Inside knowledge

This month’s editorial comment. By Simon Lelic.

To coincide with Global KM eXchange, the first in a programme of three major conferences researched by Knowledge Management to take place this year (KM Asia 2002 kicks off in Singapore next month and KM Europe 2002 comes to London for the first time in November), this issue focuses on the effects of globalisation on KM.

There can be no doubt that, in practical terms, the world is getting smaller, and whether the process of globalisation is seen as a source of opportunity or as a destructive force that needs to be checked, it is clear that businesses are facing an array of new challenges. These in turn have only emphasised the importance of implementing an effective knowledge strategy; as Marcus Speh Birkenkrahe points out in the Your Say feature (beginning on page eight), history has shown that success on a global scale depends on this.

On a purely functional level, knowledge management is key to coping with many of the problems operating internationally can bring. Customers, employees and partners around the world all work according to different cultural values, in different languages and time zones. As Chris Carlton from Network Appliance explains on page 17, KM can be invaluable in helping your organisation ensure these factors do not lead to a potentially disastrous degree of fragmentation.

From a broader strategic perspective, KM can also help counter many of the negative effects of globalisation, a concept explored in greater depth in this month’s Your Say. On a similar theme and beginning on page 11, Debra Amidon describes how the globalisation of knowledge strategy has allowed Entovation, a truly international knowledge community, to work towards the formation of a new economic world order, based on international co-operation rather than competition - a worthwhile goal indeed.

Finally, on a separate note, a warm welcome to all subscribers of Scenario & Strategy Planning, the sister publication of Knowledge Management that will now be integrated with this magazine. I hope you continue to enjoy the same high quality case studies and features, and should you have any comments about how we can improve the magazine further, please feel free to drop me a line.