Lucidea’s Lens: Knowledge Management Thought Leaders
Part 120 – Ron Young

Ron Young is Founder, CEO, and CKO of Knowledge Associates, an international knowledge and innovation management consulting company. He has been active in the development of standards for knowledge management, including ISO 30401:2018. 

Ron has expertise in strategic knowledge asset management, innovation, and AI. He specializes in developing knowledge strategies, policies, governance models, standards, knowledge systems, and knowledge-driven platforms.   

He has chaired and participated in the British Standards Institution (BSI) Knowledge Management, Innovation Management and Asset Standards Committees, European CEN Knowledge Management Standards, and International Standards Organization (ISO) KM Standards development workgroups. 

Here are definitions for five of Ron’s specialties:  

• Artificial intelligence (AI): The capacity of a computer to perform operations analogous to learning and decision making in humans, as by an expert system. 
• Innovation: The process by which an idea is translated into a good or service for which people will pay. 
• ISO 30401 Standard for Knowledge Management Systems: Sets requirements and provides guidelines for establishing, implementing, maintaining, reviewing, and improving an effective management system for knowledge management in organizations. 
• Knowledge Asset Management (KAM): A strategic discipline aimed at identifying, developing, sharing, protecting, and capitalizing on an organization’s knowledge assets—such as intellectual property, expertise, and innovation capabilities—alongside traditional tangible and financial assets. These intangible assets often hold greater value than physical assets, yet frequently underutilized or undervalued in conventional accounting systems. 
• Strategy: A set of guiding principles that, when communicated and adopted in the organization, generates a desired pattern of decision-making. The way that people throughout the organization should make decisions and allocate resources in order to accomplish key objectives. A strategy provides a clear roadmap that defines the actions people should take (and not take) and the things they should prioritize (and not prioritize) to achieve desired goals. 

Ron created the following content. I have curated it to represent his contributions to the field. 

Books by Ron Young

APO KM Framework 

1. Vision and mission: Vision is an expressed statement made by an organization, which outlines a long-term desired state of the organization. Mission broadly states the basic purpose of the organization. Vision and mission, together, help in framing strategic directions of the organization. They help identify core competencies required to achieve the business objectives. They provide insight for designing KM programs, roadmap, and action plan for an organization. 

2. Accelerators: Accelerators help to propel and speed up, or ’accelerate’ the KM initiative in the organization. The four accelerators identified in the framework include: 

• Leadership: The leadership, which resides in the top management, is the driver of the KM initiative in the organization. The leadership ensures alignment of KM strategies and projects with the vision and mission of the organization. Leaders identify champions of KM who help in the successful implementation of KM projects. They demonstrate commitment and support by providing resources for the implementation of KM projects. They also institutionalize KM in the organization through the development and implementation of policies and structures to build a knowledge-enabled work environment, which encourages the acquisition, sharing, and application of knowledge. 
• Technology: Technology accelerates the knowledge process by providing various effective tools and techniques, which assist in the creation, storing, sharing, and application of knowledge. Technology helps in managing explicit knowledge through various tools, such as search engines, storage media, intranets, and extranets. In case of tacit knowledge, technology facilitates online and offline collaboration, leading to better communication and sharing at both formal and informal levels. Tools such as groupware and collaborative workspaces enable participation, across time and distance, in the process of knowledge creation. Technology provides a platform for retention of organizational knowledge. 
• People: People play an important role in key knowledge process, namely creation, sharing, and application. In an organization, staffs are users as well as generators of knowledge, and form an important knowledge asset by acting as a repository of tacit knowledge; even explicit knowledge till it is documented. They are part of human capital, and create and possess intellectual capital. For example, the material assets of a firm are of limited worth, unless it has people who know what to do with them. It is the value added by people—via context, experience, and interpretation—that transforms data and information into knowledge. The success of the KM projects largely depends on employees’ willingness to share knowledge. There must be a climate of mutual trust and benefit to encourage knowledge sharing amongst employees. 
• Processes: Processes refer to a flow of events that describe how things work in an organization. They are sequences of social and technological steps that enhance the contribution to knowledge in the organization. Systematic and effectively designed processes can contribute to improving organizational productivity, profitability, quality, and growth. It is useful to periodically check known assumptions in design of processes and incorporate learnings from best practices in redesigning them for better performance. 

3. Knowledge processes: Knowledge processes refer to knowledge development and conversion. There are five stages in the knowledge processes framework: 

• Identify: This is the initial crucial stage of the knowledge process, where critical knowledge needed to build the core competencies of the organization is identified. The knowledge gaps and the types of knowledge required in the various areas of the organization are defined. 
• Create: Creation is addressing the knowledge gaps through knowledge conversion and generation of new knowledge. There are many ways to create new knowledge. At the individual and team level by training, learning by doing, joint problem solving, or brainstorming activities. At the department or organizational level, new knowledge is created for products, services, internal processes, and procedures. Often, new solutions or great ideas are not recorded, either for learning or reuse. Hence, these remain solely individual knowledge that is lost to the organization. 
• Store: Knowledge storage involves collection and preservation of organizational knowledge. This preserved knowledge is organized for quick and easy retrieval by users. It is not easy to document individual experience and expertise (tacit knowledge), and therefore, it is important to identify and retain those who have this expertise. 
• Share: Sharing occurs when there is regular and sustained exchange of knowledge among the members of the organization. The objective is to foster continuous learning to achieve business goals. Mutual trust and benefit help foster a culture of sharing. We can use technology to enhance sharing. Coaching and mentoring are other means of sharing. 
• Apply: Application is the use and reuse of knowledge in the organization. It translates knowledge into action. Much knowledge remains underutilized. Knowledge adds value only when used to improve products and services. 

4. Learning and innovation: The knowledge process enables learning and innovation at all levels and areas in the organization. Learning is the discovery of new insights, the affirmation of what is already known and the realization of the need to unlearn. New insights and unlearning can lead to innovation, which could encompass new products, services, processes, markets, technologies, and business models. Learning and innovation arising out of the knowledge process helps to build individual and organizational capability which in turn leads to societal capacity. 

5. Outcomes: The expected outcomes of KM initiatives are enhanced individual, team, and organizational capability, and increased societal capacity. Together, these outcomes will spur overall productivity, improve quality of products and services, and contribute to profitability and growth. 

• Individual Capability: Learning and innovation arising out of the knowledge process increase the knowledge and skills of individuals, resulting in enhanced performance. Positive attitudes, and strong moral and ethical values are the foundations of individual capability development. Individual capabilities collectively contribute to team capabilities, organizational capability, and societal capacity. 
• Team Capability: Sharing of knowledge in a team enhances the team’s capability. A team’s capability is only as good as the individuals who make up the team. When individuals in a team are constantly learning and sharing knowledge with each other, team capability is enhanced. 
• Organizational Capability: Organization capability focuses on improving internal processes and systems, core competencies and designing innovative strategies to achieve sustainable growth and competitive advantage. To do this, organizations need to leverage on individual and team capabilities, and collaborate with external stakeholders such as suppliers, customers, and partners. 
• Societal Capacity: Societal capacity refers to the collective knowledge of individuals, organizations, and institutions that can be harnessed for inclusive growth. As the world moves toward a knowledge economy, society must be prepared for the transformation. Government and the private sector will have to work collectively in raising awareness and provide impact on the importance of knowledge and technology. Networking and collaboration can stimulate creative potential of individuals and organizations to seize the enormous opportunities in the society for growth and development. 
• Productivity: Productivity focuses on efficient and effective use of resources to produce higher output. Higher productivity is achieved through the collective capabilities of individuals and teams, technology, improved work processes and systems, enhanced collaboration, and better decision making. The outcomes include reduced wastage, better products and services, and increased profits. 
• Profitability: Improved productivity leads to profitability. Profitability means wealth for individuals, organizations, and society as a whole. Knowledge helps in value creation leading to increased profitability. 
• Quality: Quality means better products and services, which leads to higher customer satisfaction. Improvement in quality is the result of application of knowledge, learning, and innovation. 
• Growth: Higher productivity, increased profitability, and better quality product and services can yield higher gross domestic product. These and improved societal capacity can bring about inclusive growth and better quality of life for all. This is the ultimate objective of all productivity movements in the world. Using knowledge can enhance productivity, quality, profitability, and growth. 

KM Tools and Techniques 

Knowledge Asset Management (KAM) Implementation Framework