Managing knowledge in an international organisation: the work of Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO)
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09565690410566783 |
| Date | 01 December 2004 |
| Published date | 01 December 2004 |
| Pages | 124-128 |
| Author | Jenny Gilmour,Marie Stancliffe |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Managing knowledge in
an international
organisation: the work
of Voluntary Services
Overseas (VSO)
Jenny Gilmour and Marie Stancliffe
The authors
Jenny Gilmour is Learning and Information Centre Manager
and Marie Stancliffe is Information and Learning Officer, both
with Voluntary Services Overseas, London, UK.
Keywords
Voluntary organizations, Globalization, Knowledge management
Abstract
Purpose
. Reflects on the work of Voluntary Services Overseas
(VSO) and explains why knowledge is the organisations key
asset. Informs the reader of the role of knowledge management
in international development and explains the benefits of taking
a more strategic approach.
Approach
. The approach taken was
to investigate the opportunities, challenges and solutions that
the change in VSO’s strategic direction has brought to the
organisation and how this impacts on information and
knowledge management practices. Discusses the impact of
internationalisation and the new challenges this brings in terms
of developing systems, which meet the diverse needs of VSO’s
stakeholders.
Finding
. Highlights the importance of knowledge
management to VSO and identifies some of the possible
solutions to help support the organisation. At the moment VSO
has written a draft knowledge management strategy and begun
a knowledge-mapping exercise. Once this process has been
completed then VSO will have a much clearer vision of priorities
and specific areas of work.
Value
. Provides an overview of the
importance of knowledge to the organisation VSO. Recognises
not only that knowledge management is for the corporate
environment, but also that it adds value to the charity sector and
in particular has a role to play in international development.
Other key players within the international development arena
also recognise its importance and have done a lot of work in this
area. Provides a snapshot of how VSO has initiated a process for
developing a knowledge management strategy based on
organisational needs and a very complex change.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0956-5698.htm
VSO background
Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) has gone
through a gradual yet decisive transition from
being a UK-based volunteer agency to becoming
an international development agency. This was
recognised in the Charity Awards on 17 June this
year when VSO was voted top international
development charity in the International Aid and
Development category, for its work in promoting
innovative approaches to globalising volunteering.
Mark Goldring, chief executive of VSO said:
This award is a powerful tribute to our work in all
countries and an important contribution to raising
public awareness of development issues. We are
delighted to accept the award on behalf of all our
volunteers and partners sharing their skills
wherever they are needed (VSO, 2004).
This award is a strong endorsement of the strategic
approach that VSO has been taking to diversify its
work and volunteer base over the last few years.
VSO’s (2002) strategic plan, Focus for Change,
published in 2002, provides a very clear vision for
staff and volunteers worldwide and a framework
for future planning. It places people at the centre of
VSO’s work, which is essentially about sharing
skills and knowledge in order to fight global
poverty and disadvantage. VSO has an individual
people-to- people approach to development.
Instead of sending food or money, VSO sends
people from a wide range of professions who want
the chance to make a real difference in the fight
against poverty. These volunteers work in
partnership with colleagues and communities to
share skills and learning and jointly achieve
change. VSO’s three specified approaches are
empowerment, partnership and commitment to
learning. These three approaches all require
knowledge: people are empowered through
knowledge, VSO facilitates knowledge sharing and
learning; VSO creates partnerships through
participatory workshops, building networks and
sharing knowledge and skills; commitment to
learning is central to all areas of VSO’s work. From
this brief strategic analysis it is evident that
knowledge is the primary asset of VSO and
underpins organisational activities. A VSO
volunteer working in Sri Lanka, wrote in a recent
discussion paper:
Knowledge is VSO’s most important asset. VSO’s
mission could well be Adding knowledge to the
development sector (Kruytzer, 2004).
If this statement is considered to be true then VSO
needs to evaluate the opportunities that this
provides the organisation in terms of its
development. It also needs to recognise and be
prepared for the challenges faced in areas of
information and knowledge management in order
Records Management Journal
Volume 14 · Number 3 · 2004 · pp.124-128
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/09565690410566783
124
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