Importance of Knowledge Management

Islam lays a high premium on knowledge. The Quran itself contains the prayer My Lord, Increase me in Knowledge. Islam has throughout its history stressed much on preserving and transmitting knowledge. In fact those who have memorized the Qur’an are known as Huffaz or ‘Protectors’ because they protect the Divine Revelation by preserving it in their hearts. Not a word or jot of the Qur’an has been changed ever since it was revealed more than 1400 years ago. The Hadiths or Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) have also been assiduously preserved through well documented chains of narration that support one another and lend authority to its authenticity. It is also a well-known fact that it was Islamdom that preserved ancient Greek knowledge from philosophy to medicine when Europe was overrun by the barbarian hordes that brought about the dark ages. In fact it was Islam’s Conquest of Constantinople in 1453 that brought an end to the Dark or Middle Ages and ushered in the Modern Age.

Today, knowledge management and importance of documenting and transmitting knowledge has become a mission critical in all organizations, regardless of size. There are specialized MBA programs on the subject of Knowledge Management today. Specialized knowledge management software is also available for organizations to record and document their business processes and secrets. Such a document when prepared by an Organization is referred to as the Standards & Operations Manual (SOP)

In our day to day business too we must have all our business processes documented (rules of our business) so that all staff work according to the rules. If new staff join the company, we can induct them rapidly using this manual. As a result, businesses become less people-dependent and more system-driven, negating human errors and optimizing productivity. Implementing a computerized system (ERP) to cover your entire operation thus makes good business sense. Besides, you can keep on updating the system, further enhancing productivity and minimizing errors.