Breakthroughs do not come easy. They often come with compulsion.

It takes a big push to create conditions that encourage everyone to want to join in and move forward. There is no option of turning back; if anyone disagrees, get them off the boat.

Knowledge management (KM) is part of that breakthrough. Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management, said there were two important aspects of KM that could significantly increase corporate competitiveness: productivity and innovation.

Unfortunately, the benefit of these two aspects can only be enjoyed by companies that can implement KM properly. Therefore, the support of employees is necessary.

To implement KM properly, the commitment and support of top management is needed. 

Once the leader decides to start moving the KM boat, there are only two choices available for the employees: using KM in completing the work properly according to the purpose of the boat; or to jump off the boat. 

Homework for KM practices

KM is an integrated approach to create, share and use knowledge to increase a company's productivity, profits and growth.

Apart from the support of the leader, KM’s core drivers are people, leadership (governance), technology and processes. These four drivers are dependent on individual and organizational capabilities, as well as societal capability.

Without question, KM practices should increase the capability of individual agents. It is important for leaders to eliminate the fears of workers who might be the trigger of resistance.

Another challenge is to create a corporate culture where learning is continuous. 

This challenge, however, is even more interesting: A 2018 Data Society article refers to Indonesia as a society with a low reading culture. 

There is an opportunity here. According to January data from We Are Social, 56 percent of Indonesians actively communicate on social media. Therefore, even though people might not like to read, they actively communicate and share feedback through social media channels. The data also states that 48 percent of them get internet access from a smartphone rather than from a laptop browser. And the third, internet in Indonesia reaches 150 million users, or about 56 percent of the country's total population.

KM practices can use such applications in their approach. Apps that boast features as attractive as corporate social media applications have been offered to users.

Building a ‘more human‘ KM platform

Disruption threatens all market players. 

Knowledge assets and their accessibility could be a true life saver when facing disruption.

An opportunity through technology has opened. Corporate social media apps should be equipped with features that provide a clear measure of work progress, facilitate the integration of knowledge across departments, unite various departments and assist to set and reach the company’s goals.  

The apps should transform social media applications dramatically and feature microblogging, corporate chat, performance measurement, work monitoring, a task manager and killer file organization. (kes)

***

Robin is the CEO and founder of ANSVIA, a research and development company that focuses on corporate technology solutions. 

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