Abstract
M.Com. (Business Management)
The knowledge that people create, possess and share can easily go unnoticed in
organisations that do not put effort in identifying it. Knowledge, among other factors, is
what people in organisations use to make decisions that can possibly give organisations
a competitive advantage. Knowledge, as with other traditionally recognised resources,
is a strategic resource that organisations can use to bring about positive change in
business. Knowledge can be tacit or explicit and both types need to be managed
strategically. Explicit knowledge tends to be easily accessible if it is stored in places
such as databases where people can locate it, however, tacit knowledge can be slightly
more challenging to access as it lies in the minds of people. Eskom’s Project Development Department (PDD) has 32 project developers who actively develop projects that the organisation will invest in. These projects include electricity generation stations, transmission lines or even pollution mitigating technologies. The project developers work with various stakeholders in and outside of the organisation to ensure that the projects are aligned with the strategic objectives of the organisation. This study aimed to identify the knowledge that the project developers possess and a knowledge audit was conducted on the project developers. The results show that the project developers possess vast amounts of knowledge, skills and are subject matter experts in various fields. The project developers also communicate with various other departments within Eskom when developing projects. A contributing fact to the varying knowledge and skills that the project developers possess is the different projects that each project developer develops. These projects can take up to three years to develop and this can enable a person to acquire knowledge in a specific field of operation. The majority of the project developers also stated that they preferred one on one physical conversations to acquire and share knowledge. Knowledge is gaining recognition as a strategic resource within organisations and strategic management of the knowledge is necessary as it can provide benefits for
people and organisations as a whole.