Information Research Weblog

I see that Ernst and Young have won the Best Management of Knowledge category of the MPF 2003 European Practice Management Awards. Apparently this is "...in recognition of Ernst & Young having integrated knowledge of contacts, market and environmental trends into its planning and service delivery." You get an award for doing the obvious?

Their UK "Director of Knowledge Management " is quoted as saying:

"Today, too many Knowledge Management concepts are academic and not business led;" - I wonder where she get's that idea - there is practically no genuinely academic work on the topic, simply because there cannot be - it is intellectually empty. But she right when she says:

"...most Knowledge Management initiatives are dominated by technology and result in extremely impressive tools that no-one uses."

Although I must say that 'impressive' is not a word I would use about most of the stuff I've seen. She adds:

"In contrast, all Ernst & Young's Knowledge Management initiatives are practical. They start with a clear business need and focus on underpinning the relevant business process with content that addresses that need." "

Notice how the word 'content' is used to avoid mentioning 'information'?

My thanks to Frank Miller for drawing attention to this one.

From the sceptical side of the business, see Oskar van Rijswijk's Weblog entry. The other stuff on Oskar's log is also of general interest to IR-DISCUSSers.