Read an article today, and wish to share it again here.  It talks about Learning Lag.  It is quite true for this kind of issues in business.  This probably is an area where knowledge management can be well applied, isn't it?

Here are some extracts of the original article by Wang Yuke on ChinaDaily.com.cn updated on 2017-03-10 08:01:

• It's a matter of what can be done and what needs to be done. Industry is raising its voice about the growing mismatch between on-the-job demands and the abilities of today's graduates.
• A source of enduring perplexity among the drivers of the Hong Kong economy is the questions: Why does local education persist in training for tomorrow and what was needed yesterday?
• There is a mismatch between the skills needed by commerce and those of graduates. Some experts contend the solution lies in better communication between those in the ivory towers and those wielding the pointy end of the stick in business.
• There's a lag of about nine months before each new trainee can work effectively.  It was costly, a waste of human resources and a liability for profit-making companies.
• In technology, of course, things change so fast that trying to get a clear picture of what's next is like being spun on a merry-go-round. There are changing demands and skill sets. New skills come, old ones fade away. Every field has a different set of demands and those demands change quickly and often. It fell to universities and other institutions to keep abreast of the changes so that students made the smooth transition from higher education to the workforce, said Mondejar - a belief echoed by many others.
• the competencies to identify problems and solve them, to learn and to transfer knowledge, are the goal of education - as well as other soft skills like adaptability, flexibility and communication skills.
• employers' obsession with profits and a disinterest in the essential nature of learning. "Universities are not institutions for helping business make money. Businesses would prefer that universities use public money to prepare students for their businesses," he said.
• "In this age when market demands change fast and so do skill requirements, the types of talents we value today are those who can pick up new professional skills in a short time and make quick responses when problems arise,"
• Variability is even more marked in SMEs because they can frequently veer from one niche market to another, Lai stressed. "So, companies are responsible for skills training, rather than schools."

These are exactly the kind of issues falling in the area of Knowledge Management.  KMP has been established exactly for this reason - to bridge the gap between learning and real life - the Learning Lag.  That's why we have the slogan: - a platform to build your capacity by experimenting and experiencing.  However, we are also learning how to do that too.  In the dream of the author, KMP will become a travel agency, providing different tour groups for different candidates.  Learning on-the-way by exploring, by experimenting, and by experiencing had always been how business people have been working.  By facilitating such experimenting opportunities, it will not just be a classroom type learning or listening, but experiencing in a environment of reality in business.  This will be the best way for tacit knowledge learning.

The original article can be found at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2017-03/10/content_28502241.htm.