Transferring knowledge about knowledge management: Implementation of a complex organisational change programme

Companies around the globe are facing issues associated with an ageing workforce. One of the most significant of these issues is how the knowledge of a workforce that may be close to retirement can be effectively transferred to less experienced generations. Despite the importance of this issue, surprisingly few articles examine the implementation of knowledge management and ageing workforce organisational change programmes.The standard approaches to programme management have inherited many of the tools, techniques and assumptions common to project management, some of which may not be appropriate to this kind of organisational change programme. This paper reviews a Knowledge Management Programme successfully implemented within an Australian organisation, which has taken an innovative approach to programme management, emphasising visibility, senior management support and leveraging participant enthusiasm, rather than an emphasis on definition and control. The success of this approach is examined through the interpretive framework of Complexity Theory.

► Early response to the issues of an ageing workforce can be positive driver for change.
► The programme management emphasis on control is not appropriate for all contexts.
► Programmes can be managed via a focus on communication and senior support.
► Projects that emerge from an organisation will be more locally aligned.
► Different kinds of complexity may require different approached to management.