Kicking off a knowledge management program

Design to cost, design to ease of manufacture, overhead value analyses … we could go on. The list of tools for improving operations and the profitability of a business is long. And for each one, a proven approach is readily available. Most use three or four distinct steps to solve the problem: there is typically diagnosis followed by program design, then implementation is started in a pilot before the concept is rolled out broadly. Some of these elements are well suited to improving a company’s knowledge management, but the broad approach differs significantly. Good knowledge management should certainly help to improve operations, but a fully fledged knowledge management program is more comparable to the development and implementation of company strategy than to a classic operational improvement program. A knowledge management program should be conducted with parallel, rather than linear, phases. This means implementing some measures very early in the diagnosis to capture the low hanging fruit. It also means continuing to do analyses of various aspects during the major period of implementation.