This is the logo for an organization that myself and five other classmates formed. We will be working with local YMCA units in the Hampton Roads area to examine their knowledge transfer practices in relation to service-to-market efficience and customer intamacy. We will then make recommendations that, if implemented, have the potential to spread to 2500 locations nationally, which could affect 18.9 million people in 10000 communities.

What we will do is interview the directors of three local YMCA units and administer a diagnostic tool called, "KMAT," to determine if their units are sharing vital information such as "best" practices. If there are opportunities for an increased transfer of knowlege, we will make explicit recommendations that will be geared toward increasing customer intamacy, that is, improve customer relationships that will yield retention, higher cross-selling, more involvement, and more volunteerism. Since YMCA has so many units, even a small increase can have a major organizational impact. For example, if one of our solutions...

... Saves $1,000 locally then total savings can climb to $250,000

... Increases local volunteerism by 10%, YMCA can increase national volunteerism by 10,000

It is all very interesting! However, all we get out of the deal is some experience and a good grade (hopefully). I am in a class called Knowlede Management. Essentially, knowledge management (KM) is about leveraging an organization's infinite assets to gain competitive advantage by increasing productivity, innovation, and creative output. This is just one of the projects in which I am currently engaged. College is fun.