What is Knowledge Management? What is Knowledge Management?
Prof. Elaine Ferneley +Prof. Elaine Ferneley +Prof. Andrew Basden Prof. Andrew Basden
Prof Elaine Ferneley
ObjectivesObjectives
What is Knowledge Management (KM)? What are the driving forces? Role of KM in today’s organization Knowledge Knowledge Management Systems Effective Knowledge Management
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Knowledge as Key ResourceKnowledge as Key Resource
“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]
Prof Elaine Ferneley
A world of rapidly growing knowledge ….A world of rapidly growing knowledge ….
>One week in 2007
A person’s lifetimein 18th century
Prof Elaine Ferneley
What is Knowledge Management? What is Knowledge Management?
Knowledge management (KM) may be defined simply as doing what is needed to get the most out of knowledge resources.
KM focuses on organizing and making available important knowledge, wherever and whenever it is needed.
KM is also related to the concept of intellectual capital.
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Skryme (1999) Knowledge Management Skryme (1999) Knowledge Management DefinitionDefinition
Knowledge Management is the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge
and associated processes of creation, organization, diffusion, use and exploitation
explicit: knowledge is explicitly recognized; systematic: too important to be left to
chance; vital: focus on what is important; processes: encourage knowledge creating
environment.
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Why we need Knowledge Management nowWhy we need Knowledge Management now((http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~alm/kam.html)http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~alm/kam.html)
Marketplaces are increasingly competitive and the rate of innovation is rising.
Reductions in staffing create a need to replace informal knowledge with formal methods.
Competitive pressures reduce the size of the work force that holds valuable business knowledge.
The amount of time available to experience and acquire knowledge has diminished.
Early retirements and increasing mobility of the work force lead to loss of knowledge.
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Most of our work is now information based. Organizations compete on the basis of knowledge. Products and services are increasingly complex,
endowing them with a significant information component.
The need for life-long learning is an inescapable reality.
In brief, knowledge and information have become the medium in which business problems occur. As a result, managing knowledge represents the primary opportunity for achieving substantial savings, significant improvements in human performance, and competitive advantage.
Why we need Knowledge Management nowWhy we need Knowledge Management now((http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~alm/kam.html)http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~alm/kam.html)
Creating
Capturing
Sharing
Capitalising
Knowledge
Knowledge Management ComponentsKnowledge Management Components
This course will focus on theseThis course will focus on theseKnowledge Management ComponentsKnowledge Management Components
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Information & Communication Technology
Knowledge ManagementKnowledge Management
The composite management of:
Processes Information
People
Prof Elaine Ferneley
What are Knowledge Management “Systems” ?What are Knowledge Management “Systems” ?
Social/Structural mechanismsmechanisms (e.g., mentoring and retreats, etc.) for promoting knowledge sharing. Leading-edge information technologiesinformation technologies (e.g., Web-based conferencing) to support KM mechanisms.Knowledge management systems (KMS): the synergysynergy between social/structural mechanisms and latest technologies.
Prof Elaine Ferneley
THE KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATIONTHE KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION
The middle layer addresses the KM life cycle
A knowledge organization derives knowledge from customer, product, and financial knowledge. Also from financial practices
Indicators of knowledge: thinking actively and ahead, not passively and behind
Using technology to facilitate knowledge sharing and innovation
Collect
Organize
RefineDisseminate
Culture
Leadership
Technology
Intelligence
Maintain
Competition
KnowledgeManagementProcess
KM Drivers
KnowledgeOrganization
Create
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Data, Information, and KnowledgeData, Information, and Knowledge
Data: Unorganized and unprocessed facts; static; a set of discrete facts about events
Information: Aggregation of data that makes decision making easier
Knowledge is derived from information in the same way information is derived from data; it is a person’s range of information
Prof Elaine Ferneley
KNOWLEDGE
INFORMATION
WISDOM
Nonalgorithmic(Heuristic)
Nonprogrammable
From Data Processing to Knowledge-based SystemsFrom Data Processing to Knowledge-based Systems
DATAAlgorithmic Programmable
The DIKW PyramidThe DIKW Pyramid
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Some ExamplesSome Examples
Data represents a fact or statement of event without relation to other things. Ex: It is raining.
Information embodies the understanding of a relationship of some sort, possibly cause and effect. Ex: The temperature dropped 15 degrees and then it started raining.
Knowledge represents a pattern that connects and generally provides a high level of predictability as to what is described or what will happen next. Ex: If the humidity is very high and the temperature drops substantially the
atmospheres is often unlikely to be able to hold the moisture so it rains.
Wisdom embodies more of an understanding of fundamental principles embodied within the knowledge that are essentially the basis for the knowledge being what it is. Wisdom is essentially systemic. Ex: It rains because it rains. And this encompasses an understanding of all the
interactions that happen between raining, evaporation, air currents, temperature gradients, changes, and raining.
Prof Elaine Ferneley
LearningLearning
Learning by experience: a function of time and talent
Learning by example: more efficient than learning by experience
Learning by sharing, education.
Learning by discovery: explore a problem area.
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Mechanistic approaches to KMMechanistic approaches to KM
Mechanistic approaches to knowledge management are characterized by the application of technology and resources to do more of the same better.
The main assumptions of the mechanistic approach include: Better accessibility to information is a key, including
enhanced methods of access and reuse of documents (hypertext linking, databases, full-text search, etc.)
Networking technology in general (especially intranets), and groupware in particular, will be key solutions.
In general, technology and sheer volume of information will make it work.
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Cultural/behavioristic approaches to KMCultural/behavioristic approaches to KM
Cultural/behavioristic approaches, with substantial roots in process re-engineering and change management, tend to view the "knowledge problem" as a management issue. Technology — though ultimately essential for managing explicit knowledge resources — is not the solution. These approaches tend to focus more on innovation and creativity (the "learning organization") than on leveraging existing explicit resources or making working knowledge explicit.
Assumptions of cultural/behaviouristic approaches often include: Organizational behaviours and culture need to be changed …
dramatically. In our information-intensive environments, organizations become dysfunctional relative to business objectives.
Organizational behaviours and culture can be changed, but traditional technology and methods of attempting to solve the "knowledge problem" have reached their limits of effectiveness. A "holistic" view is required. Theories of behaviour of large-scale systems are often invoked.
It’s the processes that matter, not the technology. Nothing happens or changes unless a manager makes it happen.
Prof Elaine Ferneley
Classification of Knowledge Management Classification of Knowledge Management SystemsSystems
Knowledge Discovery Systems
Knowledge Capture Systems
Knowledge Sharing Systems
Knowledge Application Systems
As this course is an IS course we As this course is an IS course we will focus on these Knowledge Management Technologieswill focus on these Knowledge Management Technologies