Some key principles in implementing knowledge management : the views of employees in a small software company

Abstract

As the Knowledge Era replaces the Information Age the challenge is to transform information into knowledge and use this knowledge to create and sustain the competitive advantage of organisations. In this article four key principles for implementing knowledge management are discussed. These principles were derived from a survey and discussions with employees at a small software company. The four principles are: the need for a common definition of and vision for knowledge management, the interdependence between the human and technology track, the way employees punctuate ‘knowing’ and the structure of a reward system for sharing knowledge.AFRIKAANS: Organisasies word gekonfronteer met unieke uitdagings soos wat die Kennisera die Inligtingsera vervang. Een van die grootste uitdagings is om inligting te verander na betekenisvolle kennis en om die kennis te gebruik om ‘n kompeterende voorsprong te skep en te bou. In hierdie artikel word vier kern beginsels vir die implementering van kennisbestuur bespreek. Die beginsels is geskoei op ‘n opname van en onderhoude met werknemers in ‘n klein sagteware besigheid. Die vier beginsels is: die behoefte aan ‘n definisie en visie van kennisbestuur, die interafhanklikheid tussen mense en tegnologie, die wyse waarop werknemers kennis punktueer en die skep van ‘n beloningstruktuur vir die deel van kennis.