EASYUNI Ultimate University Guide 2013 Issue 6 | Page 23

CO U R S E S & C A REERS

QA
&

Naguib Chowdhury is from Bangladesh
and got both his BA and MSc degrees
in Malaysia. He works in the relatively
unknown and mysterious field of
knowledge and innovation management
for over 10 years across Malaysia and
Saudi Arabia. Naguib takes time to
share with us his passion for knowledge
management (KM) and how to become a
rock-star KM specialist!

Naguib,
Q Hi, intime tothankstofor taking
the
talk us. You’ve
worked the knowledge management
field for over 10 years, so for the
sake of our readers, perhaps you can
start by describing what knowledge
management (KM) is and what a KM
specialist does?

Knowledge management is aimed to improve all
processes in the company by capturing relevant
knowledge of the organisation, sharing it with
everyone and creating new knowledge from the lessons
learnt in various projects and operational activities.

A

The role of a knowledge management specialist varies –
from the development of a knowledge strategy to change
management, right up to the implementation of the
strategy. KM specialists may also be involved in designing
the KM system platform (basically to identify user needs and
advice on the user interface), develop internal and external
networks and manage the entire KM processes.

Sounds like a lot of planning
Q as dealing with people. How asand
project management work,
well
then

I see. Can
share
us how
Q and whatyouworkingwiththe KM
you started
in
field
factors influenced your
career choice?

I was doing my undergraduate internship with
Petronas in 2001 when I got to know about KM for
the first time. I found the field fascinating as it dealt
with people’s inner knowledge, known technically as “tacit”
knowledge.

A

I learned then that KM is not singular in its focus and
consist of many “fields” or expertise. KM requires lots of
human collaboration, understanding human behaviour
and influencing change in an organisation by raising its
knowledge capabilities – where such efforts usually deal
with strategy, operations, business processes, HR, IT, etc.
This wide focus was very interesting to me as it presented
unlimited personal growth for me.

Looking back at the past 10 years
of your life, what would you say
are your biggest achievements?

Q

Over the last 10 years, I’ve had the pleasure of
meeting and working with some of the most
fantastic people who are equally enthusiastic,
passionate and capable of changing lives. Growing my
career through learning and being exposed to various
industries, as well as establishing a programme for
innovation in my current organisation would be what I’m
most proud of.

A

would you describe the ideal character
or personality suitable for a KM role?

you
to
Q What advice wouldwant givestart a
young people who
to
career in KM?

The ideal person must be very versatile – be
comfortable in understanding and managing all
things technical, while being able to manage key
relationships in an organisation to affect ongoing positive
change. It helps that the person has great interpersonal skills
to build networks and rapport across all levels.

Stay updated with current and future trends and
learn to understand what the data means. Reading
and learning from organisational case studies to gain
insights into a company’s operations and performance is
useful too. Another critical thing is to start developing great
interpersonal skills.

A

A

easyuni Guide 2015

Issue 6

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