100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS • 227- Defi ne what knowledge assets exist—especially information
or skills that are diffi cult or expensive to replace. - Locate the assets: who keeps or “owns” them.
- Classify them, and assess how they relate to other assets. This
will reveal opportunities in other parts of the organization.
-^ Increase knowledge in key areas. This can be done in three ways:
it can be bought, rented (eg by hiring consultants), or developed
through training.
-^ Maintain knowledge. Knowledge gaps make an organization
more vulnerable to competition. Lost expertise and experience
following “downsizing,” and the erosion of traditional employee
loyalty, highlight the urgent need to capture, codify, and store
people’s expertise and tacit knowledge.
-^ Protect knowledge. Explicit knowledge, such as copyright or
information codifi ed in handbooks, systems, or procedures,
can be legally protected. Tacit knowledge, information retained
by individuals, including learning, experience, observation,
deduction, and informally acquired knowledge, can only enjoy
limited legal protection through, for example, non-compete
clauses. It is necessary to ensure that valuable tacit knowledge is
recorded and passed on.
-^ Establish information systems. An effi cient information
management system will coordinate and control information,
and help with planning. When developing a system, decide
what information is needed to help improve decisions and
achieve objectives.
-^ Manage the fl ow of information. Understand how information
fl ows, what it is used for, and the ways in which it can be applied.