identify legitimate best practices, distinguish between an over-abundance of information and data from knowledge they can actually use and fully leverage IT-based tools, a survey by Consultants New .
revealed that the majority of management consultancies are facing many knowledge management challenges themselves. The survey (Reimus 1996) has found out that more than a few consulting firms.
remain largely unsure of just how to proceed with knowledge management efforts and are largely not convinced that the frenzied focus on technology by some competitors is more a function of their size and the scope of work with clients than on providing tangible value-added. Some indicative results of the survey are: some 60% of consultancy firms maintain no active "best practices" database; one out of three consultancies do not use groupware; less than 25% utilise the Internet to support a.
basic range of internal activities like communicating within local or geographically dispersed teams, sending or receiving detailed communications, collaborating on presentations and proposals, or doing client work and analysis. Concerning the capturing of best practices about 75% of the firms surveyed reported they followed a process for capturing best practices, sharing information from one.
project to another and documenting innovative new ways of solving client problems.Upon closer examination, however, the survey found that the actual mechanisms and.
processes in place for managing acquisition, screening and selection of best.
practices at many consultancies were largely informal.
In addition, systematic efforts.
to measure the impact of these initiatives on business were absent at most firms.
On the other hand, a number of global manegement consulting firms have embarked.
on large-scale multi-year knowledge management projects that attempt to cover both.
technical and organisational aspects. Such efforts may provide the basis for drawing.
