11 — Strategic Resource Management

As organizations find themselves facing tough economic conditions, it becomes important for them to manage their knowledge resources both effectively and efficiently. As C-level executives set the strategic direction for their organizations and provide the resources required to make that strategy happen, they need to have a comprehensive view of the true capabilities embedded in their organization. Without this knowledge, they could end up either under-investing or over-investing resources in the development of the capabilities needed for strategy implementation, leaving the organization either unable to deliver, or wasting resources in redundant capabilities.

We have developed an inventory methodology that enables us to show the breadth and depth of knowledge capabilities and skills within organizations – basically, an inventory, or supply of existing talents, competences, and skills. Through this inventory tool we are able to answer crucially important C-level questions that remain unanswered such as:

• Where are your organization’s strong knowledge capabilities and vulnerabilities?
• Where are you over or under-invested given your business needs and expected service levels?
• Where should you be deploying knowledge resources to strengthen your knowledge base?
• Can these resources be pooled to maintain or improve current service levels at lower cost? In other words, can you employ some of the strong capabilities to cover an identified vulnerability?
• What business opportunities are you missing out due to gaps in your knowledge?