;

I am not sure if the transformations that Peter Drucker predicted twenty years ago are present in every corporation, but it is fair to say that the typical corporation looks different today than when Drucker inked this article.  Computers and Information Technology have drastically changed the way we operate, and now, the way we communicate.

The concept of Knowledge Management  or "KM" was  definitely a hot topic in the 90's, and is still a viable discipline today.  Many of the original precepts are rolled into Information Technology and Human Resources in some companies, while others may have a KM department.

Another early proponent of KM, Ikujiro Nonaka, stated, "In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one sure source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge."  How true.

KM is alive and well at Nutra-Flo.  We don't have a KM department chief, but the concepts are built into our corporate culture.  Long before KM was a buzzword, Nutra-Flo employees covered the countryside carrying slide projectors and reprints. Research and education has always been at the heart of our business.

Today, we are continuing to invest in technologies to codify and disseminate vast amounts of corporate knowledge.  From the manufacturing plants to the laboratory, and from university research to the end user, we are practicing the fundamentals of KM.  

This is the essence of a competitive, technology-driven company.  It's not the equipment that makes the product, it's the associate using proprietary techniques developed over many years.  It's not a computer program that creates usage recommendations, it's the trained technician using a vast storehouse of knowledge (and experience).  

Its the "knowledge specialist", armed with tools to access decades worth of information and the ability to collaborate, that is the future of our business.

Comments (1)
Eric J Lohry,  Sioux City Office:   November 29th, 2007