In a knowledge-driven economy, an organization's knowledge is a key asset and resource. Knowledge Management (KM) has evolved over the past decade into a critical function that leverages an organization's knowledge assets to increase organizational leanness, productivity, and competitiveness. In the words of Robert Buckman, CEO of Buckman Labs and 3-time winner of the Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) award: "In a knowledge-driven marketplace, knowledge sharing...is what separates the leaders from the also-rans."

The good news is that all organizations have already practiced some form of knowledge management. Carla O'Dell, president of the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), describes KM as "a management mind-set that includes building on past experiences (libraries, databanks, smart people) and creating new vehicles for exchanging knowledge (knowledge-enabled intranet sites, communities of practice, networks)."* KM as a formal methodolgy evolved from best practices in good business management.
* J.Grayson and C.O'Dell, "If Only We Knew What We Know: The Transfer of Internal Knowledge and Best Practice," by September 1998

The case for Knowledge Management

• The typical knowledge worker spends approximately 30% of each workday searching for information.
  S.Feldman and C.Sherman, The High Cost of Not Finding Information, An IDC White Paper. International Data Corporation, July 2001
  
• 60% of employees spend up to 8 hours per week locating information needed to perform work activities.
  Knowledge Management for SharePoint webinar, WSN Insight poll. Wall Street Network, Inc., January 2012
  

• 56% of 650 AIIM survey respondents are “slightly-confident” or “not-confident” that emails documenting commitments and obligations are recorded, complete and retrievable.... 39% who file important emails in personal Outlook folders are failing to share important knowledge, hampering e-discovery processes, and putting the corporate record at risk.... The lack of confidence in the integrity of the email record remains stubbornly above 50% - even for those with some level of ECM - and instant messages are considered to be unmanaged in three-quarters of organizations. © AIIM 2011, www.aiim.org
  AIIM Industry Watch: State of the ECM Industry, 2011
• The vast majority of nonprofits operate without the benefit of good information and tools to determine future strategies and readjust when they are off course.
  M.Morino, Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity. Venture Philanthropy Partners, 2011
  

• As companies support more-complex products and broader product portfolios, the challenges of quickly and efficiently resolving customer issues multiply. The result is that fewer cases are resolved with the first call. Even with significant technology investments, Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) members report a 24 percent net decrease in first-call resolution between 2003 and 2010.(1) ... [I]nvestments have focused on telephony improvements, skills-based routing, workforce management, and customer relationship management (CRM) applications, but the key area that has been woefully underfunded is knowledge management. These other investments, while important, address only 20 percent of service call times. Most of the time agents spend on the phone is engaged in research, discovery, and communication of their search results to the customer.(2) © 2011 Oracle and/or its affiliates
  (1) J.Ragsdale, TSIA member benchmark report, 2010
  (2) Five Key Benefits of Knowledge Management in Customer Service. An Oracle White Paper, October 2011
  

• 32% of AIIM survey respondents who utilize social business or Enterprise 2.0 do not have an acceptable use policy in place. 65% have no policy in place for how long internal social or collaborative information is to be retained, and 71% have no policy for archiving information posted on public-facing sites such as company Facebook  pages or LinkedIn groups. © AIIM 2011, www.aiim.org
  AIIM Industry Watch: State of the ECM Industry, 2011