Understanding and Relevance of Knowledge Management in Educational Institution

Prof. Madya Dr Adnan JamaludinAlwi Mohd Yunus

Faculty of Information StudiesUniversiti Teknologi MARA

introduction

Concepts of knowledge and knowledge management

Definitions of knowledge management Benefits of knowledge management Sources of knowledge in the application of

km Relevance of km in educational environment Organizing the explicit knowledge Mapping the tacit knowledge Creating the tacit knowledge Roles and functions of K-Manager

Concept of knowledge

Managing knowledge is of crucial activities in organization

Managing knowledge for decision making and competition

Continuous learning and learning organization

Knowledge driven economy

Concept of knowledge Librarians have been known in the activity

of managing knowledge Knowledge is categorized into:

– Explicit and tacit Explicit knowledge:

– Books– Journals– reports – other forms of knowledge mediums

Tacit knowledge:– Ideas– Skills– Experience– Lesson learnt– Values

Tacit knowledge

resides in human such as experience and know-how

context sensitive, dynamic, experienced or know-how based

subjective or intuitive, informal, highly personal, and not easy to formalize

tacit knowledge is not easy to communicate to others

Explicit knowledge

in the form of documents, manuals, procedures, databases, books, reports

either in print or electronic formats

formal and systematic easily communicated and

shared

Definition of Knowledge Management the broad process of locating,

organizing, transferring, and using the information and expertise within an organization [American Productivity & Quality Center, 1998]

a conscious strategy of getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time and helping people share and put information into action in ways that strive to improve organizational performance [O’Dell & Grayson, 1998, p.6].

Definition of Knowledge Management

a discipline that promotes an integrated and collaborative approach to the process of information asset creation, capture, organization, access and use. In this context, information assets should include databases, documents, and the most important assets are the tacit expertise and experience contained in individual workers. [Blair, 1998]

Definition of Knowledge Management Knowledge management is a

recognition to share knowledge and as such it focuses on managing information by getting the right information to the people who need it and take action from it. [Gates, 1999]

knowledge management as an approach that addresses the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival and competence in the face of discontinuous environmental change. [Davenport & Prusak, 1998].

Concept of Knowledge Management good information management

approach (because of the major activities are information management) with added focus on the creation, sharing and utilization of information and knowledge supported by the application of information technology to facilitate the creation, utilization and sharing of both tacit and explicit knowledge

Concept of Knowledge Management

KM

people process

technology

Benefits of knowledge ManagementBetter knowledge sharing among teachers-experts and studentsCollaboration for research and developmentSpeedier and accurate decision making processAvoid reinventing the wheel-daily operation, conducting classes, updating course and subject contents, preparing the examination questions and teaching modulesMore soft ideas can be turned into explicit and shared with othersRecognized huge potential of its staffs and resources and use its various sources for teaching and learning

Sources of knowledge in organization

Best practicesCorporate MemoryCorporate Data WarehouseCorporate DatabasesCommunities of PracticesCurrent operationsInnovation and Generation of New KnowledgeExternal Information

TACIT

EXPLICIT

Knowledge Portal

KM In Educational Institution

LEVEL IKnowledge Portal

LEVEL 2Expert

Yellowpages

LEVEL 3Best

Practices/Ideas/Case

Studies

TACIT /EXPLICI

T

Lecturer’s/Teacher’s ProfileQuestion/Examination BankTeaching PortfolioResource PersonsResearchColloquiumSpecial Interest GroupsMinutes of MeetingsHandbooksPamphlets/BrochuresCurriculumsKeynotes/Lecture NotesSeminar Paper/ProceedingsLibrary/Resource Center CollectionsProceduresJottings and personal journals

Organizing Explicit Knowledge

•gathering all relevant explicit knowledge into a place•done through the establishment of KM portals where knowledge workers can access and utilize•potential sources - procedures, examination/question banks, teaching portfolios, etc. that would be point of references

Mapping Tacit Knowledge

•creating some kind of indexes or pointer to the tacit knowledge•indexes function like a road map that can lead the person to the location of the tacit knowledge i.e. the experts•Potential sources - list of experts such as resource persons and special interest groups.

Creating Tacit Knowledge

•creating a place where knowledge workers can create knowledge based on their experiences that they have gone through•potential sources that are suitable for this level would be the personal journals and jottings

Roles and Functions of CKO•Championing •Educating users and management team•Measuring impacts of KM •Mapping existing knowledge •Defragmenting scattered knowledge•Creating technology channels•Supporting IT and eliminating knowledge flow gaps•Create sharing culture•Identify knowledge gaps•Develop and expand community of practices (CoP) and support group work•Diffusing best practices•Training•Structuring process•Removing knowledge sharing barriers•Aligning local knowledge•Creating process triggers

Conclusion

KM is here to stay whether we like it or not

Academic institutions are in dire state of needs for KM due to the fact that more knowledge workers are needed in support of the development of Malaysian K-economy

Acquiring and applying knowledge lie in the people (knowledge workers)

We are the knowledge workers

Thank you very much for joining us in this KM journey

Alwi Mohd Yunus