What is Knowledge Management Anyway?

When you think of all the things companies have, you do not always consider the knowledge they have. For instance, a company is only as good as its employees, its resources, and its knowledge. But, where and what is that knowledge? How is that knowledge managed within the company?

A basic definition of knowledge management is this. Knowledge management is a process that companies use to generate value from their assets. Knowledge management can be much more, but this is the basics of it. Now, there are two types of knowledge management to speak of at this point. One is explicit knowledge.

What is that?

It is the assets such as 'paper' assets such as trade marks, patents, files, employee lists, customer lists, marketing research, and even business plans. The other type of knowledge management is tacit knowledge. This type of knowledge is the stuff inside people's heads. For obvious reasons this is the hardest knowledge to manage. How do you know what is there and how do you put a price tag so to speak on it?

Knowledge management is a much larger concept then this. But, companies often strive to figure out what their knowledge assets are and how to organize and place value on them. In many cases, programs can be used to help with organization and drawing in the knowledge itself. To find out more on knowledge management, you can check out any of the many websites that explain it in greater detail. In order to be successful at knowledge management, a business owner needs to understand the proper way to utilize it and manage it.

The Knowledge Management Resource Site is an all-on-one resource for everything about Knowledge Management.