Knowledge management is a structured process for capturing organizational knowledge and converting it into reusable organizational capability. The six-stage sequence is identify/create, store, share, use, learn, and improve. First, relevant knowledge must either be identified within the organization or created through experience, research, collaboration, or problem solving. Second, that knowledge must be stored so that it remains accessible rather than being lost when employees change roles or leave.
The third stage, sharing, makes knowledge available to employees and communities that can benefit from it. Knowledge then has to be used in actual work; simply maintaining repositories does not generate organizational value. Through application, employees learn what works, what does not work, and what should be modified. The final improvement stage incorporates those lessons back into organizational practices and knowledge assets.
This creates a continuous knowledge-development cycle rather than a static document repository. Terms such as “submit,” “assess,” and “evaluate” may describe individual administrative activities, but they do not represent the complete knowledge-development sequence.
Study Guide Topics: Knowledge Management; organizational learning; knowledge creation; knowledge transfer; continuous improvement.
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