BUSINESS CRITERIA: ITEM AND CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS
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4.2 Information and Knowledge Management

Purpose

This Item examines how your organization ensures the availability of high-quality, timely data and information for all your key users—employees, suppliers and partners, and customers. It also examines how your organization builds and manages its knowledge assets. The aim is to improve organizational efficiency, effectiveness and innovation.

 

Comments

- Managing information can require a significant commitment of resources as the sources of data and information grow dramatically. The expanding use of electronic information within organizations’ operations, as part of organizational knowledge networks, from the Internet, and in business-to-business and business-to-consumer communications, challenges organizational abilities to ensure reliability and availability in a user-friendly format.

- Data and information are especially important in business networks, alliances, and supply chains. Your responses to this Item should take into account this use of data and information and should recognize the need for rapid data validation and reliability assurance, given the increasing use of electronic data transfer.

- Organizations should carefully plan how they will continue to provide data and information in the event of either a natural or man-made disaster. These plans should consider the needs of all of the organization’s stakeholders, including employees, customers, and suppliers and partners. The plans also should be coordinated with the organization’s overall plan for business continuity (Item 6.2).

- The focus of an organization’s knowledge management is on the knowledge that people need to do their work; improve processes, products, and services; keep current with changing business needs and directions; and develop innovative solutions that add value for the customer and the organization.

Item Description Links: 1.1 - 1.2 - 2.1 - 2.2 - 3.1 - 3.2 - 4.1 - 4.2 - 5.1 - 5.2 - 5.3 - 6.1 - 6.2 - 7.1 - 7.2 - 7.3 - 7.4 - 7.5 - 7.6 - P.1 - P.2

Note: All information above relates to Item descriptions. All information below relates to the actual Criteria.

2006 Criteria Items: 1.1 - 1.2 - 2.1 - 2.2 - 3.1 - 3.2 - 4.1 - 4.2 - 5.1 - 5.2 - 5.3 - 6.1 - 6.2 - 7.1 - 7.2 - 7.3 - 7.4 - 7.5 - 7.6 - P.1 - P.2

Click to download a copy of 2006 Baldrige Actionable Criteria