A major new study by a respected Canadian polling firm says 91% of the
country's business leaders "agree knowledge management practices have
succeeded in creating value in improving organizational effectiveness." And
65% of Canadian companies practicing knowledge management believe it has
given their organization a competitive advantage.
That type of positive attitude -- and particularly the report of it by
Ipsos-Reid, formerly the Angus Reid Organization -- should go a long way to
boosting acceptance by corporate staffers who are considering
ThoughtShare's products for use in their organizations, says ThoughtShare
president Fred Fabro.
ThoughtShare this month launched bZone, its first revenue-generating,
web-based, server software. bZone helps organize and present essential
corporate knowledge captured in the files created by the thousands of users
of ThoughShare's flagship application, PlanBee. bZone is a
knowledge-management package specifically designed for small and
medium-sized organizations, or departments within large organizations.
Pricing starts at $7,999 plus $149 per user.
"The average return-on-investment figure of 41% from the Ipsos-Reid study
is particularly interesting," notes Fabro. "It means that the value created
by bZone and PlanBee returns their cost to the organization in about three
months. The rest of the value just keeps showing up on the bottom line,
year after year after year. Especially during recessionary times, companies
need to work smarter to milk the internal knowledge assets of their
employees so they can make effective decisions."
bZone involves four main components: a library, a search engine, a report
generator and a viewer. It provides mid-sized organizations or departments
of large organizations a wide range of straightforward approaches for
helping them manage knowledge and share expertise. This web-based,
knowledge-management method provides a simple way for capturing and sharing
the experience and expertise of others. It also allows users easy access to
this knowledge anytime, from any standard web browser.
The Ipsos Reid study explains that the executives surveyed say knowledge
management creates corporate value "by improving organizational
effectiveness, delivering customer value, and improving" the innovation
and delivery of their products.
Other findings of the new study:
* 88% agree knowledge management practices have succeeded in delivering
customer value
* 89% say the positive impact of knowledge management practices also
extends to employee satisfaction
* 89% agree their organization has a culture that encourages and provides
opportunities for communicating ideas, knowledge and experience internally
Even better for ThoughtShare, says Fabro is the fact that a third of
organizations without knowledge management practices in place have plans to
implement one in the next 12 months.
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