100 Zyngier, Burstein, and McKay
Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written
Strategic Benefits of Governance
- Everyone at the STDO is now actively engaged in thinking about KM.
- Individually and collectively, people are now looking at their own knowledge
domain and beginning to realize that the information they are collecting might be
useful to others. - Individually and collectively, people are now looking at their expertise — that it too
might be useful to others — and they are willing to look at sharing or making that
tacit knowledge available to others.
Financial Benefits Through Governance
The governance mechanisms applied to the planning, development, and implemen-
tation of the KM strategy at the STDO have ensured that
- KM strategy is fiscally viable through its alignment with and support of organiza-
tional strategy; - KM is subject to evaluation and measurement through internal research mecha-
nisms; and - KM is recognized as making a contribution to knowledge retention and knowledge
sharing.
INFERENCES DRAWN
The governance of the KM strategy at the STDO is designed and structured to meet
the needs for the creation, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge to fulfill organi-
zational objectives. This is being achieved through the harnessing of explicit knowledge
and information resources and the leveraging of tacit knowledge resources. In this case
study organization, the role of governance to coordinate and manage risks through the
IMKM Board is met by a number of responsible individuals who represent different
sectors of the organization both in skills and in their interest and motivation for achieving
an effective outcome.
The IMKM Board governs the strategy, which is a formal structure that both informs
and is informed by the KM strategy. Governance manages risks of the KM strategy to
ensure the delivery of anticipated benefits of quality assurance of the strategy, fiscal
viability, developing and meeting strategic KM goals and objectives, and to be proactive
and reactive to changing requirements of the STDO management and staff. Through its
regular meetings and distribution of responsibilities to board members, governance
directs, monitors, and controls how the KM strategy is implemented and gauges success
as reflected in the timeliness of service delivery and the satisfaction of stakeholders. This
is an exemplar of the need for an organization-wide perspective for the implementation
of a strategy to manage organizational knowledge, and the capacity for governance to
sustain and advance the effective implementation of a strategy to manage organizational
knowledge.