Careers in Knowledge Management

THE revolution in the field of knowledge is gradually leading to the establishment of a knowledge society, a knowledge economy, knowledge organisations with knowledge workers, in the process giving a strong momentum to the all-pervasive concept of. 'Knowledge Management'.

Have we ever given a thought as to how the compositions of newer product/services have undergone a paradigm shift? For instance the statement - ``When we buy one kilogram of steel, 90 percent of it is material while if we buy a copy of Windows 2000, more than 95 percent of it is knowledge''.

Knowledge concepts

Knowledge Society Knowledge societies are 'works-in- progress' requiring significant investment in harnessing skills, technology and learning. It is a society where creating, sharing and using knowledge are key factors in the prosperity and well being of the people.

Knowledge Economy - Is an economy, which revolves around creating, sharing and using knowledge and information to create wealth and improve the quality of life.Knowledge Management - As knowledge becomes more valuable, there is a growing need to manage it effectively to utilise its full benefits. Hence, the rise in the concept of Knowledge Management.

A definition of knowledge can thus include 'know what' (knowledge about fact), 'know why' (scientific knowledge of the principles & laws of nature), 'know how' (skills or capability), 'know who' (information about who knows what & how to do that ) In short it is the familiarity gained by research and experience Knowledge Worker - A person who provides value by generating, sharing or applying ideas. It can apply equally to an eminent scientist, a skilled craftsman or to a receptionist with an expert knowledge of who's who in the organisation and where all the useful information is.

The driving factors

Knowledge and information being major sources of creating value, the following are the driving factors of the knowledge society.

* Greater investment in R & D

* Greater use and rapid changes of technology

* Growth of knowledge-intensive business

* Increased networking

* Rising skill requirements

This contrasts with the earlier societies such as agricultural societies (when agriculture was the key to survival) and industrial societies (when mass production of goods generated most of the wealth). In the emerging knowledge society, land, labour and capital knowledge are the key to creating wealth and improving the quality of life.

The Knowledge Management program

The Knowledge and Innovation Management Certification Training Program is the largest KM certification program in the world designed to provide education and support to serious KM practitioners.

A Certified Knowledge Manager (CKM) deals with two areas of study;

* General Knowledge Management (GKM) and

* Knowledge Environment Engineering (KEE)

The GKM track focuses on knowledge and innovation management from the point of view of a manager or executive. The program is designed to equip a KM professional to assume the role of a senior manager, such as Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO). The CKO communicates with senior management regarding the strategic value of knowledge management and develops business plans and financial reports justifying the investment. The GKM training focuses on the analytical side of KM.

The KEE track focuses on designing successful knowledge processing environments. The primary focus of the program is on how to model, design, measure and transform an environment to help an organisation meet its goal faster and more effectively from a knowledge management perspective.

The qualities & attributes of CKO

The Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) needs to broadly possess two major attributes - leading and managing qualities. He needs to be an entrepreneur and a strategist who can understand the implications of using KM to transform organisations. At the same time he needs to be a consultant to listen to other people's ideas, incorporate them and nurture them if they fit the knowledge vision.

As for managing qualities, he needs to be techno-savvy. The CKO has to understand which technologies can contribute to capturing, storing, exploring, and in particular sharing of knowledge. His second competence lies more in the management of tacit knowledge. His role here is more of creating a social environment that stimulates and encourages knowledge creation and exchange.

The desired qualifications for a CKO is a post graduation in Human Resource Management though it is not mandatory. A graduate study in Humanities-sociology, psychology, economics, history or political science is very helpful and essential.

The qualities required by the CKO are multidisciplinary in nature. In this respect the CKO's role is perhaps deeper than the CEO's and is often broader than the CIO's (Chief Information Officer) can or has the time to be. The CKO's primary focus is on the intangible assets as against the CFO's (Chief Financial Officer) focus on tangible assets. To rise to the level of CKO one needs to have considerable ability in all fields of functionaries (as mentioned below) and have the additional qualifications of people management and group dynamics.

The field of KM is still evolving but it has career options like Knowledge Engineers (KE) who look into the technology aspect of KM. They should be well versed in the software available for the capture, storage and retrieval of internal knowledge assets. Knowledge Managers (KM) address the culture of KM and Knowledge Editors (KE) primarily handle the content and composition of knowledge. It is useful if knowledge editors have some creative writing skills. Knowledge Navigators (KN) are responsible for locating the knowledge pool within their organisation and hence need to be conversant with data mining. Knowledge workers need to have a penchant for reading and acquisition of knowledge from every source.The B-schools which were merely touching on KM as a starter are now offering the subject as the main course!

We are on the threshold of a new era that's going to make knowledge management a career to reckon with.

NIHAR PRADHAN

opportunities@careercommunity.co.in