Internet commerce and knowledge management – the next megatrends

Abstract

Electronic commerce is a fairly new application of the Internet and World Wide Web and its viability will depend on the development of globally accepted legal rules and regulations, as recognized by the US President’s nine recommendations. One key to the success of Internet commerce will lie in improved privacy protection regulations and trusted encryption software. Another lies in the application of knowledge management (KM) and knowledge management systems (KMS), to ensure that the right information reaches the right people in the company, with the Web acting as the enabler. Notes particularly the important role played by Chief Knowledge Officer, whose job is to move information and knowledge around the company while making it more usable and engaging the knowledge workers in its use and replenishment. Concludes that knowledge management will generally employ a ‘pull’ rather than a ‘push’ strategy since knowledge workers will know what information is wanted and will actively search for it via KMS. There will be a need to develop appropriate critical success factors (CSF) for measuring the contribution of KMS to the enterprise. As more companies downsize, KMS will become more critical to the company as people leave the company taking knowledge they gained with them.