Building Strong KM Programs Through Effective Strategic Planning

Strategy has always been key to success in knowledge management (KM). Throughout more than two decades of research on the topic, APQC has consistently found that the strongest KM programs are guided by thoughtful, well-documented strategies. 

As many organizations have learned the hard way, knowledge doesn’t just “get managed” on its own. Some organic forms of knowledge-sharing and reuse will inevitably occur, but it’s important to take a more systematic approach to ensure knowledge flows to the right people at the right time to provide value to employees and the business. Thus, for most organizations, the best way to enable knowledge management is to create a formal KM program responsible for managing KM processes, activities, roles, and technologies.

In this article, you will learn best practices for developing, executing, and continually evolving a KM strategy, with case examples from organizations recognized by APQC’s Excellence in Knowledge Management (EiKM) 2022 and EiKM 2023 programs.