A 12 point Knowledge Management Manifesto
Knowledge Management is still struggling to change from an IT-led function to a more integrated, people-centric form - I have to admit, after all these years, I don't get why this is still the case.
KM has to throw off the shackles of a function originally conceived within the resource-based view of the firm. A view where people, the key knowledge agents, are observed as subordinated employees, their knowledge being tacitly observed as 'belonging' to the organisation - there to be mined, extracted and moved around like a physical resource. Moving away from this view of the world is essential if KM is to remain relevant to the organisation.
KM is not the only organisational function that has been forced to evolve to remain relevant. In many ways the KM challenge is similar to the struggles of the Human Resource function as it moved away from traditional personnel management. Knowledge Management has much to learn from the history/evolution of organisations. There are lessons to be shared and applied, but, in the main, the KM field has become far too insular. There is a distinct need for Knowledge Managers to become more curious about learning from functions with which Knowledge Management/Services should look to integrate.
The following is inspired by John Storey's Model of HRM (2001) - a soft version of HRM, "a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve a competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce using an array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques." This statement encapsulates the change KM needs to embrace in order to maintain its relevance in the internal organisational marketplace.
The following is an adaptation of Storey's model of HRM and aligns, for example, with the findings from the 2013 MAKE Award winners:
"This year’s Global MAKE Winners excel at creating knowledge-driven organizational cultures, innovation and collaborative knowledge sharing."
