knowledge conversion
DESCRIPTION
Knowledge Conversion. Rev: Feb, 2012 Euiho (David) Suh , Ph.D. POSTECH Strategic Management of Information and Technology Laboratory (POSMIT: http://posmit.postech.ac.kr) Dept. of Industrial & Management Engineering POSTECH. Contents. Discussion Questions. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Knowledge ConversionRev: Feb, 2012
Euiho (David) Suh, Ph.D.
POSTECH Strategic Management of Information and Technology Laboratory(POSMIT: http://posmit.postech.ac.kr)
Dept. of Industrial & Management EngineeringPOSTECH
Contents※ Discussion Questions
1 Introduction of Knowledge Creating Company
2 Organizational Knowledge Creation Process
3 Five Conditions for Organizational Knowledge Creation
4 Five-phase Model of Organizational Knowledge Creation
5 Case Study
3
Discussion Questions
■ What are the two types of knowledge? Give more than one example for each type.
■ Briefly explain the four modes of knowledge conversion in the organizational knowledge creation process. Which do you think the most important? Why?
■ In which of the four modes of knowledge conversion does IT come into full play? Give an example of the use of IT in that mode.
■ What are the five enabling conditions for organizational knowledge creation? Which do you think the most important? Why?
■ Explain the process that fluctuation becomes new knowledge.
■ Briefly explain each phase of the five phase model of organizational knowl-edge creation.
4
Knowledge Creating Company
■ Management paradigm for the emerging knowledge society
■ Knowledge-creating company or learning organization– Consistently creates new business knowledge– Disseminates it throughout the company– Builds it into its products and services
1. Introduction of Knowledge Creating Company
5
Two Kinds of Knowledge
■ Explicit Knowledge– Data, documents, and things written down or stored in computers– A meaningful set of information articulated in clear language including numbers or
diagrams• Textbooks• Manuals• Video lectures
■ Tacit Knowledge– The “how to” knowledge in workers’ minds– Represents some of the most important information within an organization
• Intuitions• Unarticulated mental models• Embodied technical skills
1. Introduction of Knowledge Creating Company
Tacit Knowledge
Knowledge available to others
Knowledge-Creating Company
6
Process of Organizational Knowledge Creation
■ 4 modes of knowledge conversion– Socialization: individual tacit knowledge group tacit knowledge– Externalization: tacit knowledge explicit knowledge– Combination: separate explicit knowledge systemic explicit knowledge– Internalization: explicit knowledge tacit knowledge
Socialization Externalization
Internalization Combination
Tacit knowledge Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge
Explicitknowl-
edge
Explicit knowledge Explicit knowledge
Explicitknowl-
edge
2. Organizational Knowledge CreationProcess
7
Socialization
■ Socialization– A process of creating common tacit knowledge through shared experiences– Required to build a “field” of interaction
creating common unarticulated beliefs or embodied skills
■ Little Use of IT– Only face-to-face interaction can capture the full range of physical senses
and psychoemotional reactions– Other communication medium• Video conferences• Future: “virtual reality” or “virtual conferences”
2. Organizational Knowledge CreationProcess
8
Externalization (1/2)
■ Externalization– A process of articulating tacit knowledge into such explicit knowledge as concepts
and/or diagrams, using metaphors, analogies, and/or sketches– Triggered by a dialogue intended to create concepts from tacit knowledge• e.g. Creating a new product concept
■ Efforts to develop groupware for computer-supported cooperative work(CSCW)
Current-generation groupwareConstruction of knowledge-bases & utilization of existing explicit
knowledge
Recent groupware development Support for the creation of
new knowledge
IBM Lotus Note
2. Organizational Knowledge CreationProcess
9
Externalization (2/2)
■ Colab– A computer-supported conference system
by Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)1) “Bordnoter”: an electronic blackboard2) “Cognoter”: brainstorming, organizing, evaluating information3) “Argnoter”: presenting, arguing, and evaluating ideas
– Design principle: information sharing,“WYSIWIS” (What you see is what I see)
■ KJ method– Card-based knowledge-creation technique– Brainstorming, evaluating, organizing information– Computerization of the KJ method• Prototype example: workstation-based GrIPS by Fujitsu
Divergent thinking phase:pick up data such as key words, phrases, picturesfrom Keyword Associater/Picture Library put into “cards” on the “Shared Board”
Convergent thinking phase:Using “Card Editor”, organize the cards into pieces of information, related into a diagram using “D-ABDUCTOR”
Communicate through “Miniature meeting Room”KJ method
Colab
2. Organizational Knowledge CreationProcess
10
Combination
■ Combination– A process of assembling new and existing explicit knowledge into a systemic knowl-
edge– A newly-created concept should be combined with existing explicit knowledge• Starting with linking different bodies of explicit knowledge• “Breakdown”: creating deductively a systemic, explicit knowledge• Mother concept
Thought-provoking and fertile concept Gives birth to “offspring concepts”
– Goal: building an archetype
■ Full play of IT– “outline processor”• Helps write a logical document• Divides a theme into several sub-topics and arranges them
– Groupware for collaborative document production• “ForComment”• “Quilt”
– Workflow management software– CALS (Commerce At Light Speed)• IT for combining explicit knowledge at the inter-organizational level
Think Tank
CALS
2. Organizational Knowledge CreationProcess
11
Reducing Time & Cost
Internalization
■ Internalization– A process of embodying explicit knowledge into tacit, operational knowledge– Triggered by “learning by doing or using”
■ Internalization facilitated by Explicit knowledge– Manuals, quintessential explicit knowledge– Engineering case studies from veteran engineers’ experiences
■ Change in Training workforce
– Japanese supermarket chain• CD-ROM: how to use a POS register, how to process cash/card payments, how to talk to cus-
tomers• “Just-in-Time Training”: new services, new products, new telemarketing techniques
OJT + reading manu-als Computer Simulation
2. Organizational Knowledge CreationProcess
12
The Knowledge Spiral■ The Knowledge Spiral (epistemological dimension)
– Usually begins from socialization
LinkingExplicitKnowledge
FieldBuilding
Dialogue
Learning by doing
Socialization Externalization
Internalization Combination
Sympathized knowledge
Conceptual knowledge
Systemic knowledge
Operationalknowledge
2. Organizational Knowledge CreationProcess
13
The Knowledge Spiral■ The Knowledge Spiral (Ontological dimension)
– Individuals, groups, an organization, collaborating organizations– Individuals’ tacit knowledge: basis of organizational knowledge creation– Organization: individual level tacit knowledge upper ontological level– At the same time, organizational knowledge is utilized and internalized at the lower levels
2. Organizational Knowledge CreationProcess
14
Five Conditions For Organizational Knowledge Creation 3. Five Conditions ForOrganizational Knowledge Creation
Organizational Intention
Individual and Group Auton-
omy
Fluctuation / Creative Chaos
Informational Redundancy
Requisite Va-riety
Organizational Knowledge Creation
15
Organizational Intention
■ Organizational Intention– An organization’s aspiration to its goals– A driving force of the knowledge spiral– “knowledge vision”, “knowledge domain”, corporate standards– The most important justification criterion
evaluating the truthfulness and relevance of a new piece of knowledge
■ E-mail– A convenient tool to share the organizational intention– Broadcasting function– Storage function– Important messages from the top should be never missed
“Information Lens”: categorizing e-mail messages and select only important ones– Multimedia-mail
3. Five Conditions ForOrganizational Knowledge Creation
16
Individual and Group Autonomy
■ Individual and Group Autonomy– Autonomy increases the chances of• Finding valuable information• Motivating organizational members to create new knowledge
– An autonomous individual a part of an organization with a holographic structure where whole and each part share the same informationMore flexibility in acquiring, interpreting, and relating information
■ End-user and mobile computing– End-user computing: the norm for any business organization• User-friendly and low priced personal computers• Corporate-wide information systems including computer networks, large knowledge-bases,
and consulting systems• High rate of computer literacy
An autonomous individual is likethe core of Russian dolls
Enhancinggroup autonomy
Large scale of corporate-wide
knowledge-bases
Realinformation-shar-
ing Breaking functional departments’
information monopolies
3. Five Conditions ForOrganizational Knowledge Creation
17
Fluctuation / Creative Chaos■ Fluctuation– Not a disorder but a change that is hard to predict• Changes in market needs, growth of competing companies, and challenges given by top management
■ Creative Chaos
■ Monitoring the environment & Communicating with outside organizations– Necessary to make intentional use of fluctuations from outside– Internet, commercial on-line information services,
specialized commercial databases– E-mail– Video conference system, in-house TV network connecting multiple sites,
big-screen & high-definition displays
Fluctuation BreakdownReconsideration
&Dialogues
New knowledge
• Routines,habits,cognitive frameworks
• Ensuingchaotic situa-tion
• Reconsider basic perspectives
• A sense of crisis urg-ing to have dia-logues with people within/outside ofthe organization
• Novel understand-ings of new circum-stances
• Revolutionary corpo-rate visions
CompuServe
3. Five Conditions ForOrganizational Knowledge Creation
18
Informational Redundancy
■ Redundancy– Existence of information beyond the immediate operational requirements of members– Intentional overlapping of information– Promoting organizational knowledge creation in two ways:• Facilitating the sharing of tacit knowledge• Helping loosely-connected individuals understand their place in the organization
& Controlling their directions of thinking and action a self-control mechanism
■ Shortcomings– Increase of the amount of information to be processed problem of information over-
load– Increase of the cost of knowledge creation (at least in the short run)
■ Balance between creation and processing of information– Make clear where information can be located and knowledge is stored within the orga-
nization– Large knowledge-bases using a powerful super-parallel computer– E-mail
3. Five Conditions ForOrganizational Knowledge Creation
19
Requisite Variety
■ Minimax internal diversity– Minimum for organizational integration &
maximum for effective adaptation to environmental changes– Ability to cope with many contingencies
■ Two approaches to realize requisite variety– Flattening organizational structure & Building corporate-wide information system• Fast and equal access to the broadest variety of information for organizational members• Relating information in different, flexible, and quick manners• Reducing internal diversity by homogenizing members’ viewpoints
– Frequent change of the organizational structure and/or frequent personnel rotation • Making employees acquire interdisciplinary knowledge
to cope with the complexity of environmental fluctuations and internal problems
■ Organizational knowledge accumulation and utilization problems– Solved by large-scale knowledge-bases– The daily building of companywide knowledge-bases groupware• Reducing the proprietary aspect of information and knowledge• Making it easier to take over others’ duties
3. Five Conditions ForOrganizational Knowledge Creation
20
Five-phase Model Of Organizational Knowledge Creation
■ Five-phase Model of Organizational Knowledge Creation
Sharing tacit
knowl-edge
Creating concepts
Justifying concepts
Building an
archetype
Cross- leveling knowl-edge
Fromcollaborat-ing organi-zations
Internalization by usersfrom users
MarketExplicit knowledge as advertisements, patents, product and/or service
Tacit knowl-edge
Socialization Externaliza-tion
Combination
Enabling conditionsIntention
AutonomyFluctuation / Creative
chaosRedundancy
Requisite variety
Internalization
Tacit knowledgein
organization
Explicit knowl-edge
inorganization
4. Five-phase Model ofOrganizational Knowledge Creation
21
Five-phase Model Of Organizational Knowledge Creation
■ Five-phase Model of Organizational Knowledge Creation
Sharing tacit
knowl-edge
Creating concepts
Justifying concepts
Building an
archetype
Cross- leveling knowl-edge
Fromcollaborat-ing organi-zations
Internalization by usersfrom users
MarketExplicit knowledge as advertisements, patents, product and/or service
Tacit knowl-edge
Socialization Externaliza-tion
Combination
Enabling conditionsIntention
AutonomyFluctuation / Creative
chaosRedundancy
Requisite variety
Internalization
Tacit knowledgein
organization
Explicit knowl-edge
inorganization
• Direct experience• Not inherently
conducive to IT• Video technology
4. Five-phase Model ofOrganizational Knowledge Creation
22
Five-phase Model Of Organizational Knowledge Creation
■ Five-phase Model of Organizational Knowledge Creation
Sharing tacit
knowl-edge
Creating concepts
Justifying concepts
Building an
archetype
Cross- leveling knowl-edge
Fromcollaborat-ing organi-zations
Internalization by usersfrom users
MarketExplicit knowledge as advertisements, patents, product and/or service
Tacit knowl-edge
Socialization Externaliza-tion
Combination
Enabling conditionsIntention
AutonomyFluctuation / Creative
chaosRedundancy
Requisite variety
Internalization
Tacit knowledgein
organization
Explicit knowl-edge
inorganization
• Metaphor, analo-gies, and/or sketches
• Groupware• IT plays key role
4. Five-phase Model ofOrganizational Knowledge Creation
23
Five-phase Model Of Organizational Knowledge Creation
■ Five-phase Model of Organizational Knowledge Creation
Sharing tacit
knowl-edge
Creating concepts
Justifying concepts
Building an
archetype
Cross- leveling knowl-edge
Fromcollaborat-ing organi-zations
Internalization by usersfrom users
MarketExplicit knowledge as advertisements, patents, product and/or service
Tacit knowl-edge
Socialization Externaliza-tion
Combination
Enabling conditionsIntention
AutonomyFluctuation / Creative
chaosRedundancy
Requisite variety
Internalization
Tacit knowledgein
organization
Explicit knowl-edge
inorganization
• Justify trustfulness• Decide for
the further work• “knowledge vi-
sion”
4. Five-phase Model ofOrganizational Knowledge Creation
24
Five-phase Model Of Organizational Knowledge Creation
■ Five-phase Model of Organizational Knowledge Creation
Sharing tacit
knowl-edge
Creating concepts
Justifying concepts
Building an
archetype
Cross- leveling knowl-edge
Fromcollaborat-ing organi-zations
Internalization by usersfrom users
MarketExplicit knowledge as advertisements, patents, product and/or service
Tacit knowl-edge
Socialization Externaliza-tion
Combination
Enabling conditionsIntention
AutonomyFluctuation / Creative
chaosRedundancy
Requisite variety
Internalization
Tacit knowledgein
organization
Explicit knowl-edge
inorganization
• Materialize con-cepts into “archetypes”
• “virtual prototyp-ing”
• “visual modeling”
4. Five-phase Model ofOrganizational Knowledge Creation
25
Five-phase Model Of Organizational Knowledge Creation
■ Five-phase Model of Organizational Knowledge Creation
Sharing tacit
knowl-edge
Creating concepts
Justifying concepts
Building an
archetype
Cross- leveling knowl-edge
Fromcollaborat-ing organi-zations
Internalization by usersfrom users
MarketExplicit knowledge as advertisements, patents, product and/or service
Tacit knowl-edge
Socialization Externaliza-tion
Combination
Enabling conditionsIntention
AutonomyFluctuation / Creative
chaosRedundancy
Requisite variety
Internalization
Tacit knowledgein
organization
Explicit knowl-edge
inorganization
• Iterative and spi-ral process of Or-ganizational knowledge cre-ation
4. Five-phase Model ofOrganizational Knowledge Creation
27
Reference
■ Ikujiro Nonaka, “From Information Processing to Knowledge Creation: A Paradigm Shift in Business Management”, Technology In Society, Vol 18, No.2, pp. 203-218
■ O’Brien & Marakas, “Introduction to Information Systems – Fifteenth Edition”, McGraw – Hill, Chapter 2, pp. 43~71