APPLYING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN

THE BUSINESS
Survey Report

August 2022 K012778

 Enterprise knowledge management (KM) programs
can enable the flow of knowledge, but each business
area and function plays an important role in collecting,
sharing, accessing, and using its own knowledge.

In 2022, APQC surveyed KM professionals to learn how

KM programs interact with internal customer groups
and how KM plays out in different parts of the
business. Topics include:

ABOUT THIS REPORT » Where KM provides the most support to the

business—and why
» Where and why business demand for KM is growing
» Business areas with the most untapped KM potential
» Barriers affecting business adoption of KM
» How well KM supports business needs

221
Valid participants

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2

 1 KM Program Structure & Activities

2 Levels of KM Support Across the Business

CONTENTS 3 Growing Demand & Untapped Potential

4 Extent of KM Integration into the Business

5 Demographics

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 3

KM PROGRAM STRUCTURE &
ACTIVITIES
 LEVEL OF KM STANDARDIZATION
A majority of respondents say they have enterprise-level KM programs, but many of these are supplemented by separate KM initiatives that
cover specific parts of the business. A multi-layered KM approach can help organizations balance standardization with the unique
requirements of each business area, but it can also result in a cluttered and confusing landscape for end users.

At which levels of your organization are KM programs or initiatives in place?

67%
55%
44% 44%

19%

Enterprise level Business units, geographic Functions, departments, or Local offices Teams or projects
regions, or affiliates business processes

N=221
©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 5
 KM GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
Most organizations have a mixed governance structure for KM, where a centralized group provides certain staffing and support
(e.g., managing standardized tools and approaches), but business groups and functions have some control over how KM is applied.

12% 20% 42% 18% 9%

Fully Mostly Mostly Fully

Centralized Centralized Hybrid Decentralized Decentralized

Staffing and Most staffing and

Functions or
responsibility responsibility Functions or
Significant enterprise-level business groups
consolidated consolidated within a business areas are
direction and support, but are responsible,
within a single group, but mostly responsible,
functions or business areas are with no
single group some implementation with limited
responsible for carrying out the enterprise
that supports activities distributed enterprise direction
strategy direction or
the entire to functions or or support
support
enterprise business areas

N=220
©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 6
 KM TOOLS AND APPROACHES IN PLACE

Respondents say their organizations support and enable a range of KM activities. The most common relate to content management, peer-to-
peer knowledge sharing, and the capture and transfer of expert knowledge.

Content management process/lifecycle 71%

Knowledge sharing meetings, webinars, or events 70%
Capture/transfer of expert knowledge 58%
Communities of practice/networks 55%
Search and discovery 52%
Transfer of best practices 51%
After action reviews/ lessons learned 50%
Digital workplace 42%
Knowledge mapping 36%
Expertise location/networking 35%
Mentoring or job shadowing 28%
Other 7%
7 N=220
©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
LEVELS OF KM SUPPORT ACROSS
THE BUSINESS
 KM SUPPORT PROVIDED TO FUNCTIONS AND BUSINESS AREAS
KM programs tend to deliver the most support to learning and development and customer service, which must supply
knowledge to employees and customers when they need it. Core business areas such as process management, operations,
and project management are also likely to receive high or moderate levels of KM support.

Learning and development (N=201) 37% 39% 20% 4%

Customer service (N=172) 35% 31% 20% 13%

Process management/ improvement (N=174) 30% 41% 22% 7%

Operations (N=178) 29% 47% 19% 5%

Project management (N=184) 28% 43% 21% 8%

High Moderate Low None

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 9
 KM SUPPORT PROVIDED TO FUNCTIONS AND BUSINESS AREAS
Areas least likely to receive significant KM support include facilities management, financial management, and marketing.
Many participating organizations also deliver low or no KM support to R&D and HR, which are knowledge-intensive functions.

R&D/product and service development (N=152) 19% 30% 32% 19%

HR/human capital management (N=172) 19% 36% 32% 13%

Marketing (N=157) 13% 29% 43% 14%

Financial management (N=161) 8% 30% 39% 23%

Facilities management/infrastructure (N=163) 8% 32% 33% 27%

High Moderate Low None

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 10

 SPECIALIZED SOLUTIONS
Business Area % with Respondent Examples of Specialized KM Tools and
or Function Specialized Approach for Each Business Area

Learning and Learning and

• Learning management system, online course delivery

development 31% • SME workshops and masterclasses

development and • Learning networks

digital/IT are the business •

•
Code/solution library
Data collection, integration, and analysis applications
areas most likely to have Digital/IT 26% • Online knowledge base with ticketing function
• Specialized communities of practice and subject matter experts
specialized KM tools and • Content management process/repositories for reusable knowledge
Project
approaches in place. management 20% •
•
After action reviews, lessons learned systems
Best practice libraries/transfer programs
• Process management software
Process
Customized KM solutions management/ 19%
•
•
Process documentation knowledge base
Integrated process and knowledge maps
include function-specific improvement • Process-focused virtual networks

applications and Operations 17%

•
•
After action reviews, lessons learned programs
Specialized knowledge bases and taxonomies
databases, but also • Call center knowledge base
methodologies to Customer service 16%
• Customer relationship management (CRM) platform
• Client portals, end-user knowledge articles
capture, organize, and • Knowledge centered support

share unique knowledge. • Human Resource Information System (HRIS)

HR/Human capital • Online knowledge base with ticketing function
management 15% • Onboarding tools
• Talent management, HR analytics, and workforce planning software
• Innovation management application
• Specialized communities of practice and knowledge transfer programs
Innovation 12% • Ideation software
• Data history and visualization tools

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 11 N=136–166

 TOP REASONS WHY BUSINESS AREAS
RECEIVE GREATER KM SUPPORT
Percentage Listing Each Among Top 3 Reasons

Alignment with the organization’s business

strategy and goals
64%
Nearly two-thirds of
Requests or interest from function/business
47% respondents say the level of
area leaders
KM support offered to each
business area depends on
Digital or IT initiative or need 34%
the organization’s business
strategy and goals.
Guidance from KM sponsors, steering
committee, or other executives
28%
Inquiries and interest from
Participation rates or grassroots demand business-area leaders can
23%
within function/business area also drive KM support to
specific parts of the
Workforce demographics 22% organization.

Dedicated time/agreement for staff to

participate in KM
19%

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 12 N=220

GROWING DEMAND &
UNTAPPED POTENTIAL
 BUSINESS AREAS WITH GROWING DEMAND
FOR KM SERVICES
Percentage Citing Significantly Increased Interest in Each Area over the Past 3 Years

Learning and development 38%

Interest in KM has grown in Operations 37%

recent years, especially in
learning and development, Process management/improvement 37%
operations, and process Digital/IT 32%
management.
HR/human capital management 30%
Increased interest from
learning and development Project management 30%
makes sense, given how Customer service 30%
many organizations are
integrating KM and learning Innovation 29%
content to create a more
unified end-user experience. Quality 24%

C-suite/corporate strategy 20%

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 14 N=210

 TOP FACTORS DRIVING HIGHER KM
DEMAND IN THE BUSINESS

59% Need to break down silos between teams/projects

The need to get knowledge

55% High volume of information to manage out of silos—combined with
ever-growing repositories
and the rise of remote and
55% Increased remote/hybrid work
hybrid work—is driving
increased demand for KM
52% Digital transformation initiatives from the business.

The digital workplace has

48% Need to respond faster to changes
many advantages, but it can
make it harder for
45% Migration to new IT systems/platforms employees to meet and
learn from colleagues
outside their immediate
42% High volume of new hires
circles.

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 15 N=221

 BUSINESS AREAS WITH MOST UNTAPPED
POTENTIAL FOR KM TO PROVIDE VALUE
Percentage Listing Each Among Their Top 3

Process management and

Process management/improvement 29%
innovation are the
business areas where Innovation 27%
respondents see the most
untapped potential for KM Operations 21%
to provide value.
Learning and development 21%
Both areas are central to
HR/human capital management 21%
how organizations sustain
and grow. Better C-suite/corporate strategy 21%
management of innovation
and process knowledge R&D/product and service development 18%
can help organizations
become more efficient, Digital/IT 16%
effective, and agile.
Project management 14%

Customer service 13%

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 16 N=219
 HOW MORE KM SUPPORT COULD HELP TARGET BUSINESS AREAS
The biggest potential benefits respondents see relate to speed. If knowledge is readily available, employees waste less time looking for it and
can leverage collective experience instead of reinventing the wheel. Better KM can also improve time-to-competency, accelerate problem
resolution, and improve cycle times to complete projects and tasks.

Reduce time spent looking for information or expertise 77%

Reduce time spent recreating information or work 70%
Improve time-to-competency for new hires or people in new roles 64%
Accelerate problem resolution 62%
Improve speed/cycle time to complete work 61%
Reduce risk if people retire/leave 57%
Improve quality/reduce errors 55%
Increase innovation 53%
Improve customer interactions or satisfaction 45%
Increase agility to respond to market changes/disruptions 43%
Reduce costs 40%
Generate new revenue 20%
©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 17 N=220
 TOP BARRIERS TO INCREASED KM IN TARGET BUSINESS AREAS
The biggest barrier preventing KM adoption and implementation in business areas with untapped potential is a lack of resources or time
available for KM. Even though KM could make these business areas more efficient in the long run, overstretched teams aren’t making the up-
front investments necessary, and leaders are not prioritizing KM activities.

Percentage Listing Each Among Top 3 Barriers

64%

37%
32%
28%
20% 19% 19%

Lack of business Resource/funding Leaders are Staff are unaware The culture values Staff see knowledge The culture values
resources or time constraints within unaware or or skeptical of KM individual hoarding as job secrecy/security
available for KM KM skeptical of KM achievement over security over openness
collaboration

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 18 N=221

EXTENT OF KM INTEGRATION INTO
THE BUSINESS
 KM & BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP
How Effectively KM Partners with Business Areas to Address Knowledge-related Challenges and Opportunities

34%
31%
Not effective at all

Slightly effective

Somewhat effective
16%
15%
Effective 3%

Very effective Less than half of respondents say that KM is effective or

very effective at partnering with their organizations’
functions and business areas to address their knowledge-
related challenges and opportunities.

N=216
©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 20
 OPTIMIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE FLOW ACROSS THE BUSINESS
How Effectively KM Optimizes Movement of Knowledge Across the Organization’s End-to-End Processes

35%

Not effective at all

25%
Slightly effective 25%

Somewhat effective
10%
Effective 5%

Very effective Only around one-third of respondents say KM is effective at

optimizing the movement of knowledge across their
organizations’ end-to-end business processes.

This seems like an opportunity for KM to partner with

process improvement teams for mutual benefit.
N=215
©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 21
 DEMOGRAPHICS

Region Scope of KM Program

Fewer than 100 8% Head of business (Chairman, CEO, President,

2%
etc.)
100-999 21% VP/Senior Executive 4%

1,000-9,999 30% Director/Senior Manager 34%

Manager/Process Owner 34%

10,000-49,999 20%
Specialist/Analyst 20%
50,000-99,999 13%
Consultant 6%
N=221
Student/Intern 0%

N=221

©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 22

 DEMOGRAPHICS

Top 10 Industries
Services 17%
Government/Military 14%

Software/Technology 12%

Healthcare/Pharmaceutical 10%

Financial Services/Banking/Insurance 10%

Petroleum/Chemical 5%
Construction 4%
Industrial Products 3%

Consumer Products/Packaged Goods 2%

N=221
©2022 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 23
 CONTACT US

Lauren Trees Sharae Celestine

Principal Research Lead,
Research Analyst
Knowledge Management
[email protected] [email protected]

www.apqc.org 800-766-9676