A company that is going to succeed at knowledge management will need a culture of confidence, trust, mutual respect and mutual support which encourages the application of knowledge, and a willingness to share power through shared information. Sharing knowledge will only be successful when a market demand and supply for knowledge is created. Eventually, the shared knowledge base will lead to the erosion of private power bases, as high-quality information becomes available online.
While technology can only be an enabler and not a driver, some solutions, can influence organizational culture and help to bring about the necessary changes. In particular, if a technology solution provides quality information in a shared knowledge base that is fast and easy to access, people will want to participate. For example, at Motorola, a knowledge management system piloted by one group of users was provided on a read-only basis to everyone. Soon everyone demanded the ability to participate in full.
In conclusion, one can see how understanding and utilizing knowledge management can lead to success in an organization. Developing effective methods of knowledge retrieval, analysis and dissemination will yield great benefits to any organization.
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