In trying to improve the relationship we have with all of our institutional stakeholders, from pre-enrolment to business partnerships, information plays a key role – and we need to know how to manage that information. Harris states that:

organizations still need a strategy, focus and structure in knowledge management. KM is a business practice, a process and a cultural change. It even includes policies — for reuse, for knowledge sharing, and so on. It is not the tools of search, social computing, expertise location, content management, etc. It is about people using those tools and processes to find and apply information to fill a need or resolve a specific problem in the (often unique) context required by a customer, a call center agent or a sales and marketing team member.

Many of the JISC Relationship Management projects are looking at how to improve the flow and accessibility of information in order to improve the customer relationship (more on these projects in future posts).

As Harris concludes, KM is not just about making information available, but it’s also about organising and enhancing that information to provide a deeper, richer knowledge that can benefit both the institution and the stakeholder.