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What’s Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge
Under Course Content, click on Week 4 and then open up the Week 4 Schedule to access the two readings for this week. Both articles focus on strategy as a management tool for KM.
Read the HBR article entitled “What’s Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?” by Hansen, Nohria, and Tierney (1999). While the authors point out that KM is nothing new, they also are quick to elicit that managers do not take a uniform approach to managing knowledge. In other words, there is not a one size-fits all approach. Although the research for this article centered on management consulting firms, we can extrapolate out to more mainstream organizations as well.
Does your organization take a codification strategy or a personalization strategy to managing knowledge? Using some of the examples and illustrations outlined in the article, provide a compare and contrast with your own firm. (Note: If you are not currently employed, please use a past employer or a firm of a family member/close friend).
Ultimately, a company’s KM strategy should reflect its competitive strategy in terms of creating customer value, being profitable, and managing employees. Do you agree with the authors’ that it is not possible for one organization to use both types of strategies and that an 80-20 split works best, e.g. 80% of knowledge sharing follows one strategy and 20% the other?
Has your organization chosen the right strategy? Examine the strategy you identified for your firm above in terms of the three questions posed in the article:
a) Do you offer standardized or customized products?
b) Do you have a mature or innovative product?
c) Do your people rely on explicit or tacit knowledge to solve problems?
Learning Activity #2
Developing a Knowledge Strategy
Read Zach’s (1999) popular academic article entitled “Developing a Knowledge Strategy” published in the California Management Review. Then, review the attached PowerPoint presentation which summarizes some of the key points and draws out some thoughtful take-aways.
https://web.cba.neu.edu/~mzack/articles/kstrat/kstrat.htm
The last slide showcases Discussion questions. Refer to these questions in presenting your thoughts, ideas, and analysis for this second discussion on taking a strategic view of KM strategy.
