Knowledge Management

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Assessment

Welcome to the Knowledge Management folder of the Impact Alliance Resource Center. Here, and in the associated sub-folders, you will find a variety of resources related to knowledge management. Be aware that, given the novelty of the field, a common terminology has not yet been settled upon. Therefore, you will often find resources on knowledge management, organizational learning, learning communities, and a variety of other terms. Although these are primarily semantic differences, there are slight but significant practical differences between these terms, based on the approach, the setting, and the applications.

While the focus of knowledge management in the private sector is traditionally within large organizations, in development, knowledge management processes are particularly relevant for sharing knowledge between organizations. Sharing across organizational boundaries helps to build best practices, prevent repetition and strengthen development efforts. For this reason, much of the content in this section focuses not only on knowledge management, but also on how to build and support a strong, vibrant network.

We hope that you find the resources available here helpful and informative. We welcome interaction, discussion, and additional sharing of knowledge.

Knowledge

The FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
Q #1	What is knowledge management?
A	There is no agreed definition of "knowledge management", even among practitioners. The term is used loosely to refer to a broad collection of organizational practices and approaches related to generating, capturing, disseminating know-how and other content relevant to an organization's or a network's business. "Sharing knowledge is not about giving people something, or getting something from them. That is only valid for information sharing.Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating learning processes." Peter Senge
Q #2	What is a knowledge network?
A	According to Heather Creech of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, "Formal knowledge networks consist of groups of expert institutions working together on a common concern, strengthening each other's research and communications capacity, sharing knowledge bases and developing solutions that meet the needs of target decision-makers at the national and international level." You can read more about this from the document "Strategic Intentions: Principles for sustainable development knowledge networks" in this folder.