Knowledge manager

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A knowledge manager is the person in a company who deals with the coordination and strategic alignment of the knowledge of an organization. It creates sensitivity for the topic and the importance of knowledge as a resource . In addition, knowledge managers also perform operational knowledge-related tasks, e.g. B. helping to design systems and tools, analyzing and evaluating knowledge processes or supporting internal information and communication . The Chief Knowledge Officer fulfills this role at board level .

The position or role of the knowledge manager

The position or role of the knowledge manager in a company can be very different (centralized or decentralized, part-time or full-time, individual or team). It depends, among other things, on the size of the company; in large companies this role is often carried out as a staff unit / internal consultant , in small companies a full-time knowledge manager is rarely employed for reasons of cost. Other factors that determine the role definition in a company are: the budget made available, the importance of knowledge management in the organization, the knowledge management structures that are already established in the conventional process organization and the provision of IT / knowledge management tools. Knowledge managers can be located in different departments of an organization (HR department, internal organization, IT, management department, controlling , research and development , strategy / business planning department, project management office, quality management, etc.). However, it is important that the function can be carried out across departments and departments, which requires a corresponding corporate culture . Probst / Raub / Romhardt summarize the functions of the knowledge manager as follows: "Their activities range from strategic competence analyzes, the development of knowledge indicators and the creation of better communication infrastructures to the more efficient management of patent portfolios. They all have the challenge, to deal with the developments of a more competitive environment in which the improved handling of the resource knowledge can become a decisive advantage. "

The tasks of knowledge managers

The weighting of the tasks of knowledge managers depends heavily on the role and position of the knowledge manager. They can be roughly divided into the following areas:

  • Analysis and conception: The strategic control, through the development of normative knowledge goals and the resulting strategy, the derivation of concrete measures - based on the strategy - and their implementation. The design of an adequate corporate culture and the networking of the areas involved (such as HR, controlling, organizational development, IT etc.) must always be taken into account.
  • Information and communication technology: Analysis and conception as well as content support for the implementation of intranet or online communication platforms. In this area in particular, it is very important to distinguish between content-related and technical implementation, as the boundaries between knowledge management and IT are very often blurred, for example the CIO is very often equated with a CKO .
  • Measure and evaluate: The simplest measurement is to review the operational knowledge goals that have been set, whether they have been achieved or not. Furthermore, measurable indicators and key figures are often required, which of course have to be meaningfully defined. You can summarize these individual parts either in a scorecard as your own perspective or as your own knowledge scorecard or by creating an intellectual capital statement . Regular in-depth reporting to management is also an important task

A study by the Chemnitz University of Technology on an analysis of the content of job advertisements in print and online editions of national daily newspapers, business magazines and Internet job exchanges from April 2001 to October 2002 shows that 50% of the job vacancies for knowledge managers in the IT sector originated (in 50% of the IT offers, however, social skills were explicitly required). The rest came from the consulting area (economics, practical experience, DMS ) and research (librarianship, archiving). Project management experience was generally required!

Knowledge Manager of the Year

In the years 2002 to 2007, the companies Commerzbank , Financial Times Deutschland and Impulse in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Labor awarded the "Knowledge Manager of the Year" award in the categories of companies with up to 100 employees, up to 500 employees and above. This award was later replaced by a biennial award for “Excellent Knowledge Organizations”.

The skills of knowledge managers

According to Kreidenweiß and Steincke, knowledge management encompasses the entirety of all concepts, strategies and methods for creating a learning organization . They conclude that knowledge management projects must always take into account all three central pillars of technology, organization and people ( TOM model ) in order to be successful in the long term.

It can be stated that knowledge managers have different weightings of these three dimensions depending on the organization. However, the focus is increasingly shifting towards the human dimension, since sufficient specialists are deployed for both the technology and organization dimensions. Rather, the knowledge manager is given the task of coordinating the specialists in the interests of the learning organization, so he must have at least a good basic knowledge of the three dimensions in order to bring about and maintain cooperation across the boundaries of the organizational units for the entire organization. A delimitation of the dimensions can be made as follows:

A list of methods and models can be found in the article Knowledge Management . The basis should be a strategic, entrepreneurial and business management understanding, solid knowledge of knowledge management concepts and theories, as well as holistic thinking and creativity (own ideas).

Skills of a knowledge manager.jpg

Education and training in German-speaking countries

There is a large number of basic and advanced training courses in German-speaking countries. It is noticeable that apparently there is no such thing as "knowledge management training"; rather, the training focuses on areas such as: human resources, information technology, pedagogy , organizational development. In addition to academic training and further education, there are also certified training courses and a large number of individual seminars. There is naturally a close relationship with all training and further education that deals with information management , as this is the basis for knowledge management.

Austria

  • FHWien : Personnel and Knowledge Management; Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Business, duration: 6 semesters. The focus here is on the knowledge processes in human resources .
  • University of Applied Sciences Burgenland : Applied Knowledge Management; Degree: Master of Arts in Business, duration: 4 semesters. The focus of this training is in the areas of e-learning and e-communication.
  • Vienna University of Technology : Information and Knowledge Management; Degree: Master of Science, duration: 4 semesters. This course is being phased out, so there are no more new admissions.
  • Danube University Krems : University and knowledge management; Degree: Master of Science, duration: 4 semesters
  • Johannes Kepler University Linz : Postgraduate course in applied knowledge management; Degree: Master of Business Administration, duration: 3 semesters

Germany

Switzerland

literature

  • K. Fritsche: Knowledge management from the perspective of the knowledge manager: What tasks and requirements does a knowledge manager have to fulfill? Diplomica Publishing Group, 2001.
  • Sonja Gust von Loh: Evidence-based knowledge management. Dissertation University of Düsseldorf 2008. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-8349-1700-3 .
  • K. Kreibich: What do Austrian knowledge managers really do? –Results of an exploratory survey in Vienna and Graz. (working paper, University of Applied Sciences course information professions, Campus 1, A – 7000 Eisenstadt) 2003, ISBN 3-8386-4446-8 .
  • H. Kreidenweis, W. Steincke: Knowledge Management - Study Course Management in the Social Economy . Nomos, Baden-Baden 2006, ISBN 3-8329-1613-X .
  • P. Larsson: Requirements for knowledge managers in service organizations. Licentiate thesis. University of Bern, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, 2006. (full text)
  • A. Lasofsky-Blahut, B. Gotthart: Introduction to Knowledge Management. Lecture notes for the course as part of the Personnel and Knowledge Management course at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences (WS 2009/10) 2009.
  • F. Lehner: Knowledge management - basics, methods and technical support. 3. Edition. Munich 2009.
  • K. North, K. Reinhardt: Competence Management in Practice - Systematically Identifying, Using and Developing Employee Competencies. 1st edition. 2005.
  • G. Probst, St. Raub, K. Romhardt: Managing Knowledge - How companies use their most valuable resource optimally. 5th edition. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-8349-0117-2 .
  • T. Rusche: The knowledge manager. Wisdom for managers and other people. LIT, 2006, ISBN 3-8258-8691-3 .
  • G. Vollmar: What does a knowledge manager actually do? In: Knowledge Management. No. 4, 2005, pp. 22-23.
  • R. Weichbrodt: Fit for the challenges of tomorrow? Shaping the future with knowledge. In: Jörg Knoblauch (Hrsg.): Entrepreneurs advise companies - consulting concepts for successful companies. Gabal Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-89749-593-7 , pp. 302-319.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A. Lasofsky-Blahut, B. Gotthart: Introduction to Knowledge Management. Lecture notes for the course as part of the Personnel and Knowledge Management course at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences (WS 2009/10) 2009.
  2. ↑ G. Probst, St. Raub, K. Romhardt: Managing knowledge - How companies use their most valuable resource optimally. 5th edition. 2006, p. 5.
  3. ↑ G. Vollmar: What does a knowledge manager actually do? In: Knowledge Management. No. 4, 2005, pp. 22-23.
  4. ↑ G. Vollmar: What does a knowledge manager actually do? In: Knowledge Management. No. 4, 2005, pp. 22-23.
  5. ↑ H. Kreideweis, W. Steincke: Knowledge management - Study course management in the social economy. 2006, p. 41.

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