Today, virtually all work (i.e. activity that produces business value) is 'knowledge work' - in other words, work that requires knowledge inputs and creates new knowledge as an output.

Much of the business value derived from 'knowledge work' depends on teams successfully executing business processes and projects. Improving the velocity with which teams create and use knowledge within these processes and projects, is essential.

This accumulation of knowledge becomes a substantial business asset that must be managed to maximize its value to the business, and empower its employees to achieve greater innovation and success. If managed properly, this key company asset will become a significant business differentiator and provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Click here to find out why others say this is important.

Unfortunately, organizations often find Knowledge Management a difficult concept to define, quantify or implement within the context of their business.

There is no single 'correct' definition of Knowledge Management, but all definitions point to a couple of common traits. They are:

• KM is situation dependent, that is, the value and importance of knowledge depends on its sources and use
• The activity of managing and maximizing this value of its knowledge allows an organization to reach its goals faster

Here are some definitions that illustrate different ways of approaching it:

• A discipline that promotes an integrated and collaborative approach to the creation, capture, organization, access and use of an enterprise's information assets
• A conscious strategy of getting the right information to the right people at the right time, so they can take action that creates value
• Learning from successes and failures by sharing assumptions and approaches that precipitated the results
• Initiatives, programs or processes that establish behaviors and practices which promote an integrated and collaborative approach to the creation, capture, organization, access, and use of an organization's intellectual resources (e.g. content, people, etc.) to affect business value