Knowledge management for decision management is an important concept

Posted by RaynaJess on February 5th, 2014

There are always two elements to decision making – logic and human perceptions. You cannot separate these two from any decision making process. There are some that tend to use only perceptions for decision making and they often end up making wrong decisions. And there are some that effectively mix the two and their decisions are more correct than incorrect. These are the people that climb up corporate and life ladders faster than the others because decision making is one of the most critical competencies of life. If you want to learn how to make effective decisions try using knowledge management for decision management.

Effective knowledge management lies at the core of many successful businesses. When an organization spends years and billions on research and gathers knowledge as a result they don’t want to part with that knowledge. And why should they? Given that considerable time and money has been spent on gathering all the knowledge wouldn’t an organization look to cash in on what it learnt? Effective decision management lies at the core of managing knowledge because it is knowledge that helps make the best decisions.

You may ask how and I would take you to the first paragraph of this article. When someone uses knowledge management for decision management they effectively mix perceptions and logic. And logic can only be used when there is some basis for it. This basis is available in the form of data. And data can be stored in an Intellectual Property management tool. When a management team has access to analyzed data they start thinking in a more logical manner. Perceptions cannot be completed entirely because it is against human nature. But what data and logic can do is minimize the effect of perceptions in decision making.

There are thousands of knowledge management tools available online and some of them are fantastic. As a user there are a few expectations you have from these tools – they should be easy to use, they should be able to do analysis and they should be secure. There are many such tools that fulfil all these requirements. And some of these tools can be used for effective decision management.

Any decision taken, large or small, irrespective of who takes it has a direct impact on how a business will perform. When Roberto Goizueta told his management team that the Coca Cola was not competing against Pepsi but water it was one of the most critical decisions he had taken. This thought process flung Coca Cola into the global scene and converted it into the most well known brand in the world. Do you think it was pure gut instinct at work here? I think there was a lot of logic in this statement from the ex Coke CEO.

The most effective decision makers use more than perceptions to make decisions. You will find many that use knowledge management for decision management. And they are the ones that come up with the best ideas and the best decisions for their organizations.

Use knowledge management for decision management and you can rest assured that the right decisions will be forthcoming.