Organisational Culture and Knowledge Management 2

8/3/2019 Organisational Culture and Knowledge Management 2

1/36

The Relationship BetweenKnowledge Management and

Organizational Culture

Presenter: Sheron LawsonCARICOM Secretariat

August 28, 2002


2/36

Table of Contents Brief Background on Knowledge Management

Explicit and Tacit Knowledge

Definition of Knowledge Management

Six processes in Knowledge Management

Knowledge-based Strategies and Approaches


3/36

Table of Contents

Brief History of OrganizationalDevelopment

Definition of Organizational Culture

Four major types of Organizational Culture

Suitable Culture for Knowledge

Management Best Practices - Implications for

Organizations


4/36

Background of Knowledge

Management

In the early 1990s organizations started torecognize the importance of knowledge

After TQM and other strategic initiativesstalled, fell short or failed.

Hammer and Champy Reengineering thecorporations movement did not achievedesirable change.

Peter Senges Fifth Discipline came up withthe Learning Organization.


5/36

Traditional Versus New Thinking

Assumption Traditional Thinking New Thinking

Scientific

FoundationNewtonian physics Quantum physics

Time is Monochronic (One thing at a time) Polychronic (Many things at once)

We understand by Dissecting into parts Seeing in terms of the whole

Information is Ultimately knowable Infinite and unbounded

Growth is Linear, managed Organic, chaotic

Managing means Control, predictability Insight and participation


6/36

Traditional Versus New ThinkingAssumption Traditional Thinking New Thinking

Workers are Specialized, segmented Multi-faceted, always learning

Motivation is from External forces and influence Intrinsic creativity

Knowledge is Individual Collective

Organization is By Design Emergent

Life thrives on Competition Cooperation

Change is Something to worry about All there is


7/36

Knowledge vs. Information

Information management consists of

preplanned responses to anticipated stimuli.

Knowledge management consists of

unplanned (innovative) responses to

surprise stimuli.


8/36

Information, Knowledges

Foundation

Knowledge is an interpretation of

information. Information and information systems in a

knowledge-driven enterprise must be

accurate, timely, available to those who

need it, and in a format that facilitates use.


9/36

Two types of Knowledge Explicit

Knowledge that can be

articulated in formal

language and easily

transmitted amongst

individuals.

By its nature it is

capable of beingwidely distributed or

diffused.

Tacit

Personal knowledge

embedded in individuals

experiences and involving

such intangible factors as

personal believes,

perspectives, instincts and

values. Cannot be encoded and can

only diffuse in face-to-face,

synchronous communication

models.


10/36

Explicit Knowledge

Benefits

Is much easier to

convey and capture. Can be transferred

quite adequately withthe help of electronictools.

Is often conveyed as astandard part of mosttransaction-basedinformation systems.

Challenges

Handling the sheer

volume of information

that is available.

(information overload).

Competitors can easily

acquire similarknowledge.


11/36

Tacit Knowledge Benefits

An organization's

most valuableknowledge.

Can leverage it as

a powerful tool for

competitiveness. Distinguishes

companies in terms

of success.

Challenges

Difficulty to formulate the

knowledge into communicableform.

Inability of traditionalinformation systems to codifyit.

Many individuals who havebecome specialists in theirareas of expertise are reluctantto part with their knowledge.


12/36

Definition:

Knowledge Management

Is fundamentally the management of

corporate knowledge and intellectual assetsthat can improve a range of organisational

performance characteristics and add value

by enabling an enterprise to act

intelligently (Wigg, 1993).


13/36

Definition:


Helps organizations find, select, organize,

disseminate, and transfer importantinformation and expertise necessary for

activities such as problem solving, dynamic

learning, strategic planning, and decision

making (Gupta, et al., 2000).


14/36

Cyclic Model of Knowledge

Management

1. Create: Knowledge is created as people determinenew ways of doing things or develop know-how.

Sometimes external knowledge is brought in.

2. Capture:New knowledge must be identified asvaluable and be represented in a reasonable way

3. Refine:New knowledge must be placed in context sothat it is actionable. This is where human insights (tacitqualities) must be captured along side explicit facts.


15/36

Cyclic Model of Knowledge

Management

4. Store: Useful knowledge must then be stored in areasonable format in a knowledge repository so that

others in the organization can access it.

5. Manage: Like a library, knowledge must be keptcurrent. It must be reviewed to verify that it is relevant

and accurate.

6. Disseminate: Knowledge must be made availablein a useful format to anyone in the organization who

needs it anywhere and anytime.


16/36

Knowledge Management Test

How does information add value to the

decision process?

How can it get to the people who need it?


17/36

Knowledge is connected

For information to be transformed into

knowledge we must recognize, support and

administer the connections and, most

importantly, the people who are ultimate

owners of all knowledge.


18/36

Knowledge-Based Strategies

Must not focus on collecting and disseminating

information, but rather on creating a mechanism

for practitioners to reach out to others.

Example, communities of practice social and

professional connections and common interests.

Practitioners collaborate directly, use one another

as sounding boards, and teach one another

Built on a bond of obvious trust ( a key word for

any knowledge management solution).


19/36

Knowledge Management Approaches

3 categories

Learning Organization

Knowledge Library

Mission-Critical Awareness

Set the expectations for knowledge

management, and provide insight into thetype of technologies, applications andleadership styles that are necessary.


20/36

Learning Organization

Focuses on enabling the organization tohandle new business strategies.

Is orientated towards cultural reform oforganizational attitudes and practicessurrounding knowledge.

Focuses on reforming the way peoplethink and learn skills.

Focuses on team-building through theexchange of the tacit knowledge.


21/36

Knowledge Library

Focuses on enhancing the organizations

ability to manage new projects or processes.

(R&D, Marketing organizations)

Establishes corporate knowledge base for

the capture and dissemination of best

practices and project-related knowledge.

Documents and shares insights gleaned from

previous experiences to find applicability in

future projects.


22/36

Mission-Critical Awareness Focuses on the need to leverage knowledge in

order to enhance the performance of existing

processes. (Customer Care Industries) Manages large amount of information and

facilitates the intuitive and timely extractionof knowledge from mass of information.

(Data/knowledge warehouse) Provides a comprehensive overview of the

dynamics of the business and the industry inwhich it competes.


23/36

Factors that contribute to the Success of

Knowledge Management Initiatives

Knowledge-friendly culture

Clear purpose and language

Change in motivational practices

Multiple channels for knowledge transfer

Standard, flexible knowledge structure

Senior management support


24/36

Key Factors to Considered Many organizations are already mapping their

futures in the expectation of a knowledge

economy ruled by the best-informed and most-innovative players.

Knowledge management is a crucial componentof these organizations strategic plan.

The more successful a knowledge-orientedcompany is, the more it is able to generate newknowledge, which begets even better productsand services.


25/36

Competing for the Future

What prevents companies from creating

the future is an installed base of thinking

the unquestioned conventions, the myopic

view of opportunities and threats, and the

unchallenged precedents that comprise the

existing managerial frame. Gary Hamel


26/36

History of Organizational Culture Gained prominence in 1982 after:

Several business journals featured articles on

Corporate Culture.

Scholars used it to explain the economicsuccess of Japanese over American firms.

Researchers used it to account for the

economic performance of various countries.

Theorists used it as a basis for understanding

certain traits of excellence that successful

organizations possess.


27/36

Definition: Organizational Culture

A pattern of basic assumptions that a group has

invented, discovered or developed in learning to

cope with its problems of external adaptation andinternal integration, and that have worked well

enough to be considered valid, and therefore, to

be taught to new members as the correct way to

perceive, think, and feel in relation to thoseproblems (Schein, 1990).


28/36

Dimensions of Organizational

Culture A variety of dimensions and attributes of

organizational culture have been proposed

Sathe(1983) and Schein (1984) Cultural strengthand congruence

Deal and Kennedy (1983) Speed of feedback anddegree of risk dimension

Martin (1992) Cultural integration and consensus,differentiation and conflict, and fragmentation andambiguity

Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983) - Competing ValuesFramework


29/36

Competing Values Framework

Internal

Focus and

Integration

Flexibility and Discretion

External

Focus and

Differentiation

Clan (Group) Adhocracy(Developmental)

Hierarchy

Market

(Rational)

Stability and Control


30/36

Types of Organizational Culture Group

Empowerment

Teambuilding

Employee involvement

Human resource development

Open communication

Hierarchy

Error detention

Measurement

Process control

Systematic problem solving

Applying quality tools (e.g.Pareto charting, affinitygraphing, variance plotting)

Developmental

Surprise and delight

Create new standards

Anticipate needs

Continuous improvement

Creative solution finding

Rational

Measuring customer preferences

Improving productivity

Creating partnerships

Enhancing competitiveness

Involving customers andsuppliers


31/36

Key Factors to Considered

Organizational culture is key to the successful

implementation of major improvement strategies as

well as adaptation to the increasing turbulent

environment faced by modern organizations. Creating an enterprise with a culture of continuous

change where employees are not threatened by change

but are encouraged by it because they believe it will

improve their quality of life.

This can be done with strong leadership on the part of

executives and good internal marketing to future users.


32/36

Suitable Culture for Knowledge

Sharing

Trust Collaboration

Recognition

Easy access to information and knowledge Group culture

Developmental culture


33/36


Best Practices

AT&T started a guide to internal experts

that now includes 2,000 contact names.

People can post queries to a bulletin board

after searching name and interest lists.

IBMs Guide to Market Information

includes not only the informationresources, but also contact information for

people responsible for the information.


34/36


Best Practices Coopers & Lybrand employees can call a

hotline and connect with a researcher whouses a Lotus Notes database to find the properinternal experts.

Hallmark has established an InformationGuide in the form of a real person at each

business unit to help people find information. US West is planning to have every single one

of its 50,000 employees connect to theirIntranet with their own home page.


35/36


Best Practices

Teltech has an on-line thesaurus-based

directory of more than 30,000 technical

terms maintained by several full time-time

people.

This marks an important shift in mapping

knowledge while it changes, rather modeling itby categories.


36/36

Implications for Organizations

Must first diagnose and agree upon culture

type.

Find the appropriate knowledge management

approach that is suitable to that culture.

Organisational Culture and Knowledge Management 2

Documents

Transcript of Organisational Culture and Knowledge Management 2