An agile knowledge sharing platform for risk management in SMEs

Abstract

Structuring, distributing, and managing knowledge (KM) can be especially challenging in Small and Midsized Enterprises (SMEs) with limited manpower and technology resources. When maintaining updated, relevant, and actionable knowledge on risk management (RM) in a company, it is critical to enact proper KM design and approaches fitting the limited capabilities of the SME. This paper presents and analyses a conceptual approach for SMEs to work with RM in a simple workshop setting that helps employees and management to identify, track, and respond to risks dynamically. The design of this research is based on creation of a risk matrix and a risk action board with six variants of parameters set from ISO 31000 and Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA). The boards are physical in A0 size and highly coloured. The boards are developed from a pre-screening and requirement elicitation process in six different companies in three different industries with observations and selected interviews as the basic methods of data collection. This paper's originality lies in the conveyance of a highly visible and dynamic visualization of current knowledge that addresses the full organization on a daily basis. The introduction of RM as a cornerstone in the fundamental shop floor KM processes of daily communication is proving a valuable tool in both KM, RM, and employee engagement. The main research implication of this paper is that it provides a better and more detailed understanding of the otherwise abstract RM concepts and their application on the shop floor level. RM is assumed to reach a more communicable and inclusive format. Long term impacts still remain to be investigated.