Exploiting Knowledge for Productivity Gains

Competitive productivity — doing more (of the appropriate thing) with less — is a basic factor for the continued survival of any organization or nation. Knowledgeable people are at the center of delivering this “more,” particularly by improving their personal productivity (nanoproductivity). However, improving economic or financial productivity depends more upon competitive and market contexts than merely increasing workers personal productivity. Performance productivity, in turn, can be enhanced by providing better knowledge and, to a lesser extent, by changed organizational processes, changed reward systems, and an appropriate mix of technologies. Other changes are required in culture and access to the information that people need at the time that they need it, in the form that they need it. Knowledge becomes the basic enabler of the nature and quality of all actions and hence the key to improved productivity. Many organizations have recognized this relationship and pursue the management of knowledge (combining activities related to knowledge contents, people, processes, and information and technology) — systematically and deliberately. While there are success stories with valid learning points much can also be learnt from situations where knowledge management (KM) has under-delivered. First generation KM focused on information rather than on knowledge and too often failed to produce expected results. Second generation systematic KM is more successful but is difficult and involves multidisciplinary expertise in areas often foreign to managers and business professionals. Major issues exist. Most enterprises have provided employees with training to acquire concrete operational knowledge and skills to perform routine work rather than the in-depth understanding required for independent work and innovation, which ultimately lie at the heart of both performance and economic productivity.