There are 4 main approaches to Knowledge Management-
- Codification Approach
- Personalization Approach
- Resource Based Approach
- Knowledge Creation Approach
The Codification approach is a ‘people-to-document’ approach. Knowledge is explicit. It is made independent of the person from whom is is extracted & stored in databases or found in presentations, reports, policy documents, manuals, libraries etc. It is moved around the organization through Intranet or other traditional means like meetings, courses, publications, videos, tapes,workshops, ‘master classes’ etc.
Ernst & Young is a good example of an organization using the codification approach effectively as it deals with recurring problems via recorded solutions to similiar issues.
Personalization approach is a ‘person-to-person’ approach. Knowledge is tacit. It involves the person who developed it directly via face-to-face communication with an individual or team, brainstorming, workshops or other one-to-one sessions.
McKinsey, Bains & other strategic consulting firms use the personalization approach which requires them to channelise individual expertise for creative & analytical advice. It could involve using senior level officers like directors, COO s or other experts who can be approached by email/phone/personally.
Either the codification or the personalization approach is used predominantly while the other could support the first.Using both is not considered a successful approach & has high chances of failing.
The Resource Based approach considers knowledge as a ‘resource’ which is created, passed on & used technically, socially, and economically. Technically, knowledge management involves centralizing the knowledge prevalent across an organization and codifying it aptly for easy use. Socially, knowledge management involves collecting knowledge so that no individual or group has exclusive rights over it. Economically, knowledge management is a means to create & explot knowledge to attain competitive advantage.
Knowledge creation approach involves construction of knowledge by blending together its various forms to produce innovative outcomes. Various ways of blending knowledge are by socialization (tacit to tacit), externalization (tacit to explicit), internalization (explicit to tacit) and combination (explicit to explicit).
