The role of people in knowledge management and corporate intelligence : a case study

A real-life intervention to improve the efficacy of an organisation’s electronic document management system (EDMS) is reflected upon. The organisation implemented an EDMS without ensuring ‘buy in’ from the staff. Against the backdrop of the knowledge/innovation economy or information society, the relevance of knowledge management and knowledge agility is reviewed in brief. The importance of aligning human resource management practices with knowledge management is addressed in brief. The business case for the intervention is discussed and the unfolding of the intervention outlined. Thereafter the discussion is expanded to three generations of knowledge management, a brief look at the learning organisation, and complexity theory.