Knowledge management

Among the various definitions one can find on knowledge management, D. Skyrme defines it as "the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge and its associated processes of creating, gathering, organising, diffusing, use and exploitation. It requires turning personal knowledge into corporate knowledge that can be widely shared throughout an organisation and appropriately applied."

The word "explicit" is paramount in the definition since implicit/tacit knowledge is highly personal and difficult to formalise or communicate. The concepts of knowledge management and intellectual capital management overlap and complement each other but there are differing views on their precise relationship.

What is certain is that knowledge, whether explicitly available to all in the organisation and/or residing in its members, remains the most precious asset for organisations.

Knowledge management is an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary development. It involves not only the combination of internal and external information but also the planning, control and consolidating of information whether this is intangible or tangible.

This is one of the most discussed subjects in today's organisations. The Foundation for Human Resource Development is giving the opportunity to all organisations to learn more about the topic through a conference, scheduled for June 6.

Andrew Mayo, from Mayo Learning International, UK, and Patrick Camilleri Mercieca, from ST Microelectronics, are the keynote speakers. To learn more about the conference go to www.fhrd.org.