Overview

Having made the point at the outset of this book that although technology is an important enabler for managing knowledge, it is not the total solution, it may seem a little strange to find a chapter dedicated to the use of technology. My reason for wanting to include this chapter was that I felt that if HR are to be more influential in the knowledge management arena they may need to enhance their own knowledge about where technology can help an organisation move forward on its knowledge management journey.

This chapter does not provide an in-depth discussion of specific technologies, instead it covers an overview of different categories of technologies, specifically those that are available to help locate and connect people with specific know of and know how , as well as to facilitate collaborative working. It is hoped that this will generate some common language to have a meaningful dialogue with IS and IT colleagues.

Rob van der Spek and Jan Kingma (1999) point out that an organisation s strategy for managing knowledge should address two areas. First, the exploitation and application of existing knowledge and second, the creation of new knowledge, including building the capabilities to create new knowledge faster than in the past. They argue that delivering an effective knowledge management strategy requires:

• Processes and tools to help to connect knowledgeable people, working in different geographical locations and time zones.

• Processes and tools to ensure corporate-wide access to information about best practice, experience and ideas.

• The provision of...