The "rate of change in technologies exceeds the time to develop subject matter
experts, training courses, and human resource interventions" [Marler 1999].
However, not only technologies are changing faster, but also products and
product-lines, laws etc. Therefore, the focus is on how to speed up knowledge
creation and sharing. KM is supposed to be the answer to this question. Before
getting to the core of this work, the KM processes, terms are defined and KM
and some important factors influencing it are introduced. The purpose is to
provide an overview of the topic and the most important related areas. Although
every organisation has somehow dealt with knowledge since its beginning this
does not mean that it is easy to control and steer KM processes. "Organizations
cannot truly manage knowledge because it is tacit or internal to individuals;
however, they can manage the environment necessary for the community of
practice to flourish and share information that is a product of that knowledge"
[Jarzombek 1999]. Knowledge can be managed - at least to a certain grade
[Stecking 2000]; a proper management of the environment, however, is a
necessary precondition [Davenport and Völpel 2001].
The following sections introduce the most important topics generally affecting
KM. Definitions for the terms used throughout this work are provided and issues
concerning KM are introduced. Finally, common strategies for conducting KM
are listed.