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Knowledge Management Tools for SMES

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Competitive Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract

This chapter presents selected Knowledge Management (KM) toolkits and individual tools that have been developed to provide structured ways of acquiring, creating, sharing, using and protecting knowledge resources. Endowed with scarce resources small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have to manage tacit and explicit knowledge efficiently to survive and grow in a rapidly changing business environment. Managing knowledge is a prerequisite to developing dynamic capabilities. While it is widely accepted that knowledge is a key factor for success, companies need tools and routines to manage their knowledge assets adequately in practice. The 12-Point-Programme at the end of the chapter provides guidance on how to develop KM practices for enhancing competitiveness in turbulent situations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wiesbaden Business School, Wiesbaden, Germany

    Klaus North & Renia Babakhanlou

Authors
  1. Klaus North
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  2. Renia Babakhanlou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Klaus North .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Wiesbaden Business School, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt, Germany

    Klaus North

  2. Dept. of Engineering and Knowledge Mgmt., Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Trindade, Florianópolis - SC, Brazil

    Gregorio Varvakis

Annex I: Selected Knowledge Management Toolkits

Annex I: Selected Knowledge Management Toolkits

Toolkits

Target group

Number of tools

Web links

Toolkits in English

APO Toolkit

SMEs

26

www.apo-tokyo.org/00e-books/IS-44_Practical-KM-Guide-for-SME-OwnerManager.htm

Knowledge Sharing Toolkit

All organizations

Over 30

http://www.kstoolkit.org

DBA Toolkit

Companies in design practices

7

http://www.usablebuildings.co.uk/Pages/Unprotected/SpreadingTheWord/SharingKnowledge.pdf

IDEA Tools and Techniques

Local governments

8

http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/aio/8595069

ODI Toolkit

International agencies

30

http://www.odi.org.uk/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/188.pdf

SDC Toolkit

SDC partner countries

23

http://www.sdc-learningandnetworking.ch/en/Home/SDC_KM_Tools

UN CPR

UNDP offices

15

http://www.undp.org.ye/reports/Knowledge%20Management%20Toolkit%20for%20the%20Crisis%20Prevention%20and%20Recovery%20Practice%20Area.pdf

Toolkits in Spanish and Portuguese

Bain & Company—Ferramentas de Gestão

Enterprises

25

http://www.bain.com/offices/saopaulo/pt/Images/Management_tools_2009_POR.pdf

Guía Rápida y Herramienta de Apoyo (Santiago Rivero Rodrigo)

SMEs

60

Rodrigo S.A., Guía Rápida y Herramienta de Apoyo para la Gestión del Conocimiento en las PYMES, 2009, El Consejo Económico y Social. Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid/Spain

Infomipyme

SMEs

8 Tools + Basic Business Tools

Infomipyme, (n.d.), Caja de Herramientas, http://www.infomipyme.com/Docs/GENERAL/Offline/GDE.htm

OIT Toolkit

Government, employers and workers

32

OIT, Organización Internacional del Trabajo, (2011), Caja de herramientas para compartir conocimientos http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/support/lib/knowledgesharing/tools.htm

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North, K., Babakhanlou, R. (2016). Knowledge Management Tools for SMES. In: North, K., Varvakis, G. (eds) Competitive Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27303-7_14

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