Knowledge management metrics

Over several years, there have been intensive discussions about the importance of knowledge management (KM) within the business community. Effectively implementing a sound KM strategy and becoming a knowledge-based company is seen as a mandatory condition of success for organizations as they enter the era of the knowledge economy. However, standardized metrics are needed to quantify knowledge and to fully convince management and stakeholders as to the value of KM initiatives. Development of KM metrics has begun in recent years and these metrics are being applied by some organizations, but more research is needed to better define these measures and to make them universal. The purpose of this research is to survey and report the current measures of knowledge assets or intellectual capital, as well as the methods that are popularly being followed by organizations to measure the performance of KM strategies. The research findings should: assist organizations in identifying the measures that are appropriate and suitable for them, for improving the quality of metrics they use for measuring KM effectiveness; and assist researchers in identifying future research needs toward the standardization of KM measurement metrics.