Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    1/10

    Knowledge Management: An OverviewKnowledge Management is a philosophy One that focuses on the intangible assets of knowledge andunderstands the assets generative value. These assets appreciate in value over time with judicious use bycreating a culture of knowledge sharing.

    What is knowledge management? There is no agreed upon definition. Due to the incongruity of definitions for

    Knowledge Management, many organizations have shelled out, and lost, millions of dollars trying to bridgeKnowledge Management from theory to practice. Many organizations have forged a tumultuous relationshipwith KM, and many others have simply cut the apron strings. These attempts to forge bonds with KMstheoretical concept have shaken free many best practices of why organizations failed to successfullyimplement KM, and further adding to KMs definition by helping define what KM is not.

    To begin looking at a KM infrastructure for The Company, we need to agreed upon a definition of whatKnowledge Management means.

    The most succinct definition of KM that encompasses many experts point of view was stated by CIOMagazine, KM is the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual andknowledge-based assets. Most often, generating value from such assets involves codifying what employees,partners and customers know, and sharing that information among employees, departments and even with

    other companies in an effort to devise best practices. It's important to note that the definition says nothingabout technology; while KM is often facilitated by IT, technology by itself is not KM.

    To further dissect this definition, information is what we find though Web-enabled technologies such as theInternet, Intranet, file server, etc. Information is not knowledge, but information can lead to the formation ofknowledge. Whereas, learning is about taking this information and creating instruction with context to bedelivered in a modality of choice, to aid in the formation of new knowledge.

    Information vs. Knowledge:Information is merely the codification of implicit and explicit knowledge in an organization. When a personseeks and finds the relevant information they need, then their background, experience, and educationcollectively contribute to create the context for that information. Next, they utilize their experiences in

    translating the found information into new knowledge. However, if that person does not have the backgroundor experience to translate the information, the process of learning comes into play. The role of learning is toprovide a context for information and provide multiple access points for that information so that newknowledge can be formed and learning can take place.

    To conceive of knowledge as a collection of information seems to rob theconcept of all of its lifeKnowledge resides in the user and not in the

    collection. (Churchman, 1971)

    Technology and Knowledge Management:

    KM technologies generally consist of technologies that decentralize the control or context of information. Forinstance, look at the difference of a weblog and an e-mail. When you send an e-mail to one individual thatinformation is trapped in within the e-mail, which is located on an e-mail server, and cannot be re-used orarchived for the benefit of others. However, if information was transmitted to a person or group of peopleusing a weblog, then this information suddenly becomes centralized, and affords us with the ability to search,archive, or re-use this information in other ways. This also helps us to harness the tacit knowledge of theindividual who is maintaining the weblog. Over time as this weblog grows so does the information in which theperson is transmitting, and once they have left the organization that information still exists in a fashion thateveryone can access.

    1

  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    2/10

    KM is not about the technology, but about which technology can be used to help us achieve our goals. Notevery department, or group, has the same goals or the same level of information people are seeking.

    Many KM directed technologies consist of the following:

    Blogs: Websites in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological

    order. The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log

    Wikis: a type of website that allows users to easily add and edit content and is especially suited forcollaborative writing. The name is based on the Hawaiin term wiki, meaning "quick", "fast", or "tohasten".

    Groupware (Collaborative Software): Application software that integrates work on a single project byseveral concurrent users, at separate workstations, accessing a single collaborative workspace.

    Collaborative Tools (Instant Messaging, White Boards, Document Management)

    Really Simple Syndication (RSS): a family of XML file formats for web syndication used by newswebsites and weblogs. RSS technology allows Internet users to subscribe to websites that provide

    RSS feeds with regular changes and additions to content.

    Social Network/ Expertise Locaters: Allows for peer-to-peer connectivity in which people can beconnected to others based off interests, jobs, awards received, school, or skill sets. Allows you toimmediately connect to a person who has the information or knowledge you are seeking.

    Vidcasts: online delivery of video content

    Podcasts: web feed of audio or video files placed on the Internet for anyone to subscribe to, anddownload, the content.

    Screencasts: video recording of a screens output and placed on the Internet.

    Portals: sites on the World Wide Web that typically provide personalized capabilities to their visitors;business portals are designed to share collaboration in workplaces where the content can be workedon via multiple platforms such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and mobilephones

    Document Sharing Systems: systems that allow people to work on a document with multiple people inmultiple locations.

    Communities of Practice (CoP): process of social learning that occurs when people who have acommon interest in some subject or problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, findsolutions, and build innovations

    It is also important to note here that a true Knowledge Management system is comprised of many differenttypes of technologies that are used to target the unique set of circumstances in which organizations are tryingto capture or disseminate information. While all-inclusive systems are touted, such as Microsoft Sharepoint,these systems may lack the support and customization needed to embed this new workflow into anemployees day-to-day activities.

    In the computer science fields, it is increasingly recognized that most currentsoftware for knowledge management have more to do with new ways of storing and

    communicating information than with actual ways in which people create,

    2

  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    3/10

    acquire and use knowledge(Milton et al., 1999)

    Knowledge Management Design:

    The publishing model of information is obsolete; by the time information is published much of it may beirrelevant. Instead of working to capture knowledge, opportunities for sharing and making knowledge easy forothers to find should be created.

    General elements to be incorporated into any design:

    Strategic focus on what knowledge is most important

    Organizational focus on issues of culture, such as appropriate values and attitudes, organizationalstructure of information and control, and on business processes.

    Technological a focus on the information technologies, tools, and infrastructural support to enablethe new processes

    Human/Individual centered focus on the development and effective utilization of individual andcollective skills, expertise and behavior. Yet despite the technology, Knowledge Management is asmuch about people, working relationships, and communications.

    Management - Knowledge needs to be managed at multiple levelsfrom the individual to the groupto the organization.

    Start small Work towards understanding the environment, the people, and their process to developa solution that can be integrated into their daily activities to ensure long term use.

    Knowledge to be acquired and technologies that can be used:

    Collection Connection Creation/Collaboration

    1. What is known?2. Where is it?

    1. Who knows who?2. Who knows what?3. How do we relay

    information?

    1. What do we want toknow?

    2. How do we create whatwe want to know?

    3. How can we share whatwe know?

    Technologies Used

    Document managementsystems

    Content Repositories

    Search Engines

    Instant Messaging

    E-mail

    Phone

    Groupware

    Lotus

    Groove

    3

  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    4/10

    Portals

    Directories

    Yellow Pages

    Online Dictionaries

    Video Conferencing

    Social Software

    Expert Locater

    Blog

    MS NetMeeting

    MS Project

    IBM Babble

    Wiki

    Thomas, Kellogg and Erickson (2003) point out theview of Knowledge Management as a passive, factstoring procedure which ignores the context inwhich knowledge is embedded and which reliessolely on information technologies is a commonmisconception to the whole process.

    Knowledge Management is divided into threelevels: data, information, and knowledge

    Level Description Technology

    Data A central repository of an organizationsmajor documents, reports, manuals, andforms for the purpose of distributinginformation to be downloaded and printed.

    Content Management Systems(CMS)

    Document Managements Systems

    Information This level focuses on information creation,sharing, and management. Here informationis accessed online where the newestinformation is accessible, eliminating

    versioning control of downloadeddocuments. Publishing models arebecoming extinct.

    Portals

    Document Sharing Systems

    Blogs, Wikis

    Social Networks, Collaborative Tools

    Communities of Practice

    4

  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    5/10

    Knowledge Knowledge, or Enterprise Intelligence, is themain goal of KM to create a system wherethe organization depends on the expertiseembedded into the system. Here, peoplecontinually rely on the information and addto the collective intelligence of the business.

    Executive Dashboard

    This level is less about technology than it isabout support to ensure the KM system iscontinually maintained and evolves. Thesupports required at this level are:

    Performance Support

    External Support

    Extrinsic Support

    ntrinsic Support

    Knowledge Management Approach:

    Human Performance Technology Modelhttp://www.afc-ispi.org/hptprimer.htm

    Human Performance Technology (HPT) is a field of work which seeks to provide an engineering approach toattaining desired accomplishments from human performers by determining gaps in performance anddesigning cost-effective and efficient interventions.

    Baked-inTom Davenport, KM expert and professor at Babson College, suggests that the best way to encourageworker participation in the creation and dissemination of knowledge is to bake it into the job. Here KMbecomes integrated into everybodys job, it is not an add-on.

    Baby-StepsStart small with smaller communities and smaller projects. Small successes are more desirable than bigfailures. Build solutions to meet a real need. Then leverage the learning from these collections of smallsuccesses to approach larger, more complex communities and initiatives.

    5

    http://www.afc-ispi.org/hptprimer.htmhttp://www.afc-ispi.org/hptprimer.htm
  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    6/10

    Proposed Knowledge Management Initiative:

    This section looks at proposed Knowledge Management tools, various ideas regarding how these tools canbe used, and a rough draft of phases for implementation. Each technology or idea will be mapped to thefollowing grid that details what types of technologies can be mapped to what type of information we arelooking to capture.

    Approaches to KM

    Collection Connection Creation/Collaboration

    1. What is known?2. Where is it?

    1. Who knows who?2. Who knows what?3. How do we relay

    information?

    1. What do we want toknow?

    2. How do we create whatwe want to know?

    3. How can we share whatwe know?

    Technologies Used

    Document managementsystems

    Content Repositories

    Search Engines

    Portals

    Directories

    Yellow Pages

    Online Dictionaries

    Instant Messaging

    E-mail

    Phone

    Video Conferencing

    Social Software

    Expert Locater

    Blog

    Groupware

    Lotus

    Groove

    MS NetMeeting

    MS Project

    IBM Babble

    Wiki

    Proposed Knowledge Management Initiative:

    The Company Intranet (Portal):Collection: What is known? Where is it?

    The The Company Intranet provides access to company information and applications, employees, corporateresources, benefits, automotive news, Internet/Intranet search, links to CoP, etc.

    The portal is customizable to meet the need of each individual or department, and gives access to other

    6

  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    7/10

    CoPs that are setup in the organization.

    Communities of Practice (CoP):Collection: What is known? Where is it?

    The best definition of CoP comes from the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). They statethat CoPs are, Networks of people who work together in an organization and who regularly share informationand knowledge. Such people may be, but aren't necessarily, part of formal teams or units. They oftencollaborate on particular projects or products, or they hold the same or similar jobs. They have beendescribed as peers in the execution of real work.

    All CoPs would be linked from the The Company Intranet and would provide everyone with access to thefollowing technologies.

    Blog:Connection: How do we relay information?

    While blogs are nothing new, the way in which they are being utilized in changing everyday. One of theaffordances of having a blog is that the information and comments can be mined at a later date, unlike e-mailor IM.

    In a New York Times article titled, Corporate Blogging Take Off, they examine how blogs are now beingused as a Knowledge Management tool in many corporations.

    Some examples the New York Times cites are:

    Robert Scoble, a Microsoft product marketing manager, maintains a weblog about the company thatgenerates regular feedback from tech-savvy customers on how to improve Microsoft products.Though he's just one of hundreds of employee bloggers at the software giant, Scoble is by far themost widely read, with more than 850 blogs and 1,300 sites that link to his blog.

    Some 500 IBM employees in more than 30 countries use blogs to discuss software developmentprojects and business strategies.

    When it released a crop of new software products in 2002, Macromedia saved tens of thousands ofdollars in call-center support with blogs that addressed customer questions.

    Similarly, The Company can use blogs to:

    Keep employees continually informed regarding the operations and direction of The Company.

    Communicate with the Company on the changes and problems with OneRoad of Connected Vehicle.

    Interdepartmental knowledge sharing on issues and topics

    Cross-departmental discussions/project planning Special interest groups

    Providing cross-functional training resources for The Company-nistas moving from one departmentto another

    7

  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    8/10

    Wiki:Creation/Collaboration: How can we share what we know? How do we create what we want to know?

    The real benefit and power of a Wiki is that it allows for online collaboration. To harness the real affordancesof this technology, the Wiki needs to be moved into a CoP and integrated as a tool to help capture andfacilitate knowledge within the given context. Such as BMW OEM or Farmers Insurance.

    Knowledge WarehouseCollection: What is known? Where is it?

    A knowledge warehouse is the central repository where information is stored, organized, processed, anddisseminated. These systems are typically used as a Question and Answer format to help people find answerto their questions regarding corporate policy, applications, department processes, etc. Sometime theseenvironments are typically geared towards codified information, whereas other tools are suited more forcapturing tacit knowledge.

    These types of systems generally have features that allow people to submit questions, view top questionsasked or viewed, provide connections to other information that may be of value based off the question beingviewed.

    Social Networks/Resource Finder:Connection: Who knows what?

    Social networks have been around for awhile. Friendster and Facebook are a couple of the more well knownonline social networks. This technology has started to become a knowledge management tool with the centralidea of connecting employees with the people who have the information or knowledge they need.

    This type of network can also help people find or see career growth at The Company by viewing profiles ofemployees in positions they may be interested in pursuing and connecting with them for advice andsuggestions to work towards that type of career.

    Ask [Insert Name] a question:Collection: What is known? Where is it?

    We can move towards developing an more open organization where people can submit or post questions tobe answered by the intended recipient, e.g. senior leadership. A key focus of this system would need toensure the anonymity of people submitting questions. Everyone in the organization then benefits from thissystem by being able to search and review questions and answers.

    Submit your idea:Connection: Who knows what?

    In an organization that continually promotes innovation; we should have a system setup to capture the ideaspeople have for the organization. This would probably be a closed system only accessible to senior

    management as people may be discouraged from posting their thoughts and ideas if they knew their peerswould read this, or they are afraid someone may take their idea. Additionally, people should be allowed tosubmit their ideas anonymously.

    Media Library:Collection: Where is it?

    8

  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    9/10

    This would be a central repository for media (photos, video, and audio) owned or produced by The Company.Everybody within the organization would be able to access this media so they can use these in developingsales presentation, marketing materials, internal presentations, e-learning courses, etc.

    Enterprise Content Management System (CMS) or Document Management System (DMS), or Both:Collection: What is known? Where is it?

    The purpose of a content management system is to act as the central repository for The Company informationand would be linked to the The Company Intranet where this information would be accessed. This eliminatesthe need for publishing content to the Intranet and trying to maintain a large file structure, and produces up-to-date information via the Intranet in real-time.

    Document management systems are typically used to publish the information located in a CMS in a variety offormats; PDF, HTML, etc. Typically, one would publish information to put up onto the Internet/Intranet or if acopy needed to be sent out to someone and it wasnt accessible via the Intranet.

    Suggestions for product updates and enhancements:Connection: Who knows what?

    In further moving towards a more open and knowledge sharing culture, there should be an easy way foreveryone to submit their ideas and frustrations about OneRoad and Connected Vehicle. Our goal should be tomake it easy to gather, and maintain feedback from everybody who uses the systems. Agents are dying tohave their voices heard and this could provide a way to feel like someone is listening and working on thefrustrations they experience daily with the systems the use. Each release should try to incorporate onesuggestion from an agent, and this should be communicated to everyone to show the proactive nature of theorganization and how they are listening to our front line employees. This also shows that everyone has theability to create change in the organization from every level.

    Wrap Up:

    Knowledge management is more than a single technology, the codification of tacit knowledge, or a single

    process aimed to collect information. Knowledge management is also about people, working relationships,and communications of, and between, people and groups.

    The goal of Knowledge Management is to create a seamless and transparent flow of information in which:

    People know where to access necessary and relevant information, and this information can beaccessed in a timely fashion.

    Information is located in a central repository where information is continually kept up-to-date andrelevant.

    Information and learning work together in the creation of new knowledge for The Company.

    Information can be leveraged for other applications, but continue to share a single source ofinformation, ensuring the information doesnt go stale or out-of-date.

    Multi-modes of access to information. Information can be viewed or accessed from one computer, cellphone, iPhone, blackberry, video player, or mp3 player.

    Enhance the communication and relationships between people and groups of people.

    9

  • 8/2/2019 Knowledge Management - An Overview v04

    10/10

    Capturing information in a system that allows for that information to be searched, archived, andanalyzed.

    Allows for the open communication of the company to disseminate information, and for employees orclients to submit comments or suggestions.

    10