Knowledge management is all about learning about and keeping track of a company's assets and special traits. These traits can include inventory, employees, location, or how the company conducts business. Knowledge management is essential to a company's survival and expansion in the business world. This article will go over some of the key components of knowledge management and the goals that knowledge management brings to an organization's attention.

Improved Performance
The first thing that a company looks at when using knowledge management is how to improve the overall performance of the business. For example, if a company discovers that a certain employee is able to perform a certain task better than anyone else, that employee should be responsible for that task from then on in order to maximize the full potential of the company's assets. Likewise, if the company discovers that the person doing a particular task is not very good at their job, the company should focus on either training the employee to be better or finding someone else who can do the job. Improved performance is not only about employees, though, as it also includes the way things are being done. For example, if a particular task involves cleaning equipment in between jobs and the company discovers that the current cleaning process takes between 30-45 minutes before the next job can be started, the company should focus on finding better ways to clean the equipment so that regular tasks can be resumed as soon as possible.Knowledge Management

Competitive Advantage
The next thing that a company looks at when observing knowledge management goals is competitive advantage. In the business world, there are thousands or even millions of people trying to make money by doing the exact same thing. In order for a company to make itself stand out to the customer, the company must find a way to create a competitive advantage. To do so, the company needs to look at what it can do better than anyone else or who it can reach better than anyone else. For example, some companies concentrate on specific products or services in order to maximize what they know about what they do. On the other hand, however, some companies concentrate more on advertising or reaching specific customers that are willing to either pay more or purchase larger quantities of product.

Integration
After a company discovers how to increase their performance and create a competitive advantage, it will often look at both internal and external integration. There is a big difference between internal and external integration but they both have the same main idea: internal integration involves joining two or more sections of a company together in order to maximize the full potential that those sections have; external integration involves a company merging together with another company in order for both companies to have better assets and more control over what each company is actually capable of doing. Both internal and external integration are helpful in expanding a company's capabilities and customer fulfillment but neither is necessary in order to create a successful business.

Organizational Learning
Organizational learning involves learning from one's mistakes and adapting to changes. In business, organizational learning is crucial to survival because markets are constantly changing and what people need and want are constantly changing with it. In order for a company to continue performing at its best, the company must learn how things are changing and decide how to change with it. Organizational learning does not stop here, however. Organizational learning requires that a company learn from its mistakes and make decisions based on not only what is happening in the present but what has happened in the past. The company must consider both in order to plan for the future.