34.1Drivers for knowledge management in consulting

Knowledge as the main asset

The individual expertise, knowledge and skills of the employees, together with the collective knowledge bases of methodologies and templates, make up the main resources of a consulting firm. The maintenance and further development of these resources are essential for success. The value of the company depends largely on the capabilities and knowledge of the members of staff and the organization as a whole.

The need for efficient and effective work

Consulting firms differ with respect to their competitive strategy.1 For example, IT consulting firms usually implement one solution for several customers, and therefore rely on reusable knowledge. On the other hand, strategy consultants offer unique solutions to individual high-level strategic problems; to succeed, the consultants need to share context-specific knowledge with each other. Both types of companies have to provide a solution, in a restricted time frame, and which meets predefined quality standards. Regardless of the strategic focus, the consultants need to have access to various pieces of information, either from