Mission, purpose, charter:The core reason for a company’s
existence
Values:Unchanging beliefs or principles on which a com-
pany’s actions are based
Strategy:Directionally based actions designed to achieve the
vision and mission
Culture:A company’s underlying values, beliefs, and assump-
tions, in their entirety
Structure:The way in which a company chooses to organize
itself
Policies:The rules and procedures for operating in a particular
business setting
Processes:Ways in which actions are grouped to achieve some
end result
Goals:Specific and desired end results of actions
Objectives:High-level end states achieved through a combi-
nation of actions
Competition:Other companies that compete in the same
market
Reorganization:A change in structure and reporting relation-
ships
Coaching:A process intended to facilitate improved perfor-
mance and developmentThere are undoubtedly many other potential categories that
could be used, but the point should be clear. One immediate chal-
lenge with the category requirement would be to determine not
only which ones to incorporate but also perhaps how many.
Further, it would be helpful to create some sort of cross-referencing
system for knowledge streams that might logically map to more
than one category. Again, each company would determine what’s
in its own best interests.
KNOWLEDGEMAPPING 117