DRIVING TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
The core issue when considering knowledge management is how to get people to share their knowledge. The easiest methods are through traditional rewards, such as pay, incentives, benefits, stocks, profits, and commissions or alternatively, through learning opportunities (6).
An additional issue is to examine why we want people to share their knowledge, and to explain the value derived from the sharing. The primary reason for knowledge sharing is that customers are looking for value and companies have to provide value propositions. They need to provide what the customer actually wants, not what the company thinks the customer requires, offering improved value and thereby creating new markets.
With this value proposition perspective, a number of large companies have incorporated and embedded the management of knowledge within their systems, thereby increasing the value it can make for the organisation and, therefore, the customer. Not all knowledge management requires technology.
To derive the best value, it requires management of the knowledge, the managers, and the employees in combination. Examples of value innovation occurring without new technology have happened in a number of places, as follows:
‘Starbucks coffee shops (franchising and products – the whole experience of drinking coffee translated into a strong willingness to pay a premium on a low cost commodity product creating enough economic surplus to support a price that makes business sense and satisfies customers with the benefits); the furniture retailer IKEA (product quality, cult status and rapid location expansion); the fashion house of Ralph Lauren (design and branding – combined the high quality of haute couture clothes with more styles that ordinary people could wear to create a unique and profitable position); or Southwest Airlines (high performance relationships – building leadership, using past experience to build relationships, encourage mutual respect) by building on the knowledge they already have.
They are in traditional businesses, but each is able to offer new and superior value through innovative ideas and knowledge.’ (6)
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