Knowledge Management

In this age of cyberspace, information is no longer a want but a need. Individuals need it as much as the corporate environment needs it to serve business needs. Access to information in the quickest and most efficient way led to the invention and expansion of existing technology, thus, making way for the use of Information Technology in different working environments. Today, government agencies, non-government organizations, religious entities, business establishments, and educational institutions have already taken advantage of this change. Organizations have information systems specifically designed to meet specific goals and objectives, giving them the edge where information and opportunities are concerned. They call this edge as the knowledge competitive advantage.

The move from product-based to knowledge-based economies has spurred this transformation unfolding before us, where knowledge has become an asset in communities and gaining it means opening up to possibilities. Thus, knowledge competitive advantage has become a management discipline as far as business models are no longer insufficient for the demand of the present. This management discipline provides organizations with the tools for organizational competence, survival and adaptation. Contrary to what most people think about management of knowledge competitive advantage, it does not only focus on the data processing component of information technology, but also on the innovation and creativity of the human resources of a company. An environment that values the free exchange of ideas and innovations is, therefore, imperative.

With the fast-paced nature of the business environment of today, the management of knowledge competitive advantage has become more complex than in the past. Originally, knowledge management has been referred to as the transmitting the right information to the right person at the right time. But this idea has been challenged because of its inapplicability to the present. The past gave ample time to the business executive to plan what information to send, who is going to receive it, and the right time for transmission. Yet today, as the century speeds up in unprecedented seconds, programs such as those no longer work. Rather, it is tailoring performance according to the needs of the customer, instead of selling what you think customer needs, will work.

This requires information. Unlike any day and age, we live in times when our actions are guided by new and fast-changing information. Believed to be the knowledge competitive advantage, economists, however, could not profit much if not viewed within an action-driven framework. It is in utilizing Information Technology to the advantage of companies and institutions that it becomes a knowledge competitive advantage. Without decisive programs of action based on acquired and stored information and skills and innovation, it will never be a knowledge competitive advantage. In this respect, it is very helpful that we think about this old adage about computers: The computer can never think for you.

Thus, no matter how free your access is to information, it would always be useless if is not translated into specific action. While quality of knowledge gained is very important, application always releases any potential that might just be hiding underneath the surface. Here, knowledge becomes more than just a bundle of ideas. Based on information, experience, intuition, and insight, knowledge has become the unifying thread between the resources of the company, which later on, leads to its competitive advantage.

Knowledge Management |