The Importance of Knowledge Management to a Growing Business
Knowledge management is a critical component of the success of your business. Without proper knowledge management, you risk the loss of millions of dollars. Unshared knowledge costs Fortune 500 companies $35 million per year. You need the right technology to manage and share your knowledge. The right technologies will enable you to share, manage, and store your knowledge effectively.
Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is the wisdom gained by individuals through their experience and observations. It is often referred to as “know-how” or “tribal knowledge.” It is not based on documentation and can be passed down from generation to generation without any formal training.
While tacit knowledge is not always as accessible as explicit knowledge, it can offer a competitive advantage. Organizations should make tacit knowledge a part of the selection and evaluation process. Likewise, universities should incorporate tacit knowledge into their curricula to help students develop this valuable skill.
The results of the study indicate that tacit knowledge management is highly correlated with organizational performance. In addition, it has a strong correlation with both internal and external performance. Clearly, Tacit Knowledge Management can be a valuable resource for a growing business.
Explicit knowledge
The process of converting tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge is known as externalization. In this process, an individual creates documentation, videos, and other media to share his or her knowledge. Examples of externalized knowledge include newspaper articles, technical reviews, and product and business journals. To gather and organize these types of documentation, you need a knowledge management system and a good plan.
Explicit knowledge is valuable to a growing business for several reasons. The first is that it provides an opportunity to acquire new ideas and improve communication within an organization. In addition, it can lead to better decisions and faster decision-making. It also creates intellectual assets for the business.
Explicit knowledge is often stored in material form, such as documents, books, whitepapers, and videos. It is important to communicate this knowledge effectively within an organization to ensure that everyone understands the basics and how to implement them. For example, a company can use a proven sales process to help new customers close more deals. Another good way to share explicit knowledge is to create a formal customer complaint archive that contains information on how to deal with the issues. And finally, an effective onboarding process will help new employees get the know-how they need to succeed.
Explicit knowledge is easy to share and transfer. You can share this knowledge by creating training materials or using videos to explain how to set up a piece of equipment. On the other hand, tacit knowledge is more difficult to document and transfer. But if you follow a process for managing knowledge, you can make sure that people share the right information.
Explicit knowledge can be written down or recorded and is easily transferable from one person to another. Moreover, it can be stored in electronic form for easy retrieval. The best way to transfer this knowledge is to have it available for all employees to use. It can also be transferred to another person and become a valuable resource for others.
Both tacit and explicit knowledge are essential for a growing business. Explicit knowledge is often written down. It can be shared digitally or physically. It can also be shared through discussion. However, tacit knowledge is harder to document and rarely gets written down.