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Title:
Leveraging Corporate Knowledge
Review:
As Knowledge Management becomes mature in many organizations,
practical strategies and best practice initiatives are subject to
investigation and validation by research. Leveraging Corporate
Knowledge provides a broad examination of KM approached from a variety of disciplines, including social theory, philosophy, psychology, as well as business strategy.
This collection of papers is the work of the KM Forum at Henley
Management College over three years, 2000-2003. It presents actionable advice to business practitioners at all points on the KM
implementation spectrum, from mature to initiate; and it does so in
the context of rigorous academic literature. The model behind the
work is "participatory action research". The collaboration of
academics from the College with business members of the KM Forum works well to marry theory with reality, providing a "living lab"
environment to discuss and evaluate KM ideas.
The volume is comprised of fifteen papers divided into four general
areas: Strategy and Organization; Management of Change; Below the
Surface; and Technology-Based Enablement. It can be read sequentially
or one can skip to the areas of most interest. The majority of the
papers follow a common format describing the theory and relevant past
research, the study methodology and results, and often include a
practical matrix or checklist for practitioners. The first section
contains five papers examining organizational structures and explores
KM practices and dimensions demonstrated by the most successful
companies. They focus on business strategy, project strategy, use of
e-collaboration space, and communities of practice.
Two key papers on business strategy together conclude that KM is
complex and that not all best practices bring out the most business
value for every company, so it is important to focus on those that
will bring the best results. There are different approaches and best
practices required for successful KM based on type and maturity of the firm and the firm's strategy priorities.
The next section, Management of Change, examines cultural factors
affecting commitment to KM. It explores differences between individual
and organizational perception and behaviours, virtual unstructured
teams, tacit knowledge sharing, and replicating excellence to
encourage best KM practices within organizations. Each of these papers includes practical matrices or checklists to enable one to make comparisons with their own organization.
The third section delves into even softer aspects of KM, including KM
success within organizational tribal structures, KM and personality,
and even Integral Theory!
The last section on technology enablement seemed a miscellaneous
catch-all rather than a cohesive section, and could have been
eliminated from the volume without great loss. There is a case study
of data mining, although the results were not used in practice. There
is a very out-of-place item on dealing with e-mail overload. The
information is dated and written in language for a generic magazine,
not a scholarly text. The final paper on KM technologies also suffers
from datedness as a view of current technologies would be more usable. The volume also features a summary list of all the papers, a list of contributors with their bios, and an index.
Overall, I found the volume an excellent overview of the research
around KM, broadly approached from various disciplines. Make no
mistake, despite the practical link to business, it's a scholarly
read, but fascinating.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Patricia Daze is a Business Systems Analyst with a network communications company in Canada. Her previous experience includes implementing knowledge management technology within the organization, and work as a corporate librarian. An avid reader of non-fiction, she can be contacted at pgdaze@yahoo.com.
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