152 Posts Found

Our informal survey of where employees are spending their time in major departments across large companies suggests that 60-70% of their time is consumed in “exception handling” – addressing unexpected events that the existing processes can’t handle. These exceptions are a great opportunity to create new knowledge – how to handle something never anticipated. Yet, today this work is generally done inefficiently – workers struggle … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: John Hagel III | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Knowledge Management, Management

In a world of exponential change, existing knowledge depreciates at an accelerating rate. The most powerful learning in this kind of world involves creating new knowledge. This kind of learning does not occur in a training room; it occurs on the job, in the day-to-day work environment.

Content: Quotation | Author: John Hagel III | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Knowledge Management, Learning, Personal Development

Just because information may be incomplete, based on conjecture, or notably biased does not mean that it should be treated as “garbage.” Soft information does have value. Sometimes, it may even be essential, especially when people try to “connect the dots” between more exact inputs or make a best guess for the emerging future.

To optimize available information in an intelligent, nuanced way, companies should strive … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Helen Mayhew, Simon Williams, Tamim Saleh | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Decision Making, IT / Technology / E-Business, Knowledge Management, Management

As [Peter Drucker] saw it, the winners of the IT revolution are not the hardware or software developers of today, but rather the companies which have access to knowledge and content.

Content: Quotation | Author: Hermann Simon | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Knowledge Management

In the corporate world, businesses are regularly graded on the value of their assets: They report to their shareholders about the physical assets they own, their cash in hand, and revenues and profits, both past and expected. But when it comes to measuring their knowledge assets — the value of those can be harder to gauge. However, the entrepreneurial management of knowledge assets can be … [ Read more ]

Content: Multimedia Content | Authors: Ian C. Macmillan, Martin Ihrig | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Knowledge Management

Many companies are interested in implementing (or already have implemented) social software in an attempt to streamline processes and increase employee communication. Often times, however, the new software is not integrated across the company in a way that makes it useful and lasting.

Content: Article | Authors: John Hagel III, John Seely Brown | Source: Chief Executive | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Knowledge Management

Experts could be our most powerful teachers—but often they’ve lost the ability to connect with novices. Research by Ting Zhang reveals how experts can rediscover the experience of inexperience.

Content: Article | Author: Carmen Nobel | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Career, Knowledge Management, Personal Development

Are your scouts so busy looking outside for new knowledge they’re not understanding what your company really needs?

Content: Article | Author: L. Felipe Monteiro | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Knowledge Management, Miscellaneous

Lack of time or resources can, of course, constrain knowledge transfer. But one barrier to passing deep smarts along to the next generation that is often unaddressed is the expert’s inclination to hoard knowledge. Financial incentives, personal ego, and discontent or frustration with the company are three of the top reasons individuals choose to keep their expertise to themselves. But they’re also three issues that … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Dorothy Leonard | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Knowledge Management, Management, Organizational Behavior

Bank of America’s stringent onboarding process for new execs ensures they understand role expectations, quickly develop networks, and learn from other leaders what it takes to succeed. From the new book by Dorothy Leonard and colleagues, Critical Knowledge Transfer.

Content: Article | Author: Dorothy Leonard | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Best Practices, Human Resources, Knowledge Management, Management

According to the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), knowledge management (KM) is defined as: “a systematic process of connecting people to people and people to knowledge and information they need to effectively act and create new knowledge.” But is KM is worthwhile business practice and, if so, how should it be measured?

Content: Article | Author: Mark Graham Brown | Source: Business Finance Magazine | Subject: Knowledge Management

Many companies know what social media can do but many are still unable to apply or leverage social media to distance themselves from competitors. One company that has used social media successfully is the New Jersey-based IT firm, Cognizant. These authors describe how the company did it, and did it so well that some its clients say that it has separated Cognizant from the pack … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Bala Iyer, Salvatore Parise, Sukumar Rajagopal, Thomas H. Davenport | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Knowledge Management | Company: Cognizant

Organizations that understand social technologies’ key capability – to enable employees to connect with others to boost job and organizational performance – will realize significant benefits. Thus, organizations need to think strategically about using these technologies to help transform themselves into truly collaborative workplaces. These authors, who were integrally involved in one such exercise, describe how it’s done.

Content: Case Study | Authors: Bala Iyer, Bill Donaldson, Donna Cuomo, Salvatore Parise | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Knowledge Management, Organizational Behavior

The successful acquisition of knowledge across organizational boundaries is essential for innovation and creativity. In a new article, IESE’s Marco Tortoriello and his colleagues argue that organizations interested in mobilizing knowledge across formal boundaries must move beyond the simplistic version of “boundary spanners” (individuals who link different organizational units) toward a deeper understanding of the network relationships in which boundary spanners are embedded.

Content: Article | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Knowledge Management

The most important thing that companies have learned in the past twenty years is that managing knowledge requires knowing more about both knowledge and management than a lot of big firms seem to know.

Content: Article | Author: James Krohe Jr. | Source: The Conference Board Review | Subject: Knowledge Management

Knowledge workers’ information needs vary. The key to better productivity is applying technology more precisely.

Content: Article | Author: Thomas H. Davenport | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Knowledge Management

Improvements in efficiency and quality vary with a team’s tasks and location, as well as with the access its members have to institutional databases.

Content: Article | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Knowledge Management

Adam Richardson of frog design has clustered a variety of KM approaches into a 2×2, and describes some of the specific things done at frog by way of illustration. This is not to say that these are the best methods, but they do show that there are often many below-the-radar and informal methods of achieving knowledge sharing that don’t get recognized as being valuable for … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Adam Richardson | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subject: Knowledge Management

Is your company investing in expensive knowledge management systems that are useless for making big, strategy decisions? Most companies recognize the need for knowledge management, but often delegate it to the IT and HR departments without linking it to corporate strategy, often thereby wasting both resources and the strategic options their firm’s knowledge could generate. The problem is that most current knowledge management efforts merely … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Ian MacMillan, Martin Ihrig, Max Boisot | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subject: Knowledge Management

Because an infocracy is based on power created by access to widely available information, it demands a different type of leadership than a bureaucracy.

Content: Article | Author: James G. Clawson | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Knowledge Management, Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior