Knowledge Management System

Encyclopedia : K : KN : KNO : Knowledge Management System

Knowledge Management System (KMS) is a distributed hypermedia system for managing knowledge in organizations, supporting creation, capture, storage and dissemination of expertise and knowledge.

Knowledge in the case of KMS is the know-how of the organization. It is the the organization uses to operate, make important decisions, and set its strategic direction. How an organization manages knowledge includes how processes work, reengineering processes, and targeting strategies.

The idea of a KMS is to enable the employees of the organization to have access to the company’s knowledge of facts, sources of information, and solutions. Having employees share their knowledge (in brains and files) could potentially lead to more effective problem solving and it could also lead to ideas for new or improved products and services.

The goal of a KMS is to get the right information to the right people at the right time. This will increase efficiency leading to a competitive advantage.

The Process of KMS

A Knowledge Management Systems usually starts off as a computer database containing knowledge that is important to the organization. Next the organization must create a culture that promotes, values, and rewards sharing knowledge. Finally an organization has to develop mechanisms that allow employees to share their knowledge with others while still avoiding information overload.

The most important component of KMS is knowledge repositories. There are three kinds of knowledge repositories: self memories, paper documents and computer based documents/databases. Self-memory includes all files kept by an employee such as notes; this allows the employee to contribute their knowledge with others in the company. Paper documents are documents that are visible and are obtainable such as a picture. Computer based documents are knowledge found within the computer.

The KMS consists of 4 areas:
Area 1: The creation of the knowledge
Area 2: Where information are kept and obtained
Area 3: The relocation of information
Area 4: Where the use of information is applied.

Benefits of KMS

KMS has become more and more popular as technologies continue to grow. Some of the advantages of KMS are:

1.   Easy to use
2.   Information available when needed
3.   Enhance customer relations
4.   Reduce costs
5.   Create organization

As well, having the information stored will help reduce mistakes and information will be captured without losing them over time.

KMS is a commercial system from Knowledge Systems, Inc. running on workstations, based on previous research with ZOG at Carnegie Mellon University.

References

This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is [Foldoc licenselicensed] under the GFDL.

http://www.management.com.ua/strategy/str109.html

Haag, S, Cummings, M, McCubbrey, D, Pinsonneault, A & Donovan, R. (2006). Management Information Systems for the Information Age (Third Canadian Edition). Toronto, Ontario: Mcgraw-Hill Ryerson.

Langton, N & Robbins, S. (2006). Organizational Behaviour (Fourth Canadian Edition). Toronton, Ontario: Pearson Prentice Hall.

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