How IT can improve the productivity

of an organisation

Nadia Giuliani Brussels, 31 March 2010

FOUR FUNDAMENTAL WORDS

o Knowledge

o Information Technology

o Learning Organizations

o Productivity

AGENDA

1. My Knowledge vision

2. IT and Organizations

3. Capabilities & Productivity

1 ­ MY KNOWLEDGE VISION

According to the Japanese

philisopher Kitaro Nishida

(1870-1945) the fundamental

conditions for knowledge

creation are based on the

Japanese concept of “ba”, in

English a shared “place” for

emerging relationships, a

context which harbours

meaning.

Knowledge and ba concept

Final Dissertation of the Post Graduate Master in Open & Distance Learning – April 2009

Knowledge creation and SECI spiral

Consequently, Ikujiro Nonaka and Noboro Konnoconceptualized the circular knowledge creationinto an interaction spiral of four conversionprocesses between tacit and explicit knowledge :

ocialization

xternalization

ombination

nterna l iza t ion

Final Dissertation of the Post Graduate Master in Open & Distance Learning – April 2009

Knowledge and SECI spiral

ocialization , tacit knowledge sharingamong individuals living in physicalproximity

xternalization, expression of tacitknowledge into forms that can be easilyunderstood by others

ombination, conversion of explicitknowledge into more complex sets tobe disseminated

nternalization, newly createdknowledge becomes the organization’s tacit knowledge SECI spiral according to Nonaka and

Konno

Final Dissertation of the Post Graduate Master in Open & Distance Learning – April 2009

Knowledge and Cyber ba

There are four types of “ba” matching the four spiral processes :

Originating ba , physical place where tacit knowledge is transfered

Interacting ba, where tacit knowledge is made explicit to be easily understood byothers

Cyber ba, a place of interaction in a virtual world where new knowledge isdisseminated thanks to the Information Technology

Exercising ba, where the conversion process from explicit to tacit knowledge takesplace and new knowledge is finally internalized by the community

Str

utt

ura

de

lla

ric

erc

a

Final Dissertation of the Post Graduate Master in Open & Distance Learning – April 2009

Knowledge and IT revolution

Thanks to IT revolution, cyber ba is fostered by the web where

knowledge sharing is promoted and learning organizations are

enhanced.

Peter Senge (1990) describes learning organizations as an “organization

… where people are continually learning how to learn together” to switch from

the industrial paradigma to the learning organization.

Industrial Paradigma Learning Paradigma

Organizations are control systems Organizations are systems to create

knowledge

Organizations are a portfolio of

products and services

Organizations are constellations of

capabilities and competences

2. IT AND ORGANIZATIONS

IT and Organizations

• IT improves productivity in traditional and learning organizations in

different ways (information transfer from top to down level Vs

Enterprise 2.0)

• Traditional and learning organizations are ideal patterns: in reality

organizations have a mix of tradition and innovation.

• IT programmes need to adapt to organizational context to improve

learning capabilities.

Traditional organizations

• Strong hierarchy

• Strong operations of rules

• Heavy internal siloing

• Strong organizational cultures

stressing control

• Slow at adopting organizational

innovations and new IT

Learning organizations

• Capability of creating new knowledge

• Good at experimentation

• Can transfer knowledge to solve problems quickly

• Teamwork and group problem solving

• Innovative

IT and productivity

According to Asian Productivity Organization (APO) productivity is an

effective and efficient use of input or resources to produce or represent

output.

IT has a prominent role in driving productivity both in business and in

the public sector through two mechanisms:

• “capital deepening” – where the investment in IT improves the

level of capital stock in the economy ;

• enabling changes through the most effective application of the

technology and skills, to improve efficiency.

IT and the European Commission

The European Commission has set up and industry task force to foster the use of

IT, recommending possible policy responses.

In the UK, HM Treasury has identified five long term challenges in this direction:

demographic and socio-economic change, especially increasing numbers of old

people and rising expectations of public services;

global competition, with the rise of China and India and the intensification of

cross border competition;

the rapid pace of innovation and technological diffusion, transforming the way

people live and the way services are delivered;

global uncertainty through terrorism and poverty and increasing pressure on

natural resources and global climate.

3. CAPABILITIES & PRODUCTIVITY

An Information disaster

On Sept 23 1999 NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft disappeared.

Scientists were stumped at first about what had gone wrong.

It turned out that NASA contractor had submitted acceleration data in pounds of

force instead of the metric equivalent, newtons.

By not converting the pounds to the metric measurement, the spacecraft was lost.

A costly information disaster. And an embarrassing one.

With the advent of the World Wide Web, every professional

worker has become a searcher, but without either

search training or a roadmap of what he is searching.

Without information training and skills, most people don’t know where

to look, how to ask for what they are seeking, or when it is

okay to stop looking.

IT and Learning Capabilities in Training

Classroom training

Exercise bookQRC

Validation Course CardOpen-source e-learning platform developed for

Expedia Italia

Learning Object on software platform usagePost-course analysis

Thank you!

Nadia Giuliani Brussels, 31 March 2010