One of the oldest metaphors in science is that of innovators and
visionaries who were able to see further because they stood, like dwarfs,
on the shoulders of giants. While today's scientists can readily build on
each other's work -- thanks to preprints, refereed journals, conferences
and a host of formal and informal interactions -- similar sharing has only
slowly spread into the world of business. Despite the plethora of advice available
about how to successfully manage a business, most companies are still struggling
to learn how to manage the valuable knowledge distributed among their employees.
Every time we master a procedure, discover a better way to build a product, solve a
customer's problem or learn something about a competitor, we come into the possession
of useful knowledge. Even if it is not expressed explicitly, that knowledge makes us
more valuable members of the corporation. But when we share it with our colleagues,
its worth is amplified and enhanced.
Today, companies are beginning to realize that, when employees' latent knowledge
is included in the balance sheet as a form of collective intellectual capital,
they are richer than they thought. Even if one cannot readily assign a dollar
value to this wealth, it is undeniably a competitive asset.
It is this realization that is fueling the tremendous interest in the field
of knowledge management. As with any novel perspective, one must disengage
what is truly useful from mere hype, and that is one of our goals. Today,
Research and other IBM groups, particularly at Lotus, are investigating knowledge
management across a broad front. What knowledge should we be sharing? How do we
go about capturing it and making it available? How do we encourage and reward sharing?
There are many questions still to be posed, let alone answered, but already improved
technologies to find people and information, as well as to share what we know, are
becoming available.
This issue of Research provides an introduction to the goals and challenges
of knowledge management, as well as a look at some of the tools that may
help promote the sharing of knowledge. For any company, and certainly for a research
division, excellence in knowledge sharing is an important
ingredient of success. One conclusion I am already convinced of: the more we share,
the further we will see.
Paul M. Horn
senior vice president and director,
Research
