Business Patterns for Knowledge audit implementation

In the last decades, Knowledge Management has gained momentum as an important tool for competitiveness of organizations. A number of Knowledge Management approaches are described in the literature. Some authors focus in particular on the importance of Knowledge Audit, first, as a start point for any Knowledge Management initiative, and second, as a regular base for the measurement of Knowledge Management progress and effectiveness. Knowledge Audit aims to investigate the company status at a given moment regarding the knowledge availability and needs, its flow and usage in processes, by employees, etc. The present paper aims to introduce business patterns for the implementation of Knowledge Audit. These patterns describe the process of taking decisions for Knowledge Management implementation and the first step toward it – auditing knowledge. After an overview of the concept, objectives and results of Knowledge Audit, some practical recommendations for successful Knowledge Audit practice are suggested and a systematized approach for the Knowledge Audit process is presented.