ISECON 2001 ConferenceCincinnati, Ohio, USA November 1-4, 2001

K.H.VAT (Mr)

Software Engineering

Faculty of Science & Technology

University of Macau, Macau SAR

China November 2, 2001

Towards a Learning Organization Model for Knowledge Synthesis: An IS Perspective

MotivationThe Situation of ConcernThe Problem of Knowledge ManagementThe Idea of Organizational LearningThe Promise of Learning Organization Knowledge Infrastructure -- Organizational Memory

The Challenges

Motivation

Knowledge Economy -- The Message:Knowledge is a valuable organizational resourceOrganization’s competitive edge lies in the

intellectual capital of the employeesHow to harness the human capital to stay ahead of

the packHow to leverage the collective knowledge of the

organization

The Situation of Concern

Knowledge as the lifeblood of survival:Knowing what information is neededKnowing how information must be processedKnowing why information is neededKnowing when which information is neededKnowing where information can be found to achieve

a specific resultKnowing who knows what and who knows how to do

what

The Problem

Knowledge Management as the Focus:Conceptualization, Review, Consolidation, and

Action Aspects of such activities as:Developing knowledgeSecuring knowledgeDistributing knowledgeCombining knowledge

KM Cycle: Conceptualize, Review, Consolidate, Act

Trying to get a view on the state of the knowledge in the organization;

Analyzing the strength and weakness of the knowledge household.

Checking what has been achieved in the past and what the current state of affairs is;

Selecting the optimal plans for correcting bottlenecks and analyzing them for risks that accompany their implementation;

Effectuating the plans chosen.

Knowledge Development

Organization survive by the continuous development of new knowledge based on creative ideas, the analysis of failures, daily experiences and work in progress (R&D)

Knowledge Securing (Storage)

Individual knowledge must be made accessible to others in the organization at the right time and place. This can be achieved by using some type of repository for user-friendly access and retrieval.

Knowledge Distribution

Knowledge must be actively distributed to those who need it, with the shortest turn-around time to enhance organizational competitiveness.

We need a facility to determine who should be informed about a particular piece of new knowledge.

Knowledge Combination

An organization can perform at its best if all available knowledge can be combined in its new products and services.

We need a facility to make it easier to access knowledge developed in different parts of the organization or its business partners.

The Idea of Organizational Learning

Interactions between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge

Tacit knowledge -- knowledge not easily expressed and communicated

Explicit knowledge -- knowledge codified and expressed in formal language

Four possible styles of interaction : tacit-tacit, explicit-explicit, tacit-explicit, explicit-tacit

Knowledge Socialization: tacit-tacit

This mode generates new tacit knowledge by sharing and exchanging know-how and past experiences among organizational members.

Knowledge socialization usually occurs in the form of informal communication when someone raises a question for discussion or an issue to be responded.

Knowledge Combination: explicit-explicit

This mode of interaction generates new explicit knowledge by combining pre-existing explicit knowledge and bringing it together to produce new insight.

Knowledge combination involves knowledge sharing and decision coordination among different organizational members.

Knowledge Externalization: tacit-explicit

This mode of interaction involves structuring or articulating tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge, thus allowing it to be communicated to other users

Knowledge externalization involves concept mapping, tacit knowledge categorization and representation

Knowledge Internalization: explicit-tacit

This mode of interaction maps explicit knowledge into internal knowledge when individuals, exposed to others’ knowledge, make it their own.

Knowledge internalization occurs when we are actively searching for methods or lessons learned to solve problems at hand.

We internalize knowledge by doing, and also by observing what other people have done in a similar context and by example.

The Promise of Learning Organization

Places where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together (Peter Senge: The Fifth Discipline 1990).

An organization which focuses on developing and using its information and knowledge capabilities in order to create higher-value information and knowledge, to modify behaviors to reflect new knowledge and insights, and to improve bottom-line results (David Garvin: Building a Learning Organization 1993).

Knowledge Infrastructure

A three-tiered Web-enabled configurationFront-end Knowledge Management Services (KMS)Middle Knowledge Management Architecture (KMA)Back-end Organizational Memory (OM)

Focus on: Organizational Memory

KMS -- Our Strategies

KMS based on knowledge interaction modes introduced; Socialization : e-mails, discussion forum, bulletin boards; Internalization : lessons-learned databases, process history

tracking, computer-based training (hypermedia-based); data mining;

Externalization : knowledge ontologies, network publishing, or data warehousing;

Combination : group decision support system, workflow system, or document management system.

KMA -- Our Design Concern

Open, flexible and customizable to the ways communities of practice learn and evolve;

Support KM concerns to create, retain, share, account for, and leverage knowledge from the personal level to the team level, the organizational level, and even the inter-organizational level;

Two architectural perspectives: business and technology

KMA : Business Architecture

Development of organization and management solutions and methods related to modeling the business functionality;

Organizational Functionality: business strategies, processes, and structures that enhance and facilitate organization-wide knowledge leveraging;

KM-related components: e-Business models, e-Process models, and e-Application models.

KMA : Technology Architecture

Development of ICT components within an intranet-based knowledge medium to translate the organization’s business vision into effective electronic applications which support the intra- and inter-organizational KM processes;

Distinct stages of development: e-Application rules, e-Application data, and e-Application distribution

Mission: collects information from various sources, and presents it to KMS users for knowledge evolution.

Business Architectural Components

E-Business models: provide a high-level perspective of the business initiative;

E-Process models: describe the internal and external processes representing the organization’s daily behavior;

E-Application models: represent the electronic applications to be developed to streamline business processes from the end-user perspective

Technology Architectural Components

E-Application Rules: technical mechanisms to enforce business rules peculiar to every business process to govern its operation;

E-Application Data: data stored and manipulated by the electronic applications;

E-Application Distribution: distributed architecture allowing application resources to be located on individual application servers connected by a network infrastructure -- a backbone for communications.

OM -- The Repository

KMS require iterations of references and modification of the components developed in the business and technology architectures of the KMA;

We need a reusable asset repository for storing various business-specific and technology-related components in the form of tacit and explicit knowledge items;

OM structured into business repository and technology repository, to secure organizational knowledge.

The Business Repository of OM

Designed in support of KMA’s business architecture;

Storing knowledge items used to standardize definitions of business and process models;

Archived components can be recalled to be reused and modified for new business and process models;

The Technology Repository of OM

Designed in support of KMA’s technology architecture;

Storing technology resources such as business objects, pre-built and purchased components, developer documentation, and other technology standards and artifacts;

The AOD Framework of OM

Acquire: gather, inquire, validate/verify, encode;

Organize: profile, associate, rank, classify;

Distribute: awareness, identification, delivery;

OM’s Knowledge Items

Follows CommonKADS organization model to store knowledge items as objects with different attributes;

Categorized into three major groups: general, content, and availability;

General: name, role description, activity, domain(s);Content: generic task type, nature, product/service,

functions;Availability: time, location, form.

Web Information Systems (WISs) Implementation concerns of KMS, KMA, and OM; Iterative means to realize ongoing functional

requirements;WISs geared toward exploiting the benefits of the Web

platform;WISs should enable users to perform work;WISs tightly integrated with such devices as

distributed databases or knowledge servers;WISs subject to rigorous business value assessment

and user-centered prototyping.

Learning Organization Model for Knowledge Synthesis

Experimenting with the Virtual University (VU) concept; Component of VU: Knowledge Infrastructure (KI); KI (and the constituent OM) is to enable knowledge

development and transfer among teachers and students in an interactive and collaborative manner;

Supporting Knowledge tasks: acquisition, creation, packaging, and application of emergent knowledge;

Example: restructuring VU’s degree programs as webs of logically coherent courses organized as sets of logically complete modules expressed as serial sets of sessions to enable component-based development.

Challenges

Organizational knowledge is created via individual knowledge, but is more than the sum of individual knowledge;

Complete organizational knowledge is created only when individuals keep modifying their knowledge through interactions with other organizational members;

A well-devised OM with a suitable KMA design and configuration enhances the probability of seamless, flexible knowledge acquisition, sharing, and integration among knowledge workers throughout the organization;

How to devise KMSs to turn the scattered, diverse knowledge of their knowledge workers into well-structured knowledge assets ready for deposit and reuse in the OM.