Essential of Knowledge Management

SBB4363

Introduction to the Course | Data Information and Knowledge | Knowledge Management

Outline

Course Outline

Data, Information and Knowledge

What is Knowledge?

Types of Knowledge

Alternative Views of Knowledge

Why Knowledge?

Productivity Challenge

The Need of Knowledge Management

Definition of KM

Forces driving KM

KM Process

KM Pillars

Instructor’s Details

Name: Khairul Shafee Kalid

Office: 02-03-07

Phone: 05-368 7472

Google Talk / Google+: kshafee.kalid@gmail.com

Twitter: khairul_shafee

The Hierarchical View of Data, Information and

Knowledge

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Data

unorganized and unprocessed facts.

Information

processed data

contextualized data

Knowledge

Information processed in the mind of individuals related to facts,

procedures, concepts, interpretations, ideas, observations and

judgment.

Alavi and Leidner (2001)

The Hierarchical View of Data, Information and

Knowledge

5

Tuomi (1999) argues that the data, information and knowledge

hierarchy is actually inverse.

Knowledge must exists before information can be formulated and

before data can be measured to form information.

Knowledge must have a knower.

Knowledge is shaped by one’s needs and one’s initial stock of

knowledge (Fahey and Prusak, 1998; Tuomi, 1999)

Knowledge is the result of cognitive processing triggered by

inflow of new stimuli.

Once it is articulated and presented in the form of

text, graphics, words or other symbolic forms, it becomes

information.Alavi and Leidner (2001)

Definition of Knowledge

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Knowledge is defined as a justified belief that increases an entity’s

capacity for effective action (Huber, 1991;Nonaka, 1994)

Knowledge is defined as understanding gained through

experience or study (Schubert et al, 1998)

A fluid mix of framed experience, contextual information, values

and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and

incorporating new experiences and information (Davenport and

Prusak, 1998)

All cited in Alavi and Leidner (2001)

Alternative Perspective of Knowledge

Subjective View

1. State of Mind – enabling individuals to expand their personal

knowledge and apply it to the organization needs.

2. Practice/Process – focuses on applying expertise

Objective View

1. Object – knowledge can be stored and manipulated.

2. Condition of Access to Information – knowledge must be

organized to facilitate access to and retrieval of content.

3. Capability – capacity to use information; learning and experience

result in an ability to interpret information ad to ascertain what

information is necessary for decision making.

Alavi and Leidner (2001); Becerra-Fernandez et al (2004)

Knowledge Perspectives and Their Implications

8

Alavi and Leidner (2001)

Knowledge Taxonomies

9

Tacit knowledge

knowledge embedded in the human mind through experience and jobs

usually gets embedded in human mind through experience.

Explicit Knowledge

knowledge codified and digitized in

books, documents, reports, memos, etc.

is that which is codified and digitized in

documents, books, reports, spreadsheets, memos etc.

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/seelybrown/seelybrown4.html

J. Scott Holste, Dail Fields, (2010) "Trust and tacit knowledge sharing and use", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 14 Iss: 1, pp.128 - 140

http://www.putrafajaralam.com/perbedaan-tacit-dan-explicit-knowledge.html

Knowledge Taxonomies

13

Alavi and Leidner (2001)

Why Knowledge?

Knowledge has become the key resource, for a nation’s military

strength as well as for its

economic strength… is fundamentally different

from the traditional key resources of the

economist – land, labor, and even capital…we

need systematic work on the quality of

knowledge and the productivity of knowledge…the performance

capacity, if not the survival, of any organization in the

knowledge society will come increasingly to depend on those two

factors” [Drucker,1994]

The Knowledge Challenge

Primary Repositories of an Organization's

Knowledge

Paper

Documentation

26%

Employees'

Brains

42%

Electronic

Documentation

20%Electronic

Knowledge

Base

12%Source: The Delphi Group, Inc.

We always know more than we can tell.

Michael Polyani, 1967

The Productivity Challenge

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Average information worker spends over an hour and a half on

email each day, which is 20% of their work time

Employees get 60-75% of their relevant information directly

from other people

More than 80% of the organization digitized information reside

in individual hard drives and personal files (and thus not

accessible)

The Need of KM

The Need of KM

If you leave the organization….

Definition of Knowledge Management (KM)

The most cited definition on knowledge management is KM as the

exploitation and development of the knowledge assets of an organization with a

view to furthering the organisation’s objectives. (Davenport & Prusak, 1998)

A complete definition of KM is KM involves the people, process, activities

and technology and the broader environment that enable the identification,

creation, communication or sharing, and use of organizational and individual

knowledge. It is about the process that governs the creation, dissemination and

utilization of knowledge to attain organizational objective. It requires a mix of

business awareness, creative attitudes and practices, systems, tools, policies,

procedures designed to release the power of information and ideas.(Lehaney

et. al (2004) p. 13)

Intellectual Capital: Human vs Structural Capital

Human capital

The body of knowledge the company possesses

Knowledge in the minds of Microsoft’s software developers,

researchers, academic collaborators, business managers, …

Also, knowledge in the minds of vendors and customers

Structural capital

Everything that remains after the employees go home

Copyrights, customer files, business process software, databases,

software manuals, trademarks, organizational structures, …

In other words, organizational capability

Forces Driving KM

Increasing Domain Complexity

Intricacy of internal and external processes, increased competition, and the rapid advancement of technology all contribute to increasing domain complexity.

Accelerating Market Volatility

The pace of change or volatility, within each market domain has increased rapidly in the past decade.

Intensified Speed of Responsiveness

The time required to take action based upon subtle changes within and across domains is decreasing.

Diminishing Individual Experience

High employee turnover rates have resulted in individuals with decision-making authority having less tenure within their organizations than ever before.

Becerra-Fernandez et al (2004)

The Emergence of Knowledge Management

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Fallout from Business Process Reengineering (BPR) fad of the

early 1990s

The advancement of technology (PC, Internet etc.)

The explosion of content, information and knowledge caused by

the rapid growth of Internet and corporate intranets, data

warehouses and databases.

Organizational issues of maintaining business values and reducing

risk litigation and overall liability by managing human and

intellectual capital better.

Jennex (2007)

KM Process

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Becerra-Fernandez et al (2004)

Knowledge Discovery

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Knowledge discovery may be defined as the development of new tacit

or explicit knowledge from data and information or from the

synthesis of prior knowledge

Primarily concerned with creating new knowledge. Fundamental

belief is that we can never claim to have sufficient knowledge. We

need to replenish our knowledge base continually. This fact is

evidenced by many unresolved chronic problems.

Knowledge update can mean creating new knowledge based on

ongoing experience in a specific domain and then using the new

knowledge in combination with the existing knowledge to come

up with updated knowledge for knowledge sharing.

Knowledge Discovery

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Example 1:

We find posted signs on mechanized walks at the airport that read

“Walk on left, stand on right.” Not many passengers pay attention

and/or obey the signs. This has been a recurrent problem. There is no

knowledge in existence that will solve this problem. In other words,

there is no knowledge to manage. We must create the knowledge.

Example 2:

Many car drivers casually turn left after the light has changed from

yellow to red. It is impossible to have as many policemen as drivers to

keep such behavior under check. This problem begs for a solution.

Once again, there is no knowledge on how to solve this chronic

problem. Therefore, there is no knowledge to manage.

Knowledge Capture

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Knowledge capture is defined as the process of retrieving either explicit or

tacit knowledge that resides within people, artifacts, or organizational

entities.

Examples:

Knowledge might reside within an individual’s mind, without that individual

having the ability to recognize it and share it with others. (tacit knowledge)

Knowledge might reside in an explicit form in a manual, but few people

might be aware of it. (explicit knowledge)

In both cases, it is important to obtain the knowledge such that it can be

shared with others.

Knowledge captured might reside outside the organizational

boundaries, including consultants,competitors, customers, suppliers,

and prior employers of the organization’s new employees

Knowledge Sharing

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Knowledge sharing is the process through which explicit or tacit

knowledge is communicated to other individuals

Must result in effective transfer

Recipient must understand it well enough to act on it

•Must be the knowledge itself that is shared

Not just recommendations based on knowledge (which is just

utilization rather than sharing of knowledge; we call this direction as

discussed shortly)

May take place across individuals, groups, departments or

organizations

Knowledge Application

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Knowledge application is the process through which explicit or tacit knowledge is utilized to guide decisions and actions

Depends on the process of knowledge discovery, capture, and storage

The better/worse the processes of discovery, capture, and storage, the better/worse the likelihood that knowledge needed for effective decision making is available

In knowledge application, the party that makes use of the knowledge does not necessarily need to comprehend it!

As long as the knowledge is somehow used to guide the decisions or actions – directly or indirectly

Knowledge application is possible even in the absence of actual exchange or transfer of knowledge…

4 Pillars of KM

Management &

Organization

People &

Culture

Content &

Processes

Infrastructure

Pillar: Management and Organization

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A successful implementation of a knowledge management system

requires a champion or leader at or near the top of an

organization who can provide the strong and dedicated

leadership needed for cultural change.

Operational processes must align with the KM framework and

strategy.

KM processes integrated in the daily tasks by the systems staff.

Pillar: Content and Process

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Put in place clear processes so that stakeholders understand how

they are expected to share and re-use information and knowledge

and how they can get help.

The use of standards and formats for document capture and

mandating their storage on a shared site (e.g. Intranet) so that

they are available to others.

Ensure that content is up to date and accessible to those who

need it.

Pillar: Content and Process

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Knowledge sharing flow and content management processes

need to be defined to ease the creation, documentation,

publication and use of knowledge and to make sure that mature

information will be made ready to be used whenever needed.

It needs to be built into established work processes and

methodologies and become an integral part of the way people do

their work.

Content must be relevant and trusted - and subject to an ongoing

maintenance process (e.g., retiring out-of-date information).

Pillar : Infrastructure - Technology

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Technology enables and provides all of the infrastructure and tools to support KM within an enterprise.

Capture and store, Search and retrieve, Structure and navigate, Share and collaborate, Solve or recommend

Technology must add value to the process and achieve measureable improvements.

Technology should blend well into the employee work environment and it should be very intuitive and easy to use.

It should also support distributed work and allow knowledge workers to be effective wherever they are.

Integration and flexibility are a must and the technology should be easy to master and use, otherwise, users are likely to give up and important knowledge will be lost.

Pillar : People and Culture

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Knowledge resides in people.

Culture dictates attitude and perception.

Knowledge sharing and collaboration culture relies heavily on

management leadership.

Provide recognition and rewards for successes.

Establish people networks and use this network to communicate.

Culture is the most important, yet difficult to achieve challenge.

Conclusion

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What is KM? Why do we need it?

What are the forces of driving KM?

What are KM processes?

What are the pillars of KM?

References

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M Alavi, DE Leidner (2001), Review: Knowledge management and

knowledge management systems: Conceptual foundations and research issues

- MIS quarterly, – Search at Google Scholar.

Irma Becerra-Fernandez,Avelino Gonzalez,Rajiv Sabherwal (2004),

Knowledge Management: Challenges, Solutions and Technologies

Murray Jennex (2007) , Chapter 1 What is Knowledge Management,

Knowledge Management in Modern Organizations

http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm

Lehaney, B., Clark, S., Coakes, E., & Jack, G. (2004). Beyond knowledge management.

Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.

http://books.google.com.my/books?id=xraSeAz0vUoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onep

age&q&f=false\

http://decisionautomation.com/glossary/14.php