Drivers of knowledge management in the corporate environment

Knowledge management is no longer a buzzword. It is a tried and tested management science that has been implemented by numerous organisations across the globe, some with more success than others. The question that needs to be asked is why are these organisations spending millions of dollars implementing knowledge management? What impact does it have that drives organisations to dedicate people, infrastructure, and funding to these systems and processes? This article seeks to understand what drives knowledge management in today's business environment. Firstly, it considers what the inherent objective of knowledge management is. Secondly, it analyses the need for fulfilment of these objectives in order to provide some answers as to why knowledge management is seen as such a significant value contributor in today's business world. Some of the drivers of knowledge management include geographically dispersed work environments, the increased volume of knowledge available to organisations, the advent of new technologies including the Internet, the need for quick and efficient decision-making and knowledge attrition. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.