Matt Moore posted this in the SIKM Leaders newsgroup on Yahoo, and I found it very useful to help think about the governance structures we use. This could apply to SharePoint governance as well as KM or other systems and frameworks…
From http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/sikmleaders/ on 5/26/09:
KM governance issues often remind me of political models:
- Are we China? [Top-down control with minimal accountability and heavy sanctions for disagreement]
- Are we the UK? [Centralized governance model with some accountability]
- Are we the US? [Demarcated split between "Federal" and "State" control]
- Are we Switzerland? [Most of the power lies in the regions with a relatively weak central government]
Of course, many organisations might be uncomfortable with these analogies.
Matt Moore