Recently we have had the question put to us by many people - What Are The Benefits Of Knowledge Management ?

First of all we say, imagine knowledge as a fuel and energy source for your business, a power source. Imagine the use of other power sources such as electricity or gasoline. What are the uses ? What are the potential Benefits ? The list of possible benefits is endless. You can productively use oil and electricity for all sorts of practical, common-sense things. So too with Knowledge, Intellectual Capital, and Intangible Assets. They can be used productively and profitably by your business in myriad ways. We have barely begun to scratch the surface of possible ways to harness knowledge-energy. The attractive incentive to the intelligent business person is that those who can figure out to leverage this asset in new and creative ways, can gain a serious sustainable competitive edge in the market-place. Then, there are contemporary projects such as the Human Genome Project. In effect, this is a big global knowledge-mapping exercise, to map all the genes in the human body. Clearly it is going to unleash a knowledge-based revolution of extra-ordinary magnitude and importance.. It will have a tremendous impact on the life sciences, medicine, biotechnology, pharmacology and so on.  So how can knowledge be beneficial ? Any number of possible ways.

• It sure beats ignorance

• Except in rare circumstances, there is nothing to celebrate about lacking the appropriate knowledge, and being dumb !

• What Fuel Are You Running your Business On ?

• What's Are the main inputs fueling the growth and development of your business ?

• Are you Operating An Industrial-Age Business, or A Post-Industrial Age and Knowledge-Based Business ?

• Know what you do Know

• Know what you need to Know

• Know what you don't know

• Know where you want to go

• Ask yourself then, whether in relation to your business, you are clear on these knowledge fundamentals

Please Note that this is compilation of possible and potential benefits available. We are not suggesting that all of these are realizable simultaneously, through every knowledge initiative. Our main point, is to show that there is a wide range of benefits to be had, depending on one's needs and strategy. Nor is the list exhaustive and complete. There may well be other benefits that we are overlooking, or that the creative entrepreneur can figure out a way of generating.

• Produce and conserve New Value - such as Intellectual Property Assets

• Generate new Wealth and increasing returns

• Increase Revenue

• Open New Markets

• Enable Sustainable, Organic Growth

• Improve Decision-Making

• Mitigate Risk

• Develop and implement New Business Models

• Build More Profound relationships and ongoing Mind-Share with Customers - penetrate the mind of the customer

• Lift Productivity and Efficiency

• Speed Innovation

• Unleash new Ideas and Creativity

• Help create a more Adaptive, responsive, dynamic, flexible, organization

• Facilitate the evolution of a more Intelligent Enterprise and produce smart engaging products

• Use knowledge To Build Virtual Networked Businesses

• Better prepare for and anticipate The Future

• Improve and accelerate Learning

• Gather superior Business and Competitive Intelligence

• Enhance Team Collaboration & Coordination

• Maximize the organization's use of available collective wisdom, experience, and the Brain-Power of human capital assets

• Improve the Flow of knowledge

• Improve the Service and Support of Customers

• Shift employees from balance-sheet expense items to Knowledge Investors in the enterprise

• Improve the ability of the organization to Manage Change

• Attract, and retain motivated, loyal, and committed Talent

• Introduce a more relevant measurement "Dashboard" and instrument panel, with knowledge-based metrics versus mere industrial age measures

• Be better positioned for Knowledge Workers to cope with increasing Infoglut and Information-Overload

• Turn Process Know-How into a valuable Corporate asset - Knowledge Conversion

• Help the enterprise to grow more Network Connections, more knowledge nodes ( the value of a network is related to the extent of the nodes in it )

• Lower Operating Costs by substituting  information and knowledge stores  for inventory

• Avoid Waste and Duplication by encouraging Knowledge Reuse

• Create a more knowledge aware, knowledge friendly culture, and Community of Practice(s) better suited to the emerging knowledge-based economy context

• Allow more leveraging of knowledge assets through Knowledge Arbitrage strategies

• Have better Knowledge Transfer occur in the execution of projects

• Extend the global Reach, Richness, and Scope of the enterprise

• it can be a tremendous Enabler allowing the organization and knowledge workers to share ideas and collaborate in ways that would not have been possible previously.

• Bring a new level of sophistication to managing the brand, reputation, and Intangibles that customers value

• In general, be better able to Create, Capture, Share, Protect, Disseminate, Package and Exploit knowledge, intellectual capital, and intangibles

•  Knowledge Central - Japanese Site   http://www.knowledgeinnovation.org/

• Centre For Knowledge And Innovation Research CKIR gained the status of an independent academic institution within the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration. CKIR employs 17 researchers at the moment.http://ckir.hkkk.fi/

•  Managemente.com  http://www.managemente.com/

• SAIC http://www.saic.com/km/who.html  Who Uses & Benefits From KM ?

• Sveiby  http://www.sveiby.com/library.html#marketing