Learning /Knowledge Management

Technology ManagementActivities and Tools

Contents

Learning organization Knowledge management Practices of knowledge management

DISCUSS:

Why is it important to become a learning organization?

What do you do to manage knowledge?

Managerial tasks Planning Organizing Leading Control

Innovations - learning cycle( 80% of improvements came from the

human side not from automation Failures in IT or ERP applications

are based on human factors )

Learning capability(Source: Boerner, Macher and Teece, 2001)

The ability of an organisation to learn, adapt, change and renew itself over time:

1) Managerial and organisations processes refer essentially to how things get done in firms;

2) The strategic position of a firm pertains to its current endowment of technology and IP as well as its customer base and upstream relations with suppliers; and

3) Paths are available to a firm.

Knowledge management

Definition: An approach to adding and creating value

by more actively leveraging know-how, experience, and judgment resident within and, in many cases, outside of an organization

Human resources Recruiting the right people Stimulating them to internalize the

information knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for success

Creating systematic technological and organizational structures to capture, focus and leverage intellect

Demanding and rewarding top performance from all players

Individual learning

Process Non-linear Cumulative Need of communication and

interaction

From individual to organizational learning - some definitions

Learning institution/organization/ knowledge-creating company is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behaviour to reflect new knowledge and insights.

Characteristics of organizational learning

It is cumulative. Not simply the sum of the absorptive

capacities of its employees. The structure of communication between

the external environment and the organization + among the subunits of the organization + the character and distribution of expertise within the organization.

Categories of learning in the innovation literature (Source: Boerner et al., 2001)

Type of learning Locus Innovative focus

Learning-by-doing Internal to the firm Production activities

Learning-by-searching Primarily internal to the firm Commercial focus mainly R&D related

Scientific learning Internal and external to the firm

Absorption of new scientific and technological knowledge

Learning-by-using Internal to the firm Use of products and inputs

Spillover learning External to the firm Absorbing external knowledge and imitating the practices of rivals

4 basic patterns for creating knowledge in any organization(Source: Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995)

From tacit to tacit (socialization) From explicit to explicit (articulation) From tacit to explicit (combination) From explicit to tacit (internalization)

Knowledge is changed both by learning and by forgetting.

The flows of learning, remembering, and forgetting and the selection mechanism are all shaped by institutional factors.

DISCUSS

Trade-off between diversity and commonality of knowledge across individuals.

Trade-off between Inward-looking versus outward-looking learning capacities.

Some approaches in structuring institutional learning

For effective implementation of learning organization: Meaning, management and measurement needs to be clarified!!!!

Creating systems and processes that support: Systematic problem solving Experimentation with new approaches Learning from their own experience and

past history Learning from the experiences and best

practices of others Transferring knowledge quickly and

efficiently throughout the organization.

Measurement

Learning curves/ Experience curves

Half-life curve

Be aware:

Learning organizations are not built overnight. So, try to:

• foster an environment that is conducive to learning.

• open up boundaries and stimulate the exchange of ideas.

Learning Processes

1 building learning/KM enablers

2 building and utilizing networks

3 becoming a learning organization

Knowledge ManagementIn Practice

Knowledge Processes

Generating new knowledge Accessing valuable knowledge from outside Using accessible knowledge in decision making Embedding knowledge in processes, products and

services Representing knowledge in documents, databases, and

software Facilitating knowledge growth through culture and

incentives Transferring existing knowledge into other parts of the

organization Measuring the impact of knowledge management

Popular KM Projects Creating an intranet

• To support knowledge access and exchange within the organization

Data Warehousing/Knowledge Repositories• To capture explicit, codified info wrapped in varying levels of

the context• To contribute to the maintenance of the firm’s shared

intelligence and organizational memory.

Implementing Decision-Support Tools• To improve the ability of employees to make decisions• Codified best practices

Groupware to support collaboration• To encourage the sharing of ideas in a much more free-flowing

manner.• To facilitate knowledge generation and transfer

A recent study on TM (Source: Armbrecht et al., 2001)1. Instill Goals and Strategies Balanced Scorecard Regular Reinforcement Integrated Developmental Business Organisation

2. Enhance Access to Tacit Knowledge Expertise/Skills Database Communities of Practice New-pot-of-coffee Alert Project Team/Group Seminar Moderated Discussion Groups Collaboration Tools “Inverse” Poster Presentations Mind Mapping

3. Provide “Search and Retrieval” Tools Portals Web-searching Taxonomy- Standardized information

classification and indexing scheme. Technology Yellow Pages Personalisation Data and Textual Archives Desktop Library

4. Promote Creativity IP Analysis Website Analysis Creativity Rooms Data Mining Outside Intervention

5. Capture New Learning Team Learning Through Project Execution Know-how Web Sites/KM Web Site Project Process Debriefing E-Notebooks Learning Centre of Excellence6. Provide Supportive Culture Eliminate “Silos” Management Support Sharing Culture Employee Orientation/Tours/”Link” Person or Mentor

LearningIdentification

Create/acquireknowledge

Transfer knowledgeReuse knowledge

Protection:IP portfolio

Output

Acquisition

Exploitation

Selection

NetworksLearning enablers:

IT infrastructureLearning

organisation

Knowledge maps, Culture, Teams