The Competitive Edge of Knowledge

In today’s dynamic business climate, organizations can no longer afford to treat knowledge as an afterthought. The ability to effectively manage internal knowledge has emerged as a defining advantage—one that can drive speed, innovation and resilience across the enterprise.

Whether onboarding new talent, scaling operations or navigating regulatory landscapes, businesses need dependable access to the knowledge that powers decisions. A Knowledge Management System (KMS) offers just that—a framework for capturing and sharing institutional insight that might otherwise be lost in inboxes, retirements or hallway conversations.

Making the Case for Knowledge Management

APQC research shows that 20% of employees’ time is spent searching, duplicating and recreating information to do their jobs. This is equivalent to 8 hours per week or 32 hours per month. This wasted effort slows decision-making and drives inefficiency at scale. By organizing institutional knowledge into structured, searchable formats, a KMS reduces friction in everyday workflows.

Industries like supply chain, technology and healthcare—where complexity is the norm—have much to gain from robust knowledge strategies. From compliance requirements to global coordination, a centralized KMS turns scattered expertise into business value.

What a Modern KMS Looks Like

The most effective KMSs go far beyond basic document libraries. When properly designed, they integrate seamlessly with existing workflows and provide:

• Searchable knowledge bases with filters and tagging
• Version control and access permissions for governance
• Analytics and reporting to identify content gaps and measure success

Technology is only one piece of the puzzle. Governance—clear ownership, content standards and regular reviews—is what turns a repository into a trusted operational tool.

Use Case: Enhancing a Client’s Supply Chain Knowledge Management

A leading quick service restaurant’s supply chain department aimed to increase visibility into its business processes and collaborated with Frazier & Deeter to implement a customized Knowledge Management solution. We faced two major obstacles in transforming supply chains: decentralized storage of critical information and a lack of current state documentation. Using SharePoint as the platform to move forward, we introduced SCORE (Supply Chain Operational Resource Exchange) as a content management system designed to enable knowledge flow for both historical records and critical end-to-end supply chain process information.

Restaurant ordering, demand to supply and procure to pay are examples of processes that we needed to understand and manage end to end. These processes include critical content types such as pain points, tools, final process flows, SOPS and templates that enable the work. This resulted in a centralized content management site serving as a single source of truth for all business process information.

The site contains both tacit and explicit knowledge, ensuring consistency and clarity in the team’s operations. Rather than depending on informal knowledge or email chains, employees now have a single source for process guidance, historical data and daily documentation. This has led to more efficient onboarding, better cross-functional alignment and quicker execution across projects.

Our Approach

We tackled this solution in three clear phases to make sure we were building something meaningful, sustainable and aligned with their goals:

Laying the Foundation

We started by setting the groundwork—defining the strategic framework, building the business case, aligning on key performance indicators (KPIs) and mapping out the project roadmap. We also assessed how ready the organization was for change and captured a baseline to measure progress.

Building the Frame

With the foundation in place, we moved on to shaping the structure. This included cataloging content, setting access permissions, establishing governance and identifying any gaps in how knowledge flows. We also worked closely with stakeholders to make sure everyone was aligned.

Transformation

Finally, we focused on bringing the solution to life. This meant managing the development and implementation, testing the system, planning the launch and making sure communication and enablement were in place. We’re also tracking success metrics and supporting adoption to ensure long-term impact.

Throughout it all, Change Stewardship has been a guiding thread—helping us manage transitions thoughtfully and keep people at the center of the process.

Implementation: Key Lessons Learned

Successful implementation of enterprise systems like SharePoint requires strategic focus in areas such as defining knowledge strategy, gaining stakeholder buy-in, starting with pilots, designing user-friendly interfaces and managing change through training and communication.

Benefits of SharePoint

• Efficient Document Management: Features like version control, document libraries and metadata tagging support governance and organization.
• Collaboration: Integrated workflows and sharing capabilities enhance team collaboration.
• Integration: SharePoint works well with Microsoft tools like Outlook and Teams, enabling direct interaction with content owners.

Challenges and Opportunities

• Limited Library-Level Metrics: Site-wide analytics make it difficult to track library-specific performance. Key metrics like site views, unique visitors and audit scores help bridge this gap.
• Manual Data Efforts: Exporting and sorting traffic data manually is time-consuming and prone to errors.
• Metrics Duration: SharePoint tracks content popularity in 7-day increments but lacks historical data. A workaround involves weekly exports to capture trends over time.

Choosing the right platform for content management depends on understanding your site’s structure and data needs. Despite its limitations, SharePoint offers valuable functionalities for efficient document management, collaboration and provided success metrics are thoughtfully defined and tracked.

Conclusion: Turning Insight into Impact

Organizations that manage their knowledge with purpose are more agile, more aligned and more competitive. A well-executed Knowledge Management System is more than a cost-saver—it’s an accelerator.

Knowledge is power. Managing it is progress.

Don’t let valuable knowledge get lost. Discover how we can help you build a system that keeps your team aligned and your business moving faster.

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