Knowledge Management: The Missing Element in Business Continuity Planning

Abstract

This chapter provides a new perspective for Knowledge Management applications within organizations. The relevance of knowledge management components in disaster planning has been underscored by the large-scale terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The objective of the chapter is to provide a different perspective on the risk management category of business continuity planning or disaster recovery. Specifically, the authors show how most plans ignore or downplay the essential requirement for the organization to preserve its critical knowledge resources in the event the possessors of that knowledge are killed. Most proponents of Knowledge Management have neglected this important facet of the field. At the same time, the risk management and disaster recovery fields have ignored the important contributions of Knowledge Management to a viable business continuity plan.