posted 6 Mar 2006 in Volume 9 Issue 6 Gone, but not forgotten By
Mikko Arevuo The debate about how organisations should manage
their existing knowledge and learn new competencies goes to the
heart of knowledge management (KM). The ability for an
organisation to absorb new knowledge and innovation, and to
convert this into competitive products and services, is widely
recognised as providing organisations with the competitive edge
they need to survive in today’s tough marketplace. But what
about ‘organisational forgetting’? In a hyper-competitive
environment, the ability to forget or abandon ‘old’ knowledge
becomes as important as acquiring new knowledge. Indeed,
frequently the two go hand in hand – new knowledge cannot be
properly absorbed if members of staff remain strongly wedded to
the old way of doing things. In a fast-moving environment where
knowledge lifecycles – in terms of knowledge creation, maturity
and obsolescence – are short, businesses are faced with the
question of how to ensure: 1. That valuab