Lecture 1 - Introduction to Knowledge Management

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An Introduction to KnowledgeManagement:

Lecture 1

Master of Comp

uter ScienceCourse: Technology / Knowledge Management


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Universitas Budi Luhur - Lecture 1 3

Properties of knowledge

is , in a strict sense, only created by individuals; is perpetuallyexpandable; can be stored in heads, technical repositories (iebooks, databases, etc)

can be stored systematically is often in summary form ie precodified can, in principle, be shared can be forgotten, ignored, not used


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What is knowledge management?

One of the hottest buzzwords in the corporate world (FT,1999)

A concept as vague as it is widespread (Roberts, 2000)

The systematic management of knowledge processes bywhich knowledge is identified, gathered, shared and applied(FT, 1999)

The systematic and organised attempt to use knowledgewithin an organisation to improve performance (KPMG, 1999)


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Some knowledge concepts

Explicit knowledge Tacit knowledge Stickiness Absorptive capacity Thin and thick knowledge (Holden, 2002)


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Explicit knowledge

Knowledge which can be articulated in formallanguage including grammatical statements,mathematical expressions, specifications, manuals

and so forth [and] thus can be transmitted acrossindividuals formally and easily (Nonaka andTakeuchi, 1995).

Key properties of explicit knowledge: codification and

transferability


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Tacit knowledge

Personal, context-specific, and therefore hard toformalize and communicate (Nonaka and Takeuchi,

1995) Key properties of tacit knowledge: embeddedness in

social systems, values, cultural behaviour andpractices; needs a domain expert


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Stickiness

Stickiness refers to the difficulty associated withcodifying knowledge, i.e. turning it into explicittransmittable information. Readers will doubtless

have encountered the problem of stickiness onoccasion, when trying to get a thought down onpaper(Burton-Jones, 2000).


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Absorptive capacity

Whereas stickiness slows down the export ofknowledge, absorptive capacity affects how easilythe recipient can understand it. Prior knowledge of a

particular knowledge domain or subject tends tomake it easier to understand new information that isrelated to that knowledge domain. (Burton-Jones,2000).


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Thin knowledge and thick knowledge

Thin knowledge:The minimum amount ofknowledge assumed by a knowledge user to benecessary for a specific objective ie to support a

decision.

Thick knowledge: Knowledge which is very rich,very wide-ranging, and is arcane ie requires

specialist knowledge to be understood (Holden,2002)


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Knowledge work (leveraging of knowledge)

Generation: acquisition and creation

Codification and storage Distribution and transfer Implementation


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Knowledge generation: acquisition and creation

Acquisition of external knowledge (mergers,consultants, recruiting, patent acquisition)

Setting up of interdisciplinary project teamsthat incluse suppliers or customers

Brain-storming


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Codification and storage

Manuals, databases, case studies, marketreports; the language in which or about whichis classified and codified and available in, say,

a company documentary resource centre

The knowledge in the heads of employees


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Distribution and transfer

Provision of the right knowledge to the rightperson at the right time

IT applications (Internet or Intranet), (but inwhich languages?)

Transfer of knowledge among, say, employeesby training programmes


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Implementation

The key task of knowledge management: theapplication of knowledge in a locallyappropriate format


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Four dimensions of knowledgemanagement

Decision support

Organisational learning

Knowledge sharing

Networking

in conjunction with systematic (computer- based)

approaches and standardised routines to maximizevalue of human interaction


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Organizational learning:assumptions and challenges

Firms (i.e. people in firms) must learn from amultiplicity of environments and distribute theaccumulated knowledge throughout their

networks

Two problems: changing peoples mindsetsand their behaviour


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Organizational learning:three key challenges

The learning is not just the acquisition ofinformation, but the becoming of a part of acommunity

The critical interface is the communityboundary

Knowledge transfer entails acts of negotiation


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Networks and organisational learning

These days firms do more and more projectsin teams, in which members share theirnetworks (i.e. access to resources)

The sharing of networks is a key form oforganisational learning and negotiationthrough YOUas a team member


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A network approach to negotiation

Negotiation serves to clarify: (a) who is going to share with whom which

mutually held resources

and (b) the degree of access to thoseresources anddegree of compensation orindebtedness

under given circumstances


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On other words ...

Networking is a kind ofnegotiating


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Factors constraining knowledge transfer:KPMG survey 1999

423 companies in Europe and USA:lack of time to share knowledge (62%)

failure to use knowledge effectively (57%)

difficulty capturing tacit knowledge (50%)

also: lack of user uptake, failure to integrateknowledge management systems, lack of training,lack of time to learn and understand benefits


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Other constraints

Lack of knowledge policy in 80% of 470 companies surveyedby the British Institute of Management (Sunday Times, 2000)

90% of 4,500 scientists, engineers and managers in NorthAmerica, Europe and Asia did not have access to learningbenefits (Sunday Times, 2000)

Lack of trust; different cultures, vocabularies, frames ofreference; lack of time, problem of rewards, lack of

absorptive capacity (Davenport and Prusak, 1998)


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Success and failure

British Petroleum: operating costs of BP Venezuela arereduced by a team of eight, using knowledge managementtechniques, from $70m to $40m in seven weeks(Dixon,

2000)

GM tries to transplant Japanese production know-how:170,000 workers laid off in 125 factories in US, Canada,Mexico, Singapore and Japan; $2bn loss of production per

week to the US (Tackney, 2000)


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Contrasting approaches to promote knowledgesharing: Novo Nordisk

1997: The Facilitator concept 14 managers in pairs facilitate NN units world-wide

in order to (a) ensure conformity with company

standards and policies and (b) to act as catalysts forleveraging knowledge and best practices

This is the diffusion technique)

(Holden, 2001)


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Contrasting approaches to promote knowledgesharing: Sulzer Infra

Development of corporate university to make thecompany a knowledge-based organisation

Organisation of intensive seminars, attended by

100+ managers from all over Europe to promotenetworking.

This is the integrative approach

(Holden, 2001)


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Knowledge management: international issues

Language and cultural barriers make the distinctionbetween tacit and explicit knowledge problematical

International (cross-cultural) knowledge-sharing and

collaborative learning involves translation (literal andmetaphorical)

Need for a new kind of knowledge worker

(Holden, 2001)

Documents

Lecture 1 - Introduction to Knowledge Management