CLEVER: a process framework for knowledge lifecycle management

The aim of this paper is to introduce the CLEVER process framework for knowledge lifecycle management (KLM), which was developed to help organisations in the manufacturing and construction domains tackle ill‐defined knowledge management problems. Focussing on organisational and cultural issues, rather than technological ones, the framework aids the user organisation to translate vague KLM problems into a set of specific knowledge management issues, to identify preferred solutions for these, and then to identify the appropriate KLM processes to achieve these solutions. In this respect, the paper is an extension of the work of Boisot, and Davenport and Prusak although the origins are different. The paper begins with the background and aims of the project on which this research is based and moves on to a discussion on the importance of knowledge management and its relevance to the CLEVER framework. An overview of the framework, describing its four‐stage structure is provided which details examples of how to apply each of the separate stages. The final section summarises the limits of the tool and proposes new areas where further research is required.