Chun Wei Choo

Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto

http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca

Knowledge Management andThe Knowing Organization

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

2

2 Views of Knowledge in Organizations

Knowledge as Resource

Knowledge resides in physical objects

Meaning is as represented in the object

Acquiring knowledge = finding right knowledge objects

Knowledge as Process

Knowledge resides in people’s minds

Meaning is constructed through thoughts, actions, feelings

Creating knowledge = creating ways of knowing and doing

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

3

The Knowing Organization

SENSEMAKING

KNOWLEDGE CREATION

DECISION MAKING

From In

formatio

n to K

nowledge

From In

tention to

Actio

n

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

4

Our Learning Agenda

What is knowledge in organizations?

How do organizations create knowledge?

What is knowledge management?

How can an organization better manage the knowledge it has?

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

5

Categories of Organizational Knowledge

Tacit knowledge

Explicit knowledge

Cultural knowledge

Knowledge that has been codified or made tangible, and can therefore be easily communicated or diffused.

Explicit knowledge may be object-based or rule-based.

The implicit knowledge used by organizational members to perform their work and to make sense of their worlds.

Tacit knowledge is hard to verbalize because it is expressed through action-based skills and cannot be reduced to rules and recipes.

The shared assumptions and beliefs about an organization’s goals, capabilities, customers, and competitors.

These beliefs are used to assign value and significance to new information and knowledge.

The more tightly integrated the three forms of knowledge,

the more unique the organizational advantage.

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

6

Knowledge Conversion (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995)

Explicit

Explicit

Tacit

Tacit

Watching it, then doing it

Doing it, then describing it Finding it, then combining it

Using it, then believing it

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

7

Knowledge Conversion Case(Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995)

Explicit

Explicit

Tacit

Tacit

How to make tasty bread?

What is “twisting stretch”? How to design a viable product?

What can Matsushita do?

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

8

What is KM?

Values

Strategy

Roles

Structures

Process

Practice

Tools

Platforms

Knowledge Management

is a framework

for designing an organization’s

goals, structures, and processes

so that the organization

can use what it knows

to learn and to create value

for its customers and community.

Knowledge Creation

Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge Utilization

Tacit Knowledge

Explicit Knowledge

Cultural Knowledge

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

9

KM

Framework Knowledge Creation

Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge Use

Values

Strategy

Roles

Structures

Process

Practice

Tools

Platforms

• Why is knowledge IMPORTANT to us?

• What KNOWLEDGE do we have and need?

• What is our CULTURE?

• Who will LEAD?

• Who will IMPLEMENT?

• How do we ORGANIZE?

• How will we SHARE knowledge?

• How will we put knowledge to USE?

• How will we CREATE new knowledge?

• How can IT help?

• How do we MANAGE INFORMATION?

• How do we improve COMMUNICATIONS?

Tacit Knowledge

Explicit Knowledge

Cultural Knowledge

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

10

Values & Strategy: Knowledge to Value

Add Value(Knowledge about Customers)

Create New Value(Knowledge about Market)

Reduce Costs(Knowledge about Processes)

Reduce Uncertainty(Knowledge about Environment)

4 basic ways to leverage knowledge and information to create organizational value.Most organizations combine all 4 approaches.

(Marchand and Rayport 2000)

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

11

Values & Strategy (2)

Cost Reduction

Reuse Knowledge,Lessons Learned

Speed

Reuse of KM Know-how

Rebranding &Differentiation

Improved Qualityof Knowledge

Chevron HPConsulting

Siemens WorldBank

XeroxIBM

GlobalServices

BuckmanLabs

++

++ ++

++

++Innovation

++

++

++ ++ ++ ++

++

++

++

++

++

++

++

++

++++

APQC (2000)

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

12

KM Results

• In 1998, BP “brought $260M to the bottom line - documented savings attributed to KM - plus $400M more likely but not yet booked”

• Buckman Labs increased its new-product sales by 50%• Dow Chemical Co saved $40M a year in the re-use of

patents• Ford Motor Co saved more than $600M in the past 3

years• HP reduced its cost per call by 50%• Rank Xerox reduced its dispatches by15%• Roche sends out its products for FDA approval 6 months

earlier

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

13

Roles & Structures

LEARNING

“I am responsible for learning”

MentorsCoaches

SHARING

“Our knowledge grows when it

flows”

Functional TeamsCommunities

Boundary Spanners

LEADING

“The organization benefits from our

knowledge”

ChampionsEvangelists

Steering CommitteesRoles

Structures

Beliefs

Behaviours

Individual Team Organization

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

14

Process & Practice: Knowledge Creating Cycle

• Identify, extract knowledge from primary sources

project files, proposals, presentations, email, interviews

• Edit, refine “raw knowledge” into “processed knowledge”

best practices, lessons learned, case studies

• Organize processed knowledge and making it accessible

create a structure for classifying knowledge

• Packaging, publishing, disseminating knowledge

paper, online, Intranet, pathfinders, knowledge portals

• Manage the whole cycle, design the information architecture

architecture for organizing, publishing, navigating information

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

15

Process & Practice: Structured KM Process

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

16

KM Example: Eureka

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

17

KM Example: Eureka

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

18

Eureka Screen

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

19

KM Example: Eureka

Eureka Status

• Fully deployed in France (1995), Canada (1996)

• Officially deployed in US (1998)

• 15,000 customer service technicians are active users

• More than 15,000 tips in database

• 10% reduction in service time and parts used

• Fewer long/broken calls

• Increased customer satisfaction

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

20

KM Framework

(Eureka) Knowledge Creation

Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge Use

Values

Strategy

Roles

Structures

Process

Practice

Tools

Platforms

• “Each technician should carry knowledge of 20,000 colleagues into every service call”

• “We take pride in solving hard problems” “We want to talk about our solutions”

• Community of Practice: “Eureka built on something technicians did naturally” “They share because they trust it will be reciprocal”

• Authors, Validators, Editors, Evangelists

• Tip authoring, voting, validation, codification

• Peer recognition

• “Eureka is a way of creating a conversation among 25,000 people”

• Laptops, standalone application

• Tips knowledge base, search engine

• Data-mining the Eureka database

Tacit Knowledge

Explicit Knowledge

Cultural Knowledge

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

21

KM

Framework Knowledge Creation

Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge Use

Values

Strategy

Roles

Structures

Process

Practice

Tools

Platforms

• Understand how knowledge creates value for the organization

• Link knowledge sharing/use to organizational values

• Define roles and responsibilities for

leadership, coordination, implementation

• Develop group/team structures that promote

knowledge sharing and learning

• Deliberately structure a process to identify, codify, and disseminate knowledge

• Encourage knowledge sharing and learning to occur naturally as part of work practice

• Select tools that support tacit, explicit, and cultural knowledge

• Build platforms that integrate knowledge creation, sharing, and use

Tacit Knowledge

Explicit Knowledge

Cultural Knowledge

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

22

Sensemaking

SENSEMAKING

Beliefs

Enactments Interpretations

Belief: Customer service is importantBest way is to “follow the manual”Build expert system to support “directive repair.”

Enactment: Accompany technicians on their service calls

Interpretation: Technicians solve tough, undocumented problemsNew knowledge is valuable, should be shared“The community IS the expert system.”

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

23

Knowledge Creation

KNOWLEDGE CREATING

Culturalknowledge

Tacitknowledge

Explicitknowledge

Tacit: Insights and intuitions of technicians, validators

Explicit: Tips and pending tips in knowledge base

Cultural: Technicians form a natural community of practiceNorms of peer recognition, trust, cooperation

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

24

Decision Making

DECISION MAKING

Premises

Routines Rules

Premises: Cost reduction; control; consistency

Rules: Technicians should use centrally produced documentation

Routines: Eureka first in France, Canada as “experiments”Deployment in US needed approval from Worldwide Customer Service

© C

W C

hoo F

IS U

niv

ers

ity o

f Toro

nto

25

SENSEMAKING

Beliefs

Enactments Interpretations

Eureka asOrganizational

Innovation

Risk, UncertaintyKNOWLEDGE CREATING

Culturalknowledge

Tacitknowledge

Explicitknowledge

DECISION MAKING

Premises

Routines Rules

The Knowing Organization

Apply inOther Areas

Knowledge from France, Canada exp.

The Community isthe Expert System

The Community isthe Expert System

How do technicians do their work in practice?