Implementing Knowledge Management to Support Executive

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IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TO SUPPORT EXECUTIVE

DECISION-MAKING IN A JOINT MILITARY ENVIRONMENT:

KEY ENABLERS AND OBSTACLES

by

Thomas E. Ward, II

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Capella University

December 2005



UMI Number: 3196742

3196742

2006

Copyright 2005 by

Ward, Thomas E., II

UMI Microform

Copyright

All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected againstunauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.

ProQuest Information and Learning Company300 North Zeeb Road

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by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.



Abstract

The project examined the use of knowledge management from the perspective of

supporting executive decision making in the extremely dynamic environment of joint

military operations. It used a sequential qualitative – quantitative methodology to analyze

and synthesize data obtained primarily from senior U.S. Flag Officers, with a cross

section that included the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. This

project extends existing theoretical frameworks used to frame and describe knowledge

management and domains of organizational knowledge. An overarching conclusion was

that knowledge management initiatives did not directly manage knowledge. Instead,

knowledge management initiatives manage the organization's internal and external

environment to enable and encourage information sharing that results in new knowledge

generation, coupled with effective capture and presentation of that knowledge to decision

makers. Dissemination of new knowledge and of executive decisions to the organization

completes and renews the circular knowledge management cycle. Conclusions include

five principles for executives wishing to implement a knowledge management initiative

and a hierarchical knowledge management domain framework that distinguishes

between, while integrating, technology infrastructure, information management, and

knowledge management. A three-level stair step model for incremental implementation

of a knowledge management project accompanies the knowledge domain framework.



iii

Dedication

I owe so much to so many, as anyone who has been through this process knows

all too well. Still, a few stand out, and to these I want to dedicate my humble effort.

I want to thank my mother for cultivating a hunger for knowledge, epitomized by

making our Saturday morning trips to the public library an adventure my sister and I

looked forward to all week. This pleasant introduction into the world available to us

through books and their study made the library a comfortable second home for us. I must

also thank my wife, who when she finished her own Ph.D., turned to me and said, "OK,

now it's your turn." Such unflagging encouragement allowed me to accomplish a goal

that had remained on a back burner for most of my life. My daughter also spurred me to

action, when she enrolled in an online MBA program, prompting me to look at

educational venues and delivery means that simply didn't exist a few short years ago.

I want to thank my earthly father for passing along a healthy work ethic and faith.

He taught me the dignity of perseverance in the face of adversity, and even more

important, he modeled a deep abiding faith in our Lord that I have claimed as my own.

Finally, I must acknowledge and give thanks to our Creator and Heavenly Father.

I have been blessed with some modest personal abilities, but even more by a loving,

supportive family. I have done nothing to deserve such blessings - quite the contrary - so

I can only attribute them to an abundance of grace and mercy from a generous and ever

faithful Providence, who loves us so much He also gave us His only Son.



iv

Acknowledgments

I cannot begin to adequately express my gratitude to the truly outstanding men

who gave so generously of their time as participants in this project. One may recognize in

this roster of research participants a "Who's Who" of men who literally shaped our world,

up close and personally, often "at the pointy end of the spear." Their experiences range

from service aboard a submarine in World War II, through wars in Korea and Viet Nam,

the Cold War, Desert Shield and Desert Storm, humanitarian operations across the globe,

imposing and enforcing peace in the Balkans, post-9/11 conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq,

and current operations as this was written. All of them have dedicated their lives to

unflagging service of our nation, often at great personal risk and frequently at enormous

personal cost. Further, they each continue to serve our nation by sharing a lifetime of

personal experience, passing personal lessons learned along to the next generation of

America's defenders of freedom. Truly, these gentlemen constitute a national treasure.

I must also thank all my committee members, especially my mentor, Dr. Martha

Hollis, for their time, guidance, and support. I owe a special thanks to General Gary Luck

for serving on my dissertation committee. Reviewing a proposal and finished dissertation,

and making himself available for the conferences for both, was a truly generous

contribution. As the "Senior Mentor of Senior Mentors" to the Joint Warfighting Center

at the U.S. Joint Forces Command, he has precious little time for such activities, as his

time is truly in great demand. Thanks for working me in.



v

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv

Table of Contents................................................................................................................ v

List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii

List of Figures..................................................................................................................... x

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 1

Introduction to the Problem.................................................................................... 1

Background of the Study ........................................................................................ 1

Statement of the Problem........................................................................................ 3

Purpose of the Study............................................................................................... 4

Scope....................................................................................................................... 5

Research Questions................................................................................................. 7

Significance of the Study........................................................................................ 8

Nature of the Study and Theoretical Frameworks .................................................. 9

Research Conceptual Framework ......................................................................... 13

Assumptions and Limitations ............................................................................... 15

Definitions and Terms........................................................................................... 19

Organization of the Remainder of the Study ........................................................ 22

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................... 24

Knowledge Management ...................................................................................... 25

Information Technology ....................................................................................... 59



vi

Executive Decision Making.................................................................................. 78

Leader Development............................................................................................. 96

U.S. Military: Current and Emerging Doctrine .................................................. 115

Summary: Inferences and Implications from the Literature Review.................. 121

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY.................................................................................. 143

Research Approach............................................................................................. 143

Research Questions............................................................................................. 145

The Sampling Plan.............................................................................................. 146

The Measurement Strategy ................................................................................. 148

The Data Collection Instrument.......................................................................... 150

Data Collection, Analysis, and Display.............................................................. 154

Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................ 166

“Credibility” – the Equivalent of “Validity” in Qualitative Methodologies....... 167

CHAPTER 4. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS......................................... 170

Introduction......................................................................................................... 170

Chapter Organization.......................................................................................... 172

Research Participant Demographics ................................................................... 173

Phase One Analysis: A Summary of Summaries................................................ 178

Phase Two Analysis: Quantitative Content Analysis ......................................... 184

Phase Three Analysis: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis 214

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................... 247

Introduction......................................................................................................... 247



vii

Foundations: Defining “Knowledge Management”............................................ 249

Answering the Research Question...................................................................... 250

Practical Recommendations: Bridging Theory to Practice................................. 269

Opportunities for Future Research...................................................................... 274

Summary............................................................................................................. 277

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 281

APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW ADVANCE PACKET ................................................... 290

APPENDIX B: INFORMED CONSENT FORM .......................................................... 295

APPENDIX C: COMPLETE SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW ............................ 298

APPENDIX D: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES............................................................ 300

Part 1. Biographical Sketches of Research Study Participants........................... 300

Part 2: Biographical Sketches of Pilot Study Participants. ................................. 307

APPENDIX E: PILOT STUDY RESULTS................................................................... 309

Methodology....................................................................................................... 309

Data Presentation and Analysis .......................................................................... 310

Conclusions......................................................................................................... 316

APPENDIX F: EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES OF INTERVIEWS................................. 319

Interpreting Participant Comments: Interview Executive Summaries................ 319

APPENDIX G: CODING NODE TREE AND BRANCHES........................................ 354

APPENDIX H: CODING DEFINITIONS AND TREE / BRANCH STRUCTURE..... 359

APPENDIX I: INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD PACKET.................................. 367



viii

List of Tables

Table 1. Research Participant Demographics ................................................................. 175

Table 2. Interview Text Units and Coding...................................................................... 189

Table 3. Tree Node Coding Percentages......................................................................... 192

Table 4. Text Units Coded by Level Two Content Coding Nodes................................. 194

Table 5. Text Units Coded by Level Two Culture Coding Nodes.................................. 196

Table 6. Text Units Coded by Level Two Process Coding Nodes ................................. 197

Table 7. Text Units Coded by Level Two Infrastructure Coding Nodes........................ 197

Table 8. Level Three Content/Quality Coding Nodes .................................................... 199

Table 9. Level Three Culture/Military Coding Nodes.................................................... 199

Table 10. Level Three Culture/Leadership Coding Nodes ............................................. 200

Table 11. Level Three Process/Staff Process Coding Nodes.......................................... 201

Table 12. Level Three Process/Decision Making Coding Nodes ................................... 202

Table 13. Level Three Infrastructure/Information Management Coding Nodes............ 203

Table 14. Level Three Infrastructure/Role of Infrastructure Coding Nodes .................. 204

Table 15. Level Four Culture/Leadership/Leader Role Coding Nodes .......................... 205

Table 16. Level 4 Process/Decision Making/Decision Maker Comment Analysis........ 206

Table 17. Level 4 Process/Decision Making/Decision Making Support Coding ........... 207

Table 18. Level 4 Infrastructure/Role of Infrastructure/Communication Coding .......... 207

Table 19. Level One Tree Node Intersections ................................................................ 208

Table 20. Free Node Coding Results .............................................................................. 213

Table 21. Participant self-assessment as a “computer person”....................................... 214



ix

Table E-1. Pilot Study Executive Summary Coding Node Percentages......................... 313

Table E-2. Pilot Study Full Text Tree Node Coding Percentages .................................. 315

Table E-3. Pilot Study Full Text Node Intersections...................................................... 316



x

List of Figures

Figure 1. Conceptual Research Framework: From Topic and Purpose to Synthesis........ 14

Figure 2. Cognitive Hierarchy . ...................................................................................... 117

Figure 3. Research Participant Experience in Joint, Military Department, and ServiceComponent Organization .............................................................................. 177

Figure 4. Root, Level One, and Level Two Coding Nodes. ........................................... 187

Figure 5. Knowledge Management Implementation Principles. .................................... 252

Figure 6. Using Working Groups to Bridge Organizational Boundaries forInformation Integration and New Knowledge Generation ............................ 257

Figure 7. Defining Working Group Task and Purpose, Inputs and Outputs................... 258

Figure 8. A Knowledge Generation Cycle for Decision Making Support...................... 259

Figure 9. A Knowledge Management Component Hierarchy. ....................................... 270

Figure 10. Knowledge Management Implementation: A Three-Level Stair-Step

Model ............................................................................................................ 272

Figure G-1. Root, Level One, and Level Two Coding Nodes. ....................................... 354

Figure G-2. Content Node and Subordinate Branches.................................................... 355

Figure G-3. Culture Node and Subordinate Branches. ................................................... 356

Figure G-4. Process Node and Subordinate Branches.................................................... 357

Figure G-5. Infrastructure Node and Subordinate Branches. ......................................... 358



CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Introduction to the Problem

"Knowledge integration is the engine of economic prosperity" (Tiwana, 2002, p.

6). Although Tiwana’s assertion may be true, the fact remains that despite spending

billions of dollars on development and installation of advanced automated information

systems in order to improve information management, the delivery and presentation of

information to executive decision-makers has not necessarily improved knowledge

generation for decision making. The reasons for this inconsistent performance have not

been clear. The purpose of this research was to identify and analyze relationships

between enablers and obstacles that promote or inhibit delivery of a high percentage of

actionable information to executive decision-makers. The environment in which this

original research was conducted focused on a joint U. S. military environment.

Background of the Study

Although there is an abundance of literature on the subject of knowledge

management, there are few examples of measurable success, in terms of tangible results.

The British Petroleum example (Stewart, 1999) and the Xerox example (Mitchell, 2001)

stood out as notable exceptions, where returns could be expressed in tangible, measurable

terms. "What to measure" is a major problem in the field of study (Tiwana, 2002). Most

serious quantitative research to date has concentrated on “attitudes” of individuals or



Knowledge Management in a Joint Military Environment 2

organizations toward knowledge management, rather than the environmental factors that

lead to success or failure. Purposes for implementing knowledge management practices

within an organization varied, but tended to fall within three general themes. These three

themes, while not specifically identified as such, also tended to emerge from a review of

literature. The first theme was one of knowledge management as a means of making

information more readily available to members within an organization, and in some cases

to the organization’s partners or customers. The second theme built on the first, using the

enhanced ability to access relevant information, and combining that ability with processes

or organizations that promote generation of new information. The third theme was one of

specific, deliberate support to decision making. While the process of decision making

was generally implied or assumed in the first two themes, this third theme’s focus was on

how to use enhanced information storage and retrievable capabilities and new

information generation capabilities to support decision making at the executive level.

This theme encompassed a much broader perspective than the technology focused

perspective implied by terms such as “Decision Support Systems” (DSS) or “Executive

Information Systems” (EIS). Certainly, automated DSS and EIS may have been

components of knowledge management within an organization, but knowledge

management for decision making support encompassed a far broader perspective that

included organizational, cultural, and environmental factors as well as a tangible,

technology based information systems infrastructure.




Statement of the Problem

In the military environment, as well as the civilian business environment, huge

investment in information technology has not necessarily brought about higher quality

decisions, or the kind of decision making support that enabled higher quality decision

making. The delivery and presentation of information to executive decision-makers has

not necessarily improved knowledge generation for decision making. The reasons for this

inconsistent performance have not been clear. Terms such as “information overload” and

“information glut” were almost common topics in professional and academic literature.

Although it has long been recognized that “more information” is not synonymous with

“better information,” defining what really is “better information” has been elusive, and

the generation of knowledge to support executive decision making has become something

of a holy grail – terribly desirable but very elusive. While there appeared to be a

management opportunity to use information management systems technology to manage

knowledge, improving both the quality and the timeliness of management decisions,

pervasive negative symptoms included high cost coupled with little or no improvement in

decision making support. High cost is a relative term, of course, but the expense of

information technology systems creates a dilemma, in that the results of knowledge

management initiatives are very likely to be measured in subjective terms, rather than

objective terms. The use of subjective terms to describe success or failure in knowledge

management initiatives creates a management dilemma: determining “what to measure”




and “signs of success,” particularly in environments where Return on Investment (ROI) is

difficult or impossible to measure.

Purpose of the Study

A primary purpose of this research was to develop a practical description of

"better" information for decision makers – information that increases knowledge, also

referred to as situational understanding (FM 6-0, 2003), in order to enable better

decisions. Besides identifying and defining the characteristics of "good" information for

decision making, this project endeavored to identify and analyze relationships between a

number of factors that are suspected of having a major influence on successful or

unsuccessful implementation of a knowledge management initiative – the enablers and

obstacles. Factors identified by existing literature included the technology base,

organizational culture, organizational processes, and compensation and reward systems.

The research data generally confirmed the presence and perceived importance of these

factors, while further illuminating the role of leadership, decision maker information

needs and processing style, incremental implementation, and identification of the goals

for any knowledge management initiative implementation.




Scope

Rationale

JTF Information Management (ALSA, 2003) provided a baseline for

organizations attempting to implement effective information management in a Joint Task

Force, or any other analogous organization. It explained overarching concepts of

information management, described in detail the recommended components of an

Information Management Plan, and even provided detailed recommendations on file

naming conventions. It also emphasized the need to provide more than a retrospective

presentation of situations in regular briefings to decision makers, and stressed the need to

integrate information that tends to remain in “silos” or “stovepipes” – in functional

channels that tend not to share information outside functional lanes. Mission Command

(FM 6-0, 2003) also addressed the need to generate situational awareness in the mind of

the critical decision maker, the commander. None of these current doctrinal publications,

however, provided more than a hint at the challenges inherent in accomplishing the goal

of providing actionable information to key decision makers and effective situational

understanding that enables timely, effective, and confident decision making.

In both the joint and individual Service Component communities, training

exercises are conducted regularly to develop commanders and their supporting staffs to

effectively command and control large, complex organizations in dynamic environments.

These organizations struggle daily with the challenges of operating and maintaining an




incredibly complex, globally dispersed information technology (IT) infrastructure, and

adapting institutional processes to effectively use that IT infrastructure. While the

concept of an “information hierarchy” is well developed and presented (ALSA, 2003),

the processes, organization, and culture required to transform data to information to

knowledge to understanding appear to be assumed. The desired end state is clear:

situational understanding in the mind of the commander. The path for the organization,

however, is essentially one of self-discovery. This study endeavored to chart and

illuminate a path for organizations attempting to implement knowledge management, by

integrating recent or emerging academic theory with real world lessons learned and

observations of experienced high level decision makers.

Study Scope Boundaries

A key part of data collection for this study was accomplished by conducting semi-

structured interviews with a relatively small number of executive level decision makers in

the military and supporting professions that have had to deal with decision support from

large staffs in extremely dynamic environments. The data that activity generated was

predominantly qualitative. This research sought to identify enablers and obstacles in the

environment studied, to analyze their relationships, and to synthesize an approach to

knowledge management implementation in this specific environment that could

ultimately lead to better decision making support. This research focused specifically on

application of knowledge management to support executive decision making, gathering

perceptions from executive-level decision makers about what works and what does not.




This research project adopted a critical realist framework, with a constructivist-

pragmatist perspective (Robson, 2002), recognizing that dynamic environments are not

repeatable, and there is no single correct answer to the challenges of knowledge

management implementation that is applicable to all environments. The realist

framework described by Robson, consisting of action, mechanism, context, and outcome,

appeared ideal for analyzing the relationships and interactions of elements in the very

complex environment studied.

Research Questions

The primary, overarching question guiding this study was: How can knowledge

management principles and practices be used to improve situational understanding and

executive decision-making of senior leaders in extremely dynamic environments? There

are several subordinate questions that support the primary question:

1. What are the characteristics of an organization that uses information management

systems technology to manage knowledge, and effectively support decision making?

2. What factors enable or inhibit effective knowledge management to support decision

making?

3. Who has been successful, and how did they do it?

4. Who has been unsuccessful and why?

5. How can another organization use the lessons learned from successes and failures in

order to make its own knowledge management efforts support decision making

better?




Significance of the Study

In a modern society, the sheer volume of information available to individuals and

organizations can be overwhelming. Information technology makes it possible to access

and retrieve more information than can be intellectually processed and understood by any

individual. In complex organizations and environments, organized systems are required

to effectively mange and use information to generate knowledge. Simply “knowing what

we know” is a daunting challenge; knowledge can easily get lost in the enormous volume

of what is available. Tiwana (2002) provided an illuminating vignette, describing a case

in which a British chemical company developed a pilot process that looked promising but

experienced a sludge deposit problem when scaled up for production. After investing in

additional research to solve the problem, one project team member conducted a

worldwide patent search for a possible solution. He discovered that a patent had been

issued to address the specific problem they were facing, and that their company already

owned the patent.

The value of knowledge management goes far beyond avoiding the cost of

reinventing the wheel. This study highlights a distinction made by Nonaka (1998),

between information processing to reduce uncertainty and information creation that

generates uncertainty but simultaneously increases opportunity, particularly in new

product creation. Effective knowledge management incorporates both perspectives. In the

context of support to executive decision making, it is easy to see that an organization

would want to identify, create, develop, and implement new opportunities based on




greater understanding of both static and dynamic environments. At the same time,

however, determining where and how to concentrate resources and deciding which

options to select requires something more than a laundry list of options. Decisions require

analyzed information, packaged and presented in forms that generate not only an

awareness of the situation, but understanding of the situation and appreciation of the

likely consequences of decision options. This is a ubiquitous challenge, common to all

decision making environments at management and executive levels.

While this study focused on challenges of implementing knowledge management

in a joint military environment, conclusions may be applicable in a broader context.

Because the challenges of successfully implementing knowledge managementare

universal, greater understanding of those challenges and recommendations for how to

deal with them could prove to be broadly applicable as well.

Nature of the Study and Theoretical Frameworks

One of the challenges facing proponents of knowledge management is defining

what it really is, and how the components of a knowledge management system interact.

The desire for "better information" to enable "better decisions" is nearly universal.

Exactly what that means is not universally understood. One aspect of knowledge

management identified previously was an attempt to combine organizational information

in a way that generates value by creating new intellectual property (Nonaka & Takeuchi,

1986; Nonaka, 1988). While that is a legitimate line of research, it is not the focus of this

effort except as the generation of new knowledge applies directly to decision making.




This research was focused on using information management systems specifically to

enable better support of decision making at the executive level. Automated information

systems have generated the capability to provide "more" information for making

decisions at every level. Experience has indicated that "more" information is not

necessarily "better" information, especially in light of the challenge imposed by the

presence of bounded rationality (Simon, 1990 & 1991). Understanding the term

"information management systems" is critical in this context, because it does not refer

merely to the variety of computer and communications systems that capture, store,

transport, sort, and retrieve information in digital form. On the contrary, the term

"information management systems" refers to the entire system used to handle and present

information, including the technological, organizational, analytical, cultural, educational,

and psychological components of support for decision making.

The primary framework for examining knowledge management was the

Organizational Knowledge Domain Model (OKDM) (Dana, Korot and Tovstiga, 2001).

They considered organizational knowledge in four domains: content, culture, processes,

and infrastructure. These four domains are evident in the data collection instrument

developed for this research, and in the structure of the data coding tree at Appendix G.

The conceptual framework is illustrated at Figure 1 in the Literature Review.

A second framework guided the development of Chapter 2, the Literature Review.

This framework consists of four elements: knowledge management, information

technology management, decision making, and leader development. While the Dana,

Korot and Tovstiga (2001) framework has been applied to previous research, this second




framework is unique to this research, and was intended to supplement the OKDM. The

presence of this second framework is also visible, as a root level topic and as second level

topics in the branched a coding tree at Appendix G.

An additional framework considered during this research was presented by

Bartczak (2002). This framework described a knowledge management component

hierarchy, consisting of an information technology (IT) foundation, supporting an

information management / knowledge management (IM / KM) layer that in turn supports

a knowledge capture (KC) layer. In this framework, IT provides the hardware, software,

and communications that make automated information management possible. The IM

/KM layer in the component hierarchy consists of the processes and procedures that

enable the IT layer to be managed and effectively used. The IM / KM level focus is

largely on controlling information to ensure it is usable and reliable. At the KC level of

this hierarchical framework, the focus is on knowledge capture that transforms

knowledge into information. This framework is hierarchical, and emerges from

Bartczak's conclusion that knowledge capture (KC) is a higher order phenomenon than

knowledge management (KM), and that knowledge transfer (KT) is the ultimate goal of

KM. Bartczak's hierarchy of KT components was consistently used as a lens through

which KM was considered, and resulted in an adaptation presented in Chapter 5, and a

three-level stair step model for KM implementation, in which knowledge capture and

conversion is embedded at lower levels, and knowledge transfer is considered in terms

that distinguish between tacit knowledge transfer and explicit knowledge transfer.

Implementing Knowledge Management to Support Executive

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