Approaches to Knowledge Management

There are three primary approaches to knowledge management:

1. The Process Approach attempts to codify organizational knowledge through formalized controls, processes, and technologies. The organizations which adopt this approach are able to implement explicit policies governing how knowledge is to be stored, collected, and disseminated throughout the organization. This approach also uses information technologies to enhance the quality and speed of knowledge creation and distribution in the organizations. Intranets, data warehousing, knowledge repositories, decision support tools, and groupware are examples of technologies seen in the process approach.

2. The Practice Approach to knowledge management assumes that a great deal of organizational knowledge is tacit in nature and that formal controls, processes, and technologies are not suitable for transmitting this type of understanding. Communities of Practice (COP) are groups of individual with a common professional interest who work together informally. These communities allow individuals to collaborate directly, sharing experiences and teaching each other. These collaborative computing methods help people to communicate. This approach is most often adapted by companies that provide customers highly customized solutions to unique problems. However, the environment and nature of the problems that occur with this approach are extremely dynamic.

3. Best Practices are activities and methods that the most effective organizations use to operate and manage various functions. In the past, knowledge repositories would just list best practices and would make them available within the firm. However, knowledge is now used throughout a firm more efficiently and has a wide-ranging impact because knowledge repositories are now electronic and Web-accessible.

4. Hybrid: In the real world, knowledge management initiatives can involve both process and practice approaches.