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Knowledge Management Professionals
Competencies Survey

This is now a Knowledge Sharing Challenge
called:

Knowledge Competencies:
What Are the Necessary KSA and How Can We Acquire Them?

By Alycia Tulloch, Emporia State University MLS Student

What are the core competencies of the knowledge management professional? What knowledge, skills, and aptitudes (KSAs) do employers seek in hiring for knowledge management (KM) positions? Can these KSAs be successfully learned through formalized instruction, and if so, should this be called a master's degree in Knowledge Management (KM)?

Editor's comments:
Many KnowMap subscribers - either those first seeking to qualify for a position or those who wish to define a position and hire a person to fill it - ask these questions of us. Alycia Tulloch, a candidate in Emporia State University's library and information management master's degree program and a Diamond level subscriber to KnowMap, was also asking these questions. Thus we felt it would be of mutual benefit to Tulloch and our subscribers if we surveyed the KnowMap readership and then shared the findings of her study in a future issue of KnowMap.

We did this and the results are available to those who contributed to Knowledge Management Professionals Competencies Survey: Results. Please note: the results article is available to KnowMap subscribers and contributors only.

If you responded to the survey and were not given access, please Editor, KnowMap with Survey Contributor in the subject line and give us your name, e-mail address, job position, name of organization and location. None of these details will ever be rented, sold or given to others without your express permission. We only use them to notify you of the release of new issues and for us to understand our readers in order to serve you better.

New Knowledge Sharing Challenge!

Tulloch originally asked these questions as part of her final studies to earn a master's degree in library and information science. She was interviewing leading academics and KM practitioners with the purpose of determining the ideal masters-level KM curriculum.

In particular she looked for those who were responsible for:

  • Designing a KM curriculum at a university,
  • Defining and hiring KM roles in your organization,
    OR
  • You are a KM practitioner discovering what competencies you need to be competitive in the field.

We still are interested in your knowledge and experience, and in turn, you can benefit from discovering what your colleagues in other institutions and organizations have learned. All those who participate by sharing their knowledge on competencies and programs to help attain or upgrade those competencies and including their contact information will receive a free Emerald (3 issues) subscription to KnowMap, if we find your contribution of value and publish it in a future issue.

To share your knowledge and participate in this study, please take a few moments to answer the questions below.

You will be asked for your full name, your area of interest and/or expertise in KM, your job title, your geographic location, and the best e-mail address at which to reach you. These will be used to assess the results based on your background and to qualify for the KnowMap Emerald subscription. We will not publish identifying information without your express permission.

Figure 1: Alycia and Her Straw Bale House
Alycia with her straw

Your e-mail address will not be given, sold or leased to any other party. It will be used only to fulfill the subscription and notify you of upcoming releases. You will be able to request removal once your subscription is complete.

Survey questionnaire

Purpose of the Survey: to determine the ideal master's level KM curriculum (all fields must be completed).

  1. What skills, knowledge, and aptitudes are *essential* for a career in KM?

  2. What would the ideal KM curriculum look like? What core courses? What concentrations?

  3. How does one get a job in KM? Are there entry-level jobs in KM? Could someone with a master's degree in KM expect to get a job at a similar level as someone with an MBA?

  4. What does someone in your position look for in hiring for a KM position? Do you tend to hire people from within the organization? What positions do these people come from?

  5. Do you use the term "KM" in your organization or do you use other terms to describe KM activities? If you don't use the term "KM" is there a reason that you don't?

  6. What "sells" about KM? How do you sell yourself within the organization or to an organization?

  7. What types of people -- with what types of backgrounds -- have you seen to be most successful in KM?

Personal Information

N.B. Although we need your name, company and job title as well as e-mail address to fulfill your complimentary subscription and for information relevant to the results (such as identifying the types of responses by organization and job titles, no specific identifying information, such as individual or organization names, will be used in subsequent articles, unless you give us your express permission to do so.

KnowMap does not share contact information with any other person or organization. We use information such as name, organization and e-mail address to fulfill the subscription and to determine the types of people interested in knowledge management.

  1. Name:
  2. Area of interest and/or expertise in KM:
  3. Job title:
  4. Organization:
  5. Geographic Location (state, country):
  6. E-mail address:
  7. May we use your name, job title and organization in the survey article?
    Yes
    No

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