The value of knowledge

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Money
Originally uploaded by AMagill

Knowledge is one of your key assets. Like your staff, your money, your customers, your brand. It is one of your more valuable assets too - just imagine how your organisation would perform if you had no knowledge, and your staff had no knowledge!

If you knew the value of your company knowledge, there is no way that you would leave it unmanaged.

It is good practice to manage your valuable assets. You almost certainly have implemented finanacial management, people management, customer relationship managment, brand management. So it makes sound business sense to implement knowledge management too; to derive maximum business benefit from the invisible asset which is the operational knowledge held in the heads of your employees.

For example, one oil-sector drilling organisation recently estimated the value of its knowledge of drilling to be worth half a billion dollars anually.

Who would leave a half-billion dollar asset unowned and unmanaged?

(Remember, my favourite definition of KM, is "the way you would manage, if you understood the value of your knowledge".