Chapter 11 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT. Learning Objectives Define knowledge and describe the different types of knowledge Describe the characteristics of knowledge

Chapter 11

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Learning Objectives

• Define knowledge and describe the different types of knowledge

• Describe the characteristics of knowledge management

• Describe organizational learning and its relationship to knowledge management

• Describe the knowledge management cycle

• Describe the technologies that can be used in a knowledge management system

Learning Objectives

• Describe different approaches to knowledge management

• Describe the activities of the chief knowledge officer and others involved in knowledge management

• Describe the role of knowledge management in organizational activities

• Describe ways of evaluating intellectual capital in an organization

Learning Objectives

• Describe how KMS are implemented

• Describe the roles of technology, people, and management in knowledge management

• Describe the benefits and drawbacks of knowledge management initiatives

• Describe how knowledge management can revolutionize the way an organization functions

Introduction to Knowledge Management • Knowledge management concepts and

definitions – Knowledge management

The active management of the expertise in an organization. It involves collecting, categorizing, and disseminating knowledge

Introduction to Knowledge Management • Knowledge

Understanding, awareness, or familiarity acquired through education or experience. Anything that has been learned, perceived, discovered, inferred, or understood. The ability to use information. In a knowledge management system, knowledge is information in action

Introduction to Knowledge Management • Knowledge-based economy

The modern, global economy, which is driven by what people and organizations know rather than only by capital and labor

Introduction to Knowledge Management


– Characteristics of knowledge• Extraordinary leverage and increasing returns• Fragmentation, leakage, and the need to refresh• Uncertain value• Uncertain value of sharing

– Intellectual capital

The know-how of an organization. Intellectual capital often includes the knowledge that employees possess

Introduction to Knowledge Management • Explicit and tacit knowledge

– Explicit (leaky) knowledge

Knowledge that deals with objective, rational, and technical material (data, policies, procedures, software, documents, etc.)

– Tacit knowledge

Knowledge that is usually in the domain of subjective, cognitive, and experiential learning. It is highly personal and hard to formalize


– Knowledge management systems (KMS)

A system that facilitates knowledge management by ensuring knowledge flow from the person(s) who know to the person(s) who need to know throughout the organization; knowledge evolves and grows during the process

Organizational Learning and Transformation • Learning organization

An organization capable of learning from its past experience, implying the existence of an organizational memory and a means to save, represent, and share it through its personnel

• Organizational memory

That which an organization “knows”

Organizational Learning and Transformation • Organizational learning

The process of capturing knowledge and making it available enterprisewide – Learning skills include:

• Openness to new perspectives• Awareness of personal biases• Exposure to unfiltered data• A sense of humility

Organizational Learning and Transformation • Organizational culture

The aggregate attitudes in an organization concerning a certain issue (e.g., technology, computers, DSS)

Organizational Learning and Transformation

– Reasons people do not like to share knowledge:• General lack of time to share knowledge and time to identify

colleagues in need of specific knowledge• Apprehension or fear that sharing may reduce or jeopardize

people’s job security• Low awareness and realization of the value and benefit of

the knowledge others possess• Dominance in sharing explicit over tacit knowledge, such as

know-how and experience that requires hands-on learning, observation, dialogue, and interactive problem solving

• Use of a strong hierarchy, position-based status, and formal power


– Reasons people do not like to share knowledge:• Insufficient capture, evaluation, feedback,

communication, and tolerance of past mistakes that would enhance individual and organizational learning effects

• Differences in experience levels• Lack of contact time and interaction between

knowledge sources and recipients• Poor verbal/written communication and

interpersonal skills• Age differences• Gender differences


– Reasons people do not like to share knowledge:• Lack of a social network• Differences in education levels• Ownership of intellectual property due to fear of not

receiving just recognition and accreditation from managers and colleagues

• Lack of trust in people because they may misuse knowledge or take unjust credit for it

• Lack of trust in the accuracy and credibility of knowledge due to the source

• Differences in national culture or ethnic background and values and beliefs associated with it

Knowledge Management Activities

• Knowledge management initiatives and activities

1. Knowledge management initiatives have one of three aims:

2. To make knowledge visible, mainly through maps, yellow pages, and hypertext

3. To develop a knowledge-intensive culture

4. To build a knowledge infrastructure


• Knowledge creation is the generation of new insights, ideas, or routines

• Four modes of knowledge creation: – Socialization– Externalization– Internalization– Combination


• Knowledge sharing – Knowledge sharing is the willful explication of

one person’s ideas, insights, solutions, experiences to another individual either via an intermediary or directly

– In many organizations, information and knowledge are not considered organizational resources to be shared but individual competitive weapons to be kept private


• Knowledge seeking – Knowledge seeking (knowledge sourcing) is

the search for and use of internal organizational knowledge

– Lack of time or lack of reward may hinder the sharing of knowledge or knowledg seeking

Approaches to Knowledge Management • The process approach to knowledge

management – Process approach

The process approach to knowledge management attempts to codify organizational knowledge through formalized controls, processes and technologies

Approaches to Knowledge Management • The practice approach to knowledge

management – Practice approach

The practice approach toward knowledge management focuses on building the social environments or communities of practice necessary to facilitate the sharing of tacit understanding

Approaches to Knowledge Management • Hybrid approaches to knowledge

management – The practice approach is used so that a

repository stores only explicit knowledge that is relatively easy to document

– Tacit knowledge initially stored in the repository is contact information about experts and their areas of expertise

– Increasing the amount of tacit knowledge over time eventually leads to the attainment of a true process approach

Approaches to Knowledge Management • Best practices

In an organization, the best methods for solving problems. These are often stored in the knowledge repository of a knowledge management system

Approaches to Knowledge Management • Knowledge repository

The actual storage location of knowledge in a knowledge management system. Similar in nature to a database, but generally text-oriented

Approaches to Knowledge Management • Developing a knowledge repository

– Knowledge repositories are developed using several different storage mechanisms

– The most important aspects and difficult issues are making the contribution of knowledge relatively easy for the contributor and determining a good method for cataloging the knowledge

Information Technology (IT) in Knowledge Management • The KMS cycle

– KMS follows six steps in a cycle:1. Create knowledge

2. Capture knowledge

3. Refine knowledge

4. Store knowledge

5. Manage knowledge

6. Disseminate knowledge

Information Technology (IT) in Knowledge Management

Information Technology (IT) in Knowledge Management • Components of KMS

– KMS are developed using three sets of technologies: 1. Communication

2. Collaboration

3. Storage and retrieval.

Information Technology (IT) in Knowledge Management • Technologies that support knowledge

management – Artificial intelligence– Intelligent agents– Knowledge discovery in databases– Extensible Markup Language (XML)

Information Technology (IT) in Knowledge Management • Artificial intelligence

– AI methods used in KMS:• Assist in and enhance searching knowledge • Help establish knowledge profiles of individuals

and groups• Help determine the relative importance of

knowledge when it is contributed to and accessed from the knowledge repository


– AI methods used in KMS:• Scan e-mail, documents, and databases to perform

knowledge discovery, determine meaningful relationships, glean knowledge, or induce rules for expert systems

• Identify patterns in data (usually through neural networks)

• Forecast future results by using existing knowledge• Provide advice directly from knowledge by using

neural networks or expert systems• Provide a natural language or voice command–

driven user interface for a KMS


– Intelligent agents • Intelligent agents are software systems that learn

how users work and provide assistance in their daily tasks

• They are used to elicit and identify knowledge


– Knowledge discovery in databases (KDD)

A machine learning process that performs rule induction, or a related procedure to establish knowledge from large databases


– Knowledge discovery in databases• Model marts

Small, generally departmental repositories of knowledge created by employing knowledge-discovery techniques on past decision instances. Similar to data marts. Also see model warehouses

• Model warehouses

Large, generally enterprisewide repositories of knowledge created by employing knowledge-discovery techniques on past decision instances. Similar to data warehouses. Also see model marts



– Extensible Markup Language (XML) • XML enables standardized representations of data

structures so that data can be processed appropriately by heterogeneous systems without case-by-case programming

KMS Implementation

• Knowledge management products and vendors – Knowware

Technology tools that support knowledge management

KMS Implementation

– Software development companies and EIS vendors

• Collaborative computing tools • Knowledge servers • Enterprise knowledge portals (EKP)

An electronic doorway into a knowledge management system

KMS Implementation


• Electronic document management (EDM) A method for processing documents electronically, including capture, storage, retrieval, manipulation, and presentation

• Content management systems (CMS) An electronic document management system that produces dynamic versions of documents, and automatically maintains the current set for use at the enterprise level

KMS Implementation


• Knowledge harvesting tools • Search engines • Knowledge management suites

KMS Implementation

• Knowledge management products and vendors– Knowledge management consulting firms – Knowledge management ASPs

KMS Implementation

• Integration of KMS with other business information systems – With DSS/BI Systems – With AI – With databases and information systems – With CRM systems – With SCM systems – With corporate intranets and extranets

Roles of People in Knowledge Management • Chief knowledge officer (CKO)

The person in charge of a knowledge management effort in an organization

Roles of People in Knowledge Management

– The functions of the CKO include:• Set knowledge management strategic priorities.• Establish a knowledge repository of best practices.• Gain a commitment from senior executives to

support a learning environment.• Teach information seekers how to ask better and

smarter questions.• Establish a process for managing intellectual

assets.• Obtain customer satisfaction information in near

real-time.• Globalize knowledge management


– Skills required of a CKO include:• Interpersonal communication skills • Leadership skills • Business acumen• Strategic thinking• Collaboration skills• The ability to institute effective educational programs• An understanding of IT and its role in advancing

knowledge management


• The CEO, officers, and managers of the organization – The CEO is responsible for championing a

knowledge management effort – The officers make available the resources

needed to get the job done

Roles of People in Knowledge Management – Officers

• CFO ensures that the financial resources are available• COO ensures that people begin to embed knowledge

management practices into their daily work processes• CIO ensures IT resources are available

– Managers also support the knowledge management effort and provide access to sources of knowledge


• Community of practice

A group of people in an organization with a common professional interest, often self-organized for managing knowledge in a knowledge management system


• KMS developers – The team members who actually develop the

system

• KMS staff – Enterprisewide KMS require a full-time staff to

catalog and manage the knowledge

Ensuring the Success of Knowledge Management Efforts

• Success stories of knowledge management – Implementing a knowledge management

strategy can:• Reduce loss of intellectual capital • Reduce costs by decreasing the number of times the

company must repeatedly solve the same problem• Reduce redundancy of knowledge-based activities• Increase productivity• Increase employee satisfaction


• Useful applications of KMS – Finding experts electronically and using expert

location systems • Expert location systems

Interactive computerized systems that help employees find and connect with colleagues who have expertise required for specific problems—whether they are across the county or across the room—in order to solve specific, critical business problems in seconds


• Knowledge management valuation – Financial metrics for knowledge management

valuation • Focus knowledge management projects on specific

business problems that can be easily quantified• When the problems are solved, the value and

benefits of the system become apparent


• Knowledge management valuation – Nonfinancial metrics for knowledge

management valuation—new ways to view capital when evaluating intangibles:

• Customer goodwill• External relationship capital• Structural capital• Human capital• Social capital• Environmental capital


• Causes of knowledge management failure – The effort mainly relies on technology and does

not address whether the proposed system will meet the needs and objectives of the organization and its individuals

– Lack of commitment– Failure to provide reasonable incentive for

people to use the system


• Factors that lead to knowledge management success – A link to a firm’s economic value, to

demonstrate financial viability and maintain executive sponsorship

– A technical and organizational infrastructure on which to build

– A standard, flexible knowledge structure to match the way the organization performs work and uses knowledge


• Factors that lead to knowledge management success – A knowledge-friendly culture that leads directly

to user support– A clear purpose and language, to encourage

users to buy into the system– A change in motivational practices, to create a

culture of sharing– Multiple channels for knowledge transfer


• Factors that lead to knowledge management success – A level of process orientation to make a

knowledge management effort worthwhile– Nontrivial motivational methods to encourage

users to contribute and use knowledge– Senior management support


• Potential drawbacks of KMS – Failing to pick up the signals in the environment

that might have suggested a change in strategy or product focus

– Neglecting the creative process of new knowledge creation—applying yesterday’s solutions to tomorrow’s problems

Documents

Chapter 11 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT. Learning Objectives Define knowledge and describe the different types of knowledge Describe the characteristics of knowledge