THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Abstract

A review of the knowledge management experiences of BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Paragon Engineering Services, BHP, Marathon Oil, and Murphy Oil identified two major types of knowledge management practices: applications of information and communications technology to the management of explicit knowledge and the use of person-to-person knowledge management techniques to facilitate the transfer of tacit knowledge. The study pointed to the challenges of converting tacit into explicit knowledge and the importance of knowledge management initiatives that combined the enthusiasm of bottom-up initiatives with strong top-down support from senior management.