Knowledge Management

Knowledge management (KM) is the process of creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve organisational objectives by making the best use of knowledge.

An established discipline since 1991, KM includes courses taught in the fields of business administration, information systems, management, library, and information sciences. Other fields may contribute to KM research, including information and media, computer science, public health and public policy. Several universities offer dedicated master’s degrees in knowledge management.

Many large companies, public institutions and non-profit organisations have resources dedicated to internal KM efforts, often as a part of their business strategy, IT, or human resource management departments. Several consulting companies provide advice regarding KM to these organizations.

Knowledge management efforts typically focus on organisational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and continuous improvement of the organisation. These efforts overlap with organisational learning and may be distinguished from that by a greater focus on the management of knowledge as a strategic asset and on encouraging the sharing of knowledge. KM is an enabler of organizational learning.

Combining knowledge management with CRM is always a smart choice. A truly integrated system that leverages customer intelligence with organizational knowledge leads to sustainable competitive advantage.

Accomplish increased productivity. While responding to customer requests in CRM, your employees can have access to commonly asked answers and company information directly from your knowledge management system. This eliminates research time, conferencing with other employees and switching between applications while customers wait.

Reduce redundant tasks. In your CRM system, your cases can be updated with information learned during each resolution, and solutions to repetitive issues can be converted into articles in your company’s knowledge base.

Improve customer satisfaction. Customers visiting your company’s web site can find self-service capabilities through a search of your knowledge management system or through interacting with online FAQs that narrow down their problems to an appropriate response. Customers who can’t find resolutions or answers this way can be quickly routed to a live agent. New cases can be automatically generated by the system to alert your agents.

Increase effectiveness. With reports that provide a clear measurement of effectiveness, you will be able to keep complete track of how many calls, emails and questions have been resolved with solutions from the knowledge base and which issues are most active and repetitive. This form of real-time accountability gives you the power to respond to customer needs, build knowledge where it is appropriate, and track the effectiveness and productivity of customer facing employees.

Gearing towards next-generation Enterprise applications, the terms KM, CRM and e-business have become more-or-less interchangeable. Besides, with B2B and B2C interactions realizing greater sophistication levels, the boundaries between KM and CRM will become more blurred. Or, so to say, the case for Knowledge Management in CRM shall become stronger and more and more inevitable. Some of the reasons for KM in CRM are cited below :

• Customers are now demanding & expecting bigger bargains, better products & faster service on a personalized scale. CRM approaches alone cannot take care of providing such high-level of personalization.
• Combining customer knowledge with CRM enables organizations to target customers with high life time / strategic value; thus leading to future growth opportunities.
• Customer intimacy and knowledge of industry-specific processes tailored to meet business needs are essential ingredients of organizational success.
• Organizations must formulate a dynamic corporate buying and selling model such that customers receive optimum results based on the combination of suppliers, services & processes, most appropriate to their own business model & vertical industry.
• To achieve this dynamism, organizations must have fast and easy access to information about its own business operations, its customers & their vertical processes & business models the forte of Knowledge Management
• Managing this extended enterprise-knowledge in a customized manner by applying knowledge relevant to particular verticals, shall be the differentiating factor for on-line intermediaries the opportunity for E-business providers.

History

Knowledge management efforts have a long history, including on-the-job discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries, professional training, and mentoring programs. With increased use of computers in the second half of the 20th century, specific adaptations of technologies such as knowledge bases, expert systems, information repositories, group decision support systems, intranets, and computer-supported cooperative work have been introduced to further enhance such efforts.

In 1999, the term personal knowledge management was introduced; it refers to the management of knowledge at the individual level.

In the enterprise, early collections of case studies recognised the importance of knowledge management dimensions of strategy, process and measurement. Key lessons learned include people and the cultural norms which influence their behaviors are the most critical resources for successful knowledge creation, dissemination and application; cognitive, social and organisational learning processes are essential to the success of a knowledge management strategy; and measurement, benchmarking and incentives are essential to accelerate the learning process and to drive cultural change. In short, knowledge management programs can yield impressive benefits to individuals and organisations if they are purposeful, concrete and action-orientated.