Can organisational knowledge be managed?

It has been said that knowledge has become a key resource of the economy (Bell 1973). Knowledge is a multifaceted concept within the individuals of an organisation (Davenport & Prusak, 1998). It is therefore necessary to know whether there is a possibility of this knowledge being managed which is the focus of our paper.

Organisations increasingly want to increase the knowledge since there is a transition of economy from a resource based to a knowledge based. It remains a debate whether organisational knowledge can be managed. Organisations need to understand the need for knowledge to be managed. For instance, in a bank there has to be widespread knowledge in different sectors in order to spread the common facts in all parts of the bank. Consider a football club. The nature of business and organisational goals need to be understood by all sections of the organisation in order for the club to prosper. Therefore, organisational knowledge definitely needs to be managed. The only question is though that whether or not this knowledge can be managed?.

The solutions:

Successful companies have in the past managed knowledge effectively. This forces us t think that through proper planning and use of latest technologies, knowledge can be efficiently managed within organisations. Use of technologies like the web 2;0 and the common platform software’s, one can easily distribute information to different parts of organisations. Knowledge management systems are the latest genre of IT applications. These are typically the ones which support decision making and are useful in determining the flow of knowledge within all parts of organisation. Another part of managing knowledge is the re-use of knowledge in different departments of an organisation. Prior to the latest developments in IT , this was done purely as a good managerial practice and was suited to people with good managerial skills. As IT applications have evolved, much of the work has been done through the use of application software’s. Companies are more and more going in for common software’s to automate processes and involving human resources just to use the end products.

Conclusions:

The use of IT has certainly benefited the flow of knowledge. Through proper IT applications and decent managerial skills, we conclude that organisational manage although huge in structure can definitely be managed. Provided of course there is the right mix of technology and managerial skills!!

References:

1: Bell D (1973) – The coming of Post Industrial Society, Basic Books, New York 1973

2: Davenport, T. H., & Prusak, L., 1998, Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.