From Information Management to Knowledge Management: Providing Knowledge-Based Services for the Medical Industry

Introduction

As the capture of knowledge becomes a mainstream activity in organizations, new roles are emerging in business units – the role of "knowledge managers", who proactively seek out and codify lessons and better practices from their part of the company, whilst acting as a catalyst and local champion for knowledge management within their business unit.

Hence what are the strategies (services and competencies) that Information Professionals in the Medical Industry are required to develop, for them to fit the role of a Knowledge Manager?

Areas That Were Explored In This CoP Include:

  1. Are your knowledge assets relevant to your stakeholders? Are they documented resources ?
  2. Do you generate knowledge ?
  3. Do you capture knowledge ?
  4. Do you disseminate knowledge?

Key Ideas That Were Brainstormed

  1. The additional services that can be provided by Information Professionals to remain relevant to their customers.
  2. The strategies that can assist in capturing organizational knowledge (both tacit & explicit)
  3. The competencies that are needed to transform Information professionals from managing information to harnessing and organizing knowledge

Ask . Learn . Share at our CoPs

Learning Areas

Critical success factors to manage knowledge were identified.

  • Roles that are performed by Information Professionals in KM:
    • Developing and Managing the Organization’s Taxonomy
    • Providing research services requested by the knowledge seeker
  • Competencies that were considered to be critical
    • Understanding knowledge process within the business process
    • Ability to use information technologies
    • Document management skills
  • Issues arising from KM for the Information Professional:
  • New resources to consider – implicit, explicit (live data)
  • New approaches to information/knowledge provision
  • New competencies to be developed and existing competencies to be enhanced.

What are Communities of Practices (CoPs)?

“Communities of practices (CoPs)” are known to come together around common interest and expertise. They create, share and apply knowledge within and across the boundaries of teams, business units and even entire companies – providing a concrete path towards creating a true knowledge organization” (Etienne Wenger, 2006)

Today, the COP management approach that has been adopted, is encompassed by a simple framework, which describes a learning cycle – before, during and after any event – which is supported by knowledge acquisition process tools. The lessons arising from that learning loop are agreed and distilled by the community of practice – peers across the organization who have a stake in agreeing and defining organizational’ s best practices and selected Subject Matter Experts from related organizations. Finally, the lessons – both specific and generic are incorporated into "Knowledge Assets" in the form of a formal report that is disseminated among the CoP participants.

Knowledge Acquisitions tools Utilized are :

  • Nonaka’s Socialization, Externalization, Combination and Internalization (SECI) Model and the
  • Knowledge Café tool to facilitate knowledge sharing in the workshops



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