Knowledge Managers: Who They Are and What They Do

Abstract

Knowledge management (the process) and knowledge managers (the people) are recent organizational phenomena. The latter (the knowledge managers) are those key individuals charged with the task of making the former (knowledge management) successful. Due to the recent emergence of these organizational initiatives, a study of knowledge managers – who they are and what they do – was thought to be instructive and revealing as well as being sufficiently current to enable organizations to either adopt or adapt their knowledge management strategy. A survey to reveal the characteristics of knowledge managers as well as knowledge management initiatives was designed and distributed to practicing knowledge managers, primarily from US and Canadian organizations. This chapter, based on the analysis of 41 completed questionnaires, reveals the backgrounds, goals, ambitions, initiatives and challenges as self-assessed by these individuals. By pulling this information together, a profile of a “typical” knowledge manager is presented. The question that remains to be asked is “Are these the most appropriate individuals to lead the KM charge”?