Dear KB members,

Some time ago we announced that we are going to provide you some new learning modules on various topics on and around knowledge management. We have now finished the first set “Communication and Management” and published the three modules in the KnowledgeBoard library.

Here is a description of the basic idea and its relevance to effective knowledge management:

Every organisation has many different knowledge management requirements. To address the needs like content management, remote collaboration or effective customer support, you need specific management practices. The rules and the hierarchy of a company influence the corporate communication.

Knowledge within an organisation isn’t just an individual concept. Groups have to work together on different problems to share the knowledge they created. All the “knowledge problems” of businesses have a common element: human communication itself. If you can turn communication activities into a source of profit, productivity, and competitiveness - instead of a cost of doing business - then you have solved the most important problem of knowledge-driven businesses.

As communication can thus be seen as the foundation of knowledge management this underlines the importance of effective communication in an organisation. The set of learning modules is based on this argument and is published under the general topic “Communication and Management”.

The learning module “Communication and Management” is divided in three sub-modules which can be followed separately but as they complement each other we suggest you to use the material of all of them to get a complete picture of the subject. The modules can be downloaded by following the links:

• Key principles of communication
• Leadership and communication
• Intercultural communication

We hope that the learning module can help you to learn more about communication in general and how deliberate communication can have positive influence on the knowledge sharing culture of organisations.

We will be glad to get your feedback!

Marinita Schumacher