I used to write extensively about global business and focused on the KM angle in a 1999 article for Knowledge Management magazine called "Managing Knowledge Across Borders."
Beneath the borderless world's free-flow of capital, technology, production capacity and materials is the robust flow of knowledge. Just as transportation technologies facilitate the worldwide production and distribution of goods and services, communication technologies make it increasingly feasible to manage global economies of scale by effectively collecting and distributing information.
Practiced in the global enterprise, KM can guarantee coordination, synchronize production, develop agility and promote a cohesive corporate culture and present a consistent customer experience, regardless of location. Many facets of knowledge management are indifferent to borders.
But there is more to international KM than just distance: it crosses languages, time zones, currencies and international jurisdictions. And culture, which is so critical to successful knowledge sharing, is vastly complicated by geography.
Basically, it boiled down to seven critical lessons:
- Decide what kind of company you are: multi-national, international, global—or transnational.
- Design KM systems that adapt to local conditions.
- Map the cultural roadblocks.
- Anticipate miscommunication in multicultural teams.
- Optimize your corporate culture for knowledge sharing by understanding and leveraging inherent values.
- It may be more important to be sensitive to corporate cultures than to ethnic cultures.
- Be sensitive to the different subcultures of functional competencies within the corporation.
Recent Comments