Although it appears companies are faring well with setting up the technology solutions to enable knowledge sharing, Wunsche says they're having a harder time defining a knowledge management strategy that suits their needs. He says knowledge cannot merely be put in databases. According to Lawton and Wunsche, these landfills grow because there is no incentive to supply quality information. As a result, Intranets and databases can easily fill with information that is not targeted towards a business result. Lawton says many knowledge management strategies rely on staff to contribute ideas and knowledge out of their own goodwill.
People tend to hoard what they know because it's what they know.
It differentiates them from every other employee. According to Wunsche, businesses are realizing the need for this collaboration to avoid inefficiencies. If she doesn't do it then the new product development group has to go out and re-manufacture that information by doing focus groups and product research. Although the need for knowledge management is clear, Lawton says most companies have not found a good-fit solution. We're missing an important piece of the puzzle.