Benefits, challenges, and implementation of enterprise knowledge management

Knowledge management 101:

“Knowledge is power” – this well-known saying already contains a central part of the answer to what knowledge management is actually about. After all, knowledge provides a significant advantage for those who possess it. At the same time, the concept of power implies that information can also be withheld or even used to exert pressure.

This is where knowledge management comes in as a counterbalance; in the corporate context, this is also referred to as “enterprise knowledge management”. It is about making knowledge available within the organization in a way that is not dependent on individuals, i.e., their (finite) length of service and their individual ability and willingness to actually share this knowledge The following figures also illustrate the potential of effective enterprise knowledge management: Around 82 percent of all employees spend at least half an hour a day searching for information, with a quarter even spending over two hours (source: OTRS survey).

In this blog post, we will focus less on the sociological dimensions of knowledge management, and more on its strategic relevance for organizations: What are the benefits of enterprise knowledge management, and how should it be organized and technologically supported? This also includes current challenges such as the enormous growth in data volumes and the trend towards using the latest technologies. For example, generative artificial intelligence and large language models have the potential to be real game changers for enterprise knowledge management. 

What is knowledge management? 

Knowledge is the basis for development and progress and ensures innovation and productivity in companies, for example. It is therefore important to organize knowledge centrally and make it accessible. Knowledge management or enterprise knowledge management describes and controls how the handling of knowledge is organized in the company. It encompasses all the people, processes, and technologies storing and sharing knowledge. In short, knowledge management refers to all strategic and operational measures to optimize knowledge in an organization.

Knowledge management distinguishes between implicit knowledge – i.e., empirical knowledge that exists, for example, in the heads of employees – and explicit knowledge that is documented and accessible to everyone in the company. At its core, enterprise knowledge management aims to make the right knowledge available to the right people at the right time, in other words, to increase the proportion of explicit knowledge. As banal as this may sound, the importance of these processes in the context of corporate strategy is enormous – which does not necessarily mean that daily work is always characterized by a view of the “big picture” and the basic democratic idea of shared knowledge… 

People as opportunity and risk 

Most companies consider their employees to be their most important resource – their experience, knowledge, and skills. But the higher the average age of the workforce – or the higher the turnover rate – the more likely it is that these resources will soon be lost. The pressure to act on knowledge management is therefore correspondingly high in many companies. At the same time, as mentioned at the beginning, practice shows that knowledge is still a means of maintaining or exercising power. For example, a knowledge advantage can be used to secure one’s position, to separate hierarchical levels, or to fight departmental battles. This is of no real benefit to the organization as a whole. Knowledge management is therefore a key lever to counteract the loss and retention of knowledge. 

What are the tasks of knowledge management? 

Before we take a closer look at the specific advantages and concrete benefits of enterprise knowledge management, it is helpful to understand the key functions of knowledge management. According to the classification by Gilbert Probst, Kai Romhardt, and Steffen Raub (Wissen managen, Springer Gabler, 2013), these can be roughly divided into the following subtasks:

1. Identify knowledge: The first step is to determine which knowledge is important for the company at all.
2. Enable knowledge development: Appropriate internal processes, training, and tools should be used to drive knowledge development within the company.
3. Deliver knowledge: Beyond internal knowledge acquisition, it is important to identify appropriate partners to provide specialized knowledge to the organization.
4. Distribute knowledge: The goal is to make existing knowledge optimally accessible within the organization and to prevent the formation of silos. 
5. Use knowledge: Knowledge is only useful if it is used to benefit the organization, for example, to increase performance, improve efficiency, or minimize risk.
6. Maintain knowledge: This is one of the main tasks of knowledge management, which is to secure and update knowledge to preserve it and make it usable across generations.
7. Define and track knowledge objectives: Only when it is clear what is to be achieved with knowledge management can it be set up in a goal-oriented manner and its success tracked with appropriate key figures.

We will return later to the tasks involved in using supporting technologies for enterprise knowledge management. For now, we will focus on capturing, storing, and sharing knowledge as core functions of KM software solutions.  

What are the benefits of Enterprise Knowledge Management for companies? 

The tasks of enterprise knowledge management are not an end in themselves but are intended to contribute directly or indirectly to the creation of value in companies. When you look at the many benefits associated with knowledge management, it becomes clear why companies are increasingly investing in knowledge management processes and technologies – especially in times of fierce competition and increasing demands for sustainability:

• Capture knowledge in a standardized way 

With appropriate processes and tools, information can be structured in a clear format to create a consistent knowledge database. This allows information to be systematically processed, cataloged and made accessible in knowledge management.

• Make valuable information permanently available 

Knowledge management gives all employees access to expert knowledge without the need to search for it. It also transforms individual knowledge into collective knowledge. The increased flow of information can increase innovation and efficiency within the company.

• Improve decision making  

Better information automatically leads to better and more confident decisions. When everyone has the facts, thanks to knowledge management, they need to make less intuitive decisions. Enterprise knowledge management gives everyone access to the latest information and collective knowledge.

• Increase efficiency 

Knowledge management reduces the time it takes to find information. In addition, employees are less dependent on individual colleagues, supervisors, or other human resource bottlenecks to obtain information. Redundant work, such as duplicate searches, can also be avoided. In addition, enterprise knowledge management systems enable the automation of knowledge-related processes, resulting in further time and cost savings.

• Transfer and disseminate knowledge 

The mere fact that knowledge is made centrally accessible via a platform is an incentive for employees to inform themselves or further their education on their own initiative. This benefits everyone: Employees increase their own value to the company while giving the company access to new skills.

• Collaborate comprehensively 

Enterprise knowledge management systems provide a single, interactive access point for improved communication and collaboration across teams and departments. Knowledge management platforms ensure that everyone has the same level of information.

• Improve customer service 

New product development is often complex and requires access to specifications, regulatory requirements, and market information. Centralized access through enterprise knowledge management ensures a more reliable and faster development process.

• Reduce time-to-market 

Developing new products is often complex and requires access to specifications, legal requirements, and market information, for example. Centralized access through enterprise knowledge management ensures a more reliable and accelerated development process. 

What are the challenges of using knowledge management? 

To realize the full benefits of enterprise knowledge management, you must overcome several challenges and lay the necessary groundwork. As with almost all change projects, this begins with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders, from knowledge workers to senior management. The knowledge management system can only be effective if everyone in the organization supports it. This includes comprehensive training and a clear definition of roles, especially when it comes to using an appropriate knowledge management software solution (more on this later).

In addition, current and reliable information is the be-all and end-all of knowledge management. It is important to set up appropriate processes for approval, updating, and verification. Fragmented information scattered across the organization and across systems also needs to be brought together so that knowledge management does not become a patchwork quilt. Since sensitive information is often involved, privacy and data security must also be considered. Finally, as the volume of data in companies grows rapidly, both the processes and the human and system resources must be equipped to handle the corresponding volume of information and queries (keyword: “cloud/scalability”). 

Knowledge management as an integral component 

The goal is to make knowledge management an integral part of the enterprise. As stated in the book “Geschäftsprozessorientiertes Wissensmanagement” by Andreas Abecker, Knut Hinkelmann, Heiko Maus, and Heinz Jürgen Müller (Springer, 2002): “ Successful knowledge management requires that it be integrated into the daily work as defined by the business processes of a company. Knowledge management must therefore be seen as an integral part of business processes and their design. Knowledge is relevant to an organization if it improves business processes. This is the basic idea behind the related concept, also known as “business process-oriented knowledge management”, which focuses on knowledge processes and process knowledge, among other things. 

The reference to this approach brings us to the next topic because when fulfilling the prerequisites, it can be helpful to consider an appropriate framework for knowledge management. This gives knowledge management a theoretical foundation and a systematic structural framework. 

Approaches as a framework for enterprise knowledge management 

Knowledge management begins with measures such as a systematic company-wide collection of ideas, structured brainstorming sessions, or peer consulting, in which knowledge is shared among all participants in the run-up to projects. However, companies striving for comprehensive and sustainable enterprise knowledge management should take a closer look at the established frameworks that have been developed over time. These include the aforementioned work by the authors Probst, Romhardt, and Raub, which subdivides the tasks of knowledge management. Among the absolute pioneers in the field of knowledge management frameworks are the authors Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka, who published “The Knowledge Creating Company” in 1995, a kind of fundamental work. The main focus here is on how implicit knowledge becomes explicit, i.e., how knowledge is transferred from the individual to the organization and vice versa. 

From structure to software 

An extremely tool-oriented approach is, of course, “knowledge engineering” as a subfield of knowledge management. The aim here is to reduce complex areas of knowledge to a structure that can then be mapped using a computer. Another approach is knowledge management maturity models such as the “Knowledge Management Maturity Model” (KMMM) and the “APQC Knowledge Management Maturity Model”. These models assess the level of development of knowledge management in a company and provide a roadmap for improvement. 

The Zachman Framework is in turn an enterprise architecture framework that also covers aspects of knowledge management. It was developed by John Zachman in the 1980s and is used to organize and present the various perspectives and aspects of enterprise architecture. The Zachman framework is structured like a table in which six different perspectives are combined with six distinct aspects. This structure makes it possible to create comprehensive and detailed descriptions of information systems. 

No matter which knowledge management model companies choose: In the end, there is no way around appropriate software. 

Functional requirements for an enterprise knowledge management system  

Of the tasks defined by Gilbert Probst, Kai Romhardt, and Steffen Raub (see above), the following three are particularly relevant to the required core functions of the software:  

Knowledge capture

Knowledge capture refers to the process of converting tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge that can be communicated and used by others. This capture process can take place through tool-assisted interviews, focus groups, and document analysis, among others. Ideally, an enterprise knowledge management platform should map all capture processes. AI and large language models (LLMs) can also be used for semantic processing, for example when evaluating and integrating digitally available information. 

Knowledge repository

Once the knowledge has been captured, it needs to be stored in a central location. It should be easily accessible here. In addition, the information must be organized and structured so that employees can easily find it. This usually involves largely automated and, in the best case, AI-based categorization and indexing. 

Knowledge sharing (and usage)

Knowledge sharing is about making knowledge available to those who need it, breaking down silos, and enabling interaction. This is done, for example, through communication platforms, knowledge portals, and collaboration tools. This is also the place or moment of knowledge application, i.e., using knowledge to achieve organizational goals. Knowledge use typically takes place in activities such as decision-making, problem-solving, and innovation.  

These system functions should form the core of an internal knowledge management platform. At the software level, enterprise knowledge management can be implemented using a variety of technologies. 

The technological tools for an enterprise knowledge management system 

Content: 

A CMS or a corresponding database can be used to capture, store, and maintain the content of a knowledge management platform. It is important that all types of content, regardless of format, can be stored and processed. These can then be converted into various forms of presentation, such as FAQs, wikis, or decision trees. 

Teamwork: 

Collaboration and communication systems also need to be in place. These should enable knowledge management features such as commenting on content or tagging people to allow for appropriate interaction and feedback. This helps knowledge workers communicate and collaborate effectively. Today, knowledge repositories are typically Web-based portals where content is organized by category. Their communication features make them increasingly similar to social media platforms.  

Search: 

It is also important to integrate a targeted search capability that makes it easier to find relevant content. Most databases have the corresponding technologies, but it is important to implement highly customized solutions that can also search within documents and deliver search results based on predictive AI models, for example. The use of knowledge graphs, which can establish semantic relationships between pieces of information, and the use of large language models (LLMs) also offer new opportunities. These enable, for example, AI-based text summaries or natural language interaction (more on this later in the Trends section).  

Extensibility: 

In addition, solutions should allow for the integration of applications or third-party applications to flexibly add functionality to the platform. It is conceivable that this could be expanded into a comprehensive communications platform for real-time or asynchronous knowledge sharing, as well as features such as instant messaging or voice and video calling. Such a system is particularly effective when it also serves as a task management platform. This allows knowledge management tasks to be delegated and the progress of knowledge-dependent projects to be tracked. Finally, to create a future-proof solution, the system must be scalable. Only then can knowledge management be adapted to changing circumstances. 

What roles need to be established for knowledge management? 

Technology is one thing, but knowledge management depends on the use and participation of employees. It is important to define appropriate roles for the basic processes. Roughly speaking, these can be divided into three groups for enterprise knowledge Management:

Knowledge workers
The people in an organization who create, use, and share knowledge. This includes employees from practically all specialist areas, from marketing and sales to customer service, research and development, and human resources.

Knowledge managers
Knowledge managers oversee the knowledge management processes. They also develop strategies for capturing, storing, and sharing knowledge. They also ensure that the appropriate people have access to the information relevant to them at the required time.

Knowledge management system managers
Enterprise Knowledge Management relies on the human resources associated with the IT department. They play a key role in developing and maintaining the technology infrastructure that supports the knowledge management system. A dedicated knowledge management team needs to be established.
Traditionally, the responsibility for the topic of knowledge management lies with the HR department, as does, for example, the topic of “further development”, which can be seen as a sub-category of knowledge management. Accordingly, the HR department is a kind of enabler for knowledge management. It ensures the development and establishment of a corresponding platform, but also the integration of external knowledge into the organization. The HR department plays a decisive role in the necessary corporate culture, which we will come back to below.

Implementation and best practice for establishing knowledge management 

The introduction of systematic knowledge management in companies requires a roadmap and numerous accompanying measures. To successfully establish enterprise knowledge management, you should pay particular attention to the following points: 

• Start with a knowledge audit : A knowledge audit not only allows you to determine the status quo regarding the state of knowledge and the handling of knowledge – it is also a first step toward discovering hidden knowledge and transforming it into explicit knowledge. To do this, involve a selection of employees from all areas in the audit. 
• Define the objectives: It may seem trivial at first, but given the effort involved and the increasing relevance, it is worth remembering: define clear goals, i.e., what you want to achieve in the company specifically through knowledge management. Is it about improving communication and collaboration or is the focus more on efficiency or decision-making? Be as precise as possible here and ensure that the objectives are known and supported by the entire organization. 
• Choose the right software solution: Numerous solutions for knowledge management have either been developed specifically for this purpose or offer the required functions. The basic prerequisite is, of course, that the software meets the specific requirements of your company. This also depends, for example, on whether your company is in the B2B or B2C sector.  
• Plan your budget and resources: Implementing, using, and maintaining appropriate software requires financial and human resources that must be taken into account. You will usually need an implementation and support partner. You should also determine who in the organization will actually use the software and who the key stakeholders are in terms of administration and processes. 
• Manage the change process: An initiative to introduce enterprise knowledge management means a whole series of changes in the company. This applies to the processes, but also to the corporate culture (see next point). Make sure that all employees are involved, and that knowledge management is widely accepted and supported. If in doubt, seek external support for this. 
• Foster a culture of knowledge management in the company: Digital tools can be an immense help to the organization in systematic knowledge management by making relevant content available in a customized way. However, for these solutions to be used effectively, there needs to be a culture in place to ensure that the added value is actually realized within the organization. This includes a culture of sharing and openness, including a culture of accepting mistakes. Appoint knowledge management ambassadors to make the potential visible and tangible. Only when employees see that knowledge management makes their work easier and more rewarding will it become a permanent part of their daily lives? 

Current trends and developments in knowledge management incl. LLMs and knowledge graphs

Systematic knowledge management is largely supported by appropriate technology that enables knowledge to be captured, made available, and shared in companies. There is therefore great potential for change and development here. Above all, artificial intelligence and machine learning have shaped all software developments in recent years. Their use also promises increased efficiency for knowledge management, for example when it comes to capturing and categorizing knowledge. Here are four thoughts on the most promising and important developments in the field of knowledge management.  

LLMs and knowledge graphs as game changers for knowledge management  

In the field of artificial intelligence, the aforementioned large language models (LLMs) in combination with knowledge graphs (KGs) have recently led to major advances that are being integrated into corresponding knowledge management solutions. Accordingly, by combining the strengths of LLMs and KGs, companies generally achieve a higher quality and accuracy of the information they use. Although LLMs can process quite large amounts of data, they still frequently produce inaccuracies or misleading content. This is particularly true when it comes to extensive or complex issues or data. This risk can be reduced by using KGs as a reliable source of structured knowledge by directing the focus of the LLMs to contextually relevant information. The combination of LLMs and KGs therefore has the potential to be a real game changer in the field of knowledge management. You can find out more about this exciting topic in our corresponding white paper “Powerful solutions for knowledge management in your company”. 

Increased motivation with gamification

Another trend is gamification. This combines knowledge management with playful elements to make learning content more interactive and engaging. This increases the information content and makes it easier to remember. In addition, certain activities on a platform can be rewarded with a point system and ranking lists. This should help to increase motivation and commitment to knowledge management. 

Personalized and mobile knowledge management

As there are quite different types of learners, knowledge management offerings and systems that provide a highly personalized learning experience are becoming increasingly popular. This allows employees to compile learning content according to their individual needs and abilities. This also includes making learning content available on a mobile basis so that it can be accessed extremely flexibly – for example in the field or production areas, etc.  

Expanding security capabilities

With the increased use of cloud-based solutions and the rise in cyber-attacks, data privacy and security are also top priorities in knowledge management. Appropriate security measures must be put in place, including AI-enabled alert systems that automatically detect and report potential attacks and vulnerabilities.  

Companies also need to educate and train their employees on security issues. 

Conclusion: knowledge management is essential 

Knowledge management remains a key issue for companies to ensure their competitiveness. Likely, it will become even more important. This is because it not only helps to secure expertise, increase efficiency, and promote innovation. By systematically organizing and using knowledge, companies can also respond more quickly to change, make better decisions, and potentially gain decisive competitive advantages. In an extremely fast-paced, globalized economy where adaptability and agility are becoming core business competencies, knowledge management must be systematically embraced. A central element of this is an enterprise knowledge management system and the integration of recent technologies such as artificial or generative intelligence to constantly raise the level of knowledge management and adapt it to changing conditions.