1. Zaven Hakopov
What is KM ?
Knowledge management is fundamentally the
management of corporate knowledge and intellectual
assets that can improve a range of organizational
performance characteristics and add value by enabling an
enterprise to act more intelligently (Gupta et al., 2002).
It is a process that helps organizations identify, select,
organize, disseminate and transfer important
information and expertise that are a part of the
organizational memory that typically resides within an
organization in an unstructured manner. This enables
effective and efficient problem solving, dynamic learning,
strategic planning and decision making. Knowledge
management focuses on identifying knowledge,
explicating it in a way so that it can be shared in a formal
manner, and thus reusing it.
But what is
knowledge?
• Information vs. knowledge
• Types of knowledge
• explicit (reports, guides..)
• tacit (know-how, expertise..)
Aims
of KM
Stimulate
performance
through improved
sharing of
knowledge (at the
right place and time)
Support creating
and applying
knowledge
Continuous process
to understand the
knowledge needs
and improvement
perspectives

2. Zaven Hakopov
What is KM in your daily routine ?
There is more to it
• structures and organization
(say no to chaos)
• immediate vs. postponed
impact (sustainability)
• staff rotation (learning)
• information exchange
(naming conventions,
lists..)
• basis for user interaction
and workflows (operation
phase)
• documentation and
papers
• naming conventions
• publications
• tacit knowledge often
underestimated
There is no magic in
KM! You managing
knowledge in your
everyday work.

3. Zaven Hakopov
Typical KMO tasks
Continuing
process
• Assist individual groups in
development of a knowledge
organization infrastructure
• Create and maintain a digital
repository
• Coordinate development of the
company intranet
• Develop and implement a
company-wide KM strategy
• Coordinate knowledge
exchange and retention