Knowledge management makes use of the organizational structure, personnel and all other resources, including policies, procedures, processes and automated systems. In very small agencies, explicit and tacit knowledge are relatively easy to manage. Explicit knowledge is usually centralized and readily available. Tacit knowledge is easily communicated. A mentor can communicate with a protege.
Small teams communicate among members.
In large agencies, insurance companies or financial institutions, knowledge management is considerably more difficult. Explicit knowledge is usually decentralized and often difficult to access. Channels of communication expand geometrically. For example, there is only one channel between two people. There are 45 channels of communication among 10 people and almost 5,000 channels among 100 people.