Knowledge management (KM) is a process for optimizing the effective application of intellectual capital to achieve objectives. In an organizational setting, this would mean a systematic approach to getting an organization to make the best possible use of knowledge in implementing its mission, broadly viewed as either sustainable competitive advantage or long-term high performance. It involves blending a company’s internal and external information and turning it into actionable knowledge by managing knowledge flow, Knowledge Life Cycle – acquisition, production, and integration of knowledge throughout an organization. KM is a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organizational objectives by making best use of knowledge. It involves the design, review and implementation of both social and technological processes to improve the application of knowledge, in the collective interest of stakeholders. A few reasons why many companies are adopting knowledge management are:

¨      80% or more of an Company’s knowledge remains in the minds of its people [TACIT Knowledge]  

¨      Many past successes and failures are never recorded

¨      People who do not have knowledge of the past tend to duplicate effort, waste time & incur cost by trial and error

¨      Using knowledge, people learn and improve work practices

¨      Sharing breeds one-ness and teamwork

¨      Everyone speaks the same language and understands each other better