University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
The New Edge in Knowledge
Book

The New Edge in Knowledge

How Knowledge Management Is Changing the Way We Do Business

Carla O'Dell and Cindy Hubert
Wiley, 2011
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable
  • Well Structured

Recommendation

Knowledge management (KM) experts Dr. Carla O’Dell and Cindy Hubert present a framework for determining your organization’s “critical knowledge,” which includes what you know about your customers, your technology and technical capabilities, your manufacturing and distribution, your marketing strategies, your internal and fiscal policies, your corporate history and future plans, and more. They help you construct a strategic business case for KM, select the right KM programming and incorporate it into your employees’ daily work, while demonstrating how to take advantage of emerging technologies and mobile devices to build networks and share knowledge. getAbstract recommends this useful guide to planning, launching, implementing and managing an effective KM program to managers, HR professionals and other executives looking for a road map to knowledge management.

Summary

What Is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge management (KM) is “a systematic effort to enable information and knowledge to grow, flow and create value.” Four dynamics shape organizational knowledge management:

  1. “Digital immersion” – Mobile devices and smartphones allow people to work from anywhere and get more done in less time. But when workers multitask, they lose start-up time and attentiveness as they constantly refocus, jeopardize their productivity and analyze information less effectively.
  2. “Social computing” – People use social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn to originate content and to build relationships. That creates new information and value. Social computing relies on participants to invent, share, rate and consume content, and it “improves the more people interact with and build on it.”
  3. “Demographics and dynamics” – Organizations must adapt KM to retain and transfer knowledge. This is especially pertinent as retiring baby boomers take institutional knowledge with them. KM helps companies identify and transfer “critical knowledge” prior to retirements and during reorganizations...

About the Authors

Carla O’Dell holds a doctorate in organizational psychology and is president of the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC). Cindy Hubert is executive director of APQC’s Advisory Services.

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