IBM's Knowledge Management Proposal for the Ontario Ministry of Education

Kathryn Everest, the knowledge management consultant for IBM Canada Ltd.’s business consulting service, was preparing for a meeting with the province of Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Education. The purpose of the meeting was to secure top-level support for an early-stage knowledge management program at the ministry. For the past few weeks she had conducted an initial study of ministry needs and believed that the organization could benefit from one or more knowledge management solutions, including document management, communities of practice, and an expert directory. Everest wondered how she should approach the meeting, given that there seemed to be internal ministry concerns about knowledge-sharing. As she reviewed her notes, she wanted to know which solution(s) she should recommend and what implementation challenges she could expect to face.