NPR - KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT THE SOUTH AFRICAN CANE GROWERS ASSOCIATION

Abstract:
The South African Cane Growers Association has served growers since 1927, and has accumulated a wealth of industry knowledge and information. However, increasingly competitive environments and the pace of technology have made it evident that the active management of knowledge and information is needed. This paper outlines the Association’s initial learnings in establishing a knowledge and information management (KM) department, highlighting key lessons learned. A KM Strategy is essential to determine how the KM program can inform best serve the organisation’s objectives. Being a broad discipline, the KM program needs to involve all aspects of the organisation, and given its long lifecycle its character may change from one year to the next as its focus moves from one issue to the next. The most important lesson learned is that knowledge is more than a material asset to be stored and moved around, but resides in the creative and adaptive capabilities of staff, their relationships with other stakeholders, and the prevailing organisational culture. An organisation needs to carefully consider what it is doing and how it does it, and consider whether it can do it better.
Keywords: knowledge management, information management, innovation