood Swings http://www.wildmoodswings.co.uk. You can download free
chapters from his books 'Small Business Websites That Work' and 'The
Customer Service Pocketbook' (co-authored) at his website at
http://www.sean.co.uk. The website also hosts a wide range of
website development resources and a selection of original
JavaScript games.
Related Free Pint Links:
|
