Somebody asked....

Somebody asked..."Does KM produce business benefits or is it an esoteric subject?"....and I think...

Yes and Yes! :)

Practicing KM definitely produces business benefits though how it can be quantified is not only a challenge in some ways but also is a matter of perception....and therefore an esoteric subject in the eyes of people who claim to be KM experts! :) Jokes apart, KM is an esoteric subject in the sense that only those who are comfortable talking about intangibles and things that are all-encompassing understand it....or rather try to understand it.

Moving back to quantified business benefits....if, to achieve a business goal, the concepts of KM are utilized, there are people who may attribute the entire revenue/profit/rating/brand perception, as the case may be, to KM! For example: Someone networks with a key customer contact and realises in the normal course of the conversation that the customer has an implcit requirement and comes back and puts it up on a discussion board which is in turn commented upon by various team members and managers and finally results in a proactive proposal that the organization wins.....?! Some people would say it was KM that made it possible and some others that it was the technical/functional solution that made it ultimately possible! So, isn't it about perception?

But there are clear situations like that involving Customer Queries/Responses and a database that stores previous queries/responses that improve customer response time and this can be quantified in clear terms....!

This is a vast topic and can be spoken about at length. Stopping here for now! :)