module 2 know mgmt

7/29/2019 Module 2 Know Mgmt

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MODULE-2

Knowledge Management Concepts



LIFE IN ORGANIZATIONS

• People are of Strategic Importance

• organization‘s success depends on the

knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees

• sustained competitive advantage through

people

•

shift is taking place from touch labour toknowledge work



• Companies such as Domino‘s Pizza, Sony,

Southwest Airlines, and Wal-Martrevolutionized their industries by developing

skills – core competencies- people. Different

skill groups can be classified as1) Core knowledge workers- employees has

firm-specific skills that are directly linked to

the company‘s strategy e.g., R&D scientists.Companies tend to make long-term

commitments



• Traditional job-based employees- employees haveskills that are quite valuable to a company, but

not unique e.g., sales people in a departmentstore

• Contract Labour- . This group of employees hasskills that are of less strategic value and generally

available to all firms e.g., clerical workers,maintenance workers, staff workers

• Alliance/partners- This group of individuals hasskills that are unique, but not directly related to a

company‘s core strategy e.g., attorneys,consultants, and research lab scientists



Human Resource Planning

•Human resource planning plays an important rolein helping managers weigh the costs and benefitsof using one approach to employment versusanother

• So environment scanning is important includingfactors like economic, competitive trends,technological trends, political and legislative issuesand social concerns.

• Apart from it Internal Environment Scanning isalso important. So Employee Attitudes, CulturalAudits are equally important.



Concept and Characteristics of KBO’S

•

The definition of the knowledge-basedorganization is centered around three attributes :

• Its principal mission is to acquire, manipulate anddeploy information and knowledge;

•It strives to be a ¯learning organization. in whichits members, both individually and collectively, arecontinuously enhancing their capacity to produceresults and adapt to changing circumstances and

•

It is guided by a commitment to organizationalexcellence through such pursuits asbenchmarking, best practices and the fostering of collaborative relationships among its variousstakeholders



• The competitive advantage for KBO’s comes

from having and effectively using knowledge.

Examples include the law office, accounting

firm, marketing firm, software company, most

of the government agencies, universities, the

military, and significant parts of most of themanufacturing companies.

• A knowledge-based organization has four

characteristics- Process, Place, Purpose andPerspective



Process

•

Process refers to the activities within anorganization, some of which are directly

involved with making a product or selling a

service and others that are ancillary but no less

important.

• A KBO attends to two related processes i.e the

effective application of existing knowledge and

the creation of new knowledge



Place • Place refers to the boundaries of the organization,

which for the purpose of sharing and creatingknowledge often go beyond traditional legalboundaries.

• Companies are increasingly realizing that

knowledge is often produced and shared as abyproduct of daily interactions with customers,vendors, alliance partners and even competitors.The knowledge-based organization, then, is a

collection of people and supporting resourcesthat creates and applies knowledge via continuedinteraction. Its boundaries are blurred, malleableand dynamic.



Purpose

• Purpose refers to the mission and strategy of theorganization – how it intends to profitably serveits customers.

• Companies that succeed over the long term aligntheir knowledge management processes withtheir strategy. The knowledge-based organizationrecognizes that knowledge is a key strategicresource, and asks what do we need to know to

formulate and execute our desired strategy?What do we know? And what do our competitorsknow? So focus-SWOT



Perspective

• Perspective refers to the worldview and

culture that influences and constrains the

decisions and actions of an organization. Each

of these elements forms a basis for evaluating

the degree to which knowledge is an integral

part of the organization and the way it

competes



• The knowledge-based organization, regardless of

whether its products are tangible or not, holds aknowledge-oriented image of itself. That is, it

takes knowledge into account in every aspect of

its operation and treats every activity as a

potentially knowledge-enhancing act. It uses

knowledge and learning as its primary criteria for

evaluating how it organizes, what it makes, where

it locates, who it hires, how it relates tocustomers, the image it projects, and the nature

of its competition.



Knowledge Management, then, is the process of transforming INFORMATION and

INTELLECTUAL ASSETS into enduring VALUE

• - All this requires a blend of • PEOPLE

• PROCESSES (Strategy)

• TECHNOLOGY



• People- Organizations can promote thosepolicies and practices that build teamwork to

help people share and manage knowledge – but people ultimately “manage” knowledge

Technology- Enhances the ability to rapidlydisseminate information and develop

knowledge bases thereby presentingopportunities to:

• change traditional organizational structures

• inspire an informal style• promote social networks

Knowledge-sharing underpinnings



Knowledge Management Practices

•

Draw out the tacit knowledge people have, whatthey carry around with them, what they observe

and learn from experience, in addition to what is

usually explicitly stated.

Explicit knowledge is formal and systematic and canbe easily communicated and shared, i.e., in a book ora database in the library, a product specifications, ora scientific formula or a computer program.

Tacit knowledge is highly personal, is unrecorded andunarticulated and is hard to formalize and thereforedifficult, if not sometimes impossible, to

communicate.



• Tacit “information” is more difficult to obtainbecause it is buried : in web-based links to othersites, databases, publications, and in theknowledge of experts employed in institutions (thevalue-added dimension) in the past,communication of this information has always

been informal, word-of-mouth, and not theprovince of any organizational unit

• Unlike Information, Knowledge is not just a:

“thing” to be“ managed” . It is a Capacity - of

people and communities - to continuouslygenerate and renew themselves to meet newchallenges and opportunities; it is the collectiveknowledge of the organization



Knowledge Repositories• Databases. It is possible to structure part of a

knowledge repository as a database.

• Data warehouses, large repositories of important data,can also be used for knowledge management,especially in conjunction with customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) systems.

•

Specially Structured Databases. Some systems havebeen developed in Lotus Notes/Domino Server andhence utilize the Notes database structure. – These specialized databases are ideal for storing tacit

knowledge because of its nature.

• Electronic Documents. Others have been developedaround electronic document management systems. – e.g., DocuShare by Xerox



Knowledge Management Process

• The Knowledge Management process has six basic

steps assisted by different tools and techniques.When these steps are followed sequentially, thedata transforms into knowledge.

• Step 1: Collecting- This is the most important stepof the knowledge management process. If youcollect the incorrect or irrelevant data, the resultingknowledge may not be the most accurate. The data

collection procedure defines certain data collectionpoints. Some points maybe the summary of certainroutine reports. As an example, monthly salesreport and daily attendance reports maybe two

good resources for data collection.



• Step 2: Organizing- The data collected need tobe organized. This organization usually

happens based on certain rules. These rulesare defined by the organization. As anexample, all sales related data can be filedtogether and all staff related data could be

stored in the same database table. This typeof organization helps to maintain dataaccurately within a database. If there is much

data in the database, techniques such as'normalization' can be used for organizing andreducing the duplication.



• Step 3: Summarizing

• In this step, the information is summarized in orderto take the essence of it. The lengthy information is

presented in tabular or graphical format and storedappropriately. For summarizing, there are manytools that can be used such as software packages,charts (Pareto, cause-and-effect), and different

techniques• Step 4: Analyzing

• At this stage, the information is analyzed in order tofind the relationships, redundancies, and patterns.

• An expert or an expert team should be assigned forthis purpose as the experience of the person / teamplays a vital role. Usually, there are reports createdafter analysis of information



• Step 5: Synthesizing

• At this point, information becomes knowledge. The

results of analysis (usually the reports) are combinedtogether to derive various concepts and artifacts.

• A pattern or behavior of one entity can be applied toexplain another and collectively, the organization willhave a set of knowledge elements that can be usedacross the organization.

• This knowledge is then stored in the organizationalknowledge base for further use.

•

Usually, the knowledge base is a softwareimplementation that can be accessed from anywherethrough the Internet.



• Step 6: Decision Making

•

At this stage, the knowledge is used fordecisions making. As an example, when

estimating a specific type of a project or a

task, the knowledge related to previous

estimates can be used.

• This accelerates the estimation process and

adds high accuracy. This is how the

organizational knowledge management adds

value and save money in the long run.



Knowledge Systems Development

1. Identify the problem

2 . Prepare for change

3. Create the team4. Map the knowledge

5. Create a feedback mechanism

6. Define the building blocks for the system7. Integrate existing information systems



Strategies for Knowledge Management

– The codification strategy typically is adopted bycompanies that sell relatively standardizedproducts that fill common needs.

– Knowledge is carefully codified and stored inknowledge repositories structured as databases.

• - The personalization strategy typically is adoptedby companies that provide highly customized

solutions to unique problems. – Knowledge is shared mostly through person-to-

person contacts.



Knowledge Transfer

• The process of sharing tacit knowledge orfacilitating the learning of explicit knowledgebetween one person and another.

• The knowledge must both be learned and beuseable in a relevant context; if bothconditions do not exist, the knowledge hasnot been transferred



Process

• Determine what knowledge must be transferred.

• Be able to articulate why the knowledge must betransferred.

• Determine to whom the knowledge is to betransferred.

• Determine how the knowledge will be transferred.

•

Transfer the knowledge.

• Test knowledge transfer by observing its recall and use.



Knowledge Transfer Tools

Job Aids

Mentoring

Process Documentation

Identification of Best Practices

Communities of Practice

Job Shadowing

Critical Incident Review

Storytelling

Document Repositories

Structured On the Job

Training



• Job Aid- Assist people in applying knowledge

to complete tasks as they do them on-the-job.

• Mentoring- An organizationally sponsored

relationship that focuses on coaching without

a performance management or supervisory

component.

• Process Documentation- The step-by-step

documentation of any process, task or

procedure. It is most effective in the form of aflowchart.



• Identification of best practices- Best practicesare relevant processes or systems to performwork that have had measurable success andeffectiveness and are likely transferable. Theymay be discovered within or outside the

organization. Best practices are determined ina variety of ways: through meetings of similarfunctional groups; polling employees; internalor external surveys.



• Communities of Practice- A community of practice is a group that forms and functionstogether to share information and knowledgeabout a common area of interest, issue, or topic.

• Job Shadowing- A less-experienced performerpairs with a veteran performer on-job to facilitate

knowledge transfer.• Critical Incident Review-A critical incident is an

identifiable event that results in either a verynegative or a very positive impact on a process,

deliverable or relationship. An individual, workteam, task force or project team conducts thereview to determine root causes and capture bestpractice or determine remedies.



• Story Telling- A narrative description of whathappened in a situation or over a period of time.This is one of the most effective ways of transferring knowledge—indeed wisdom—fromone person to another

• Document Repositories- A collection of textual

resources that can be retrieved, viewed andinterpreted. Document repositories addnavigation and categorization to the informationstored.

• Structured On The Job Training- KnowledgeTransfer takes place on the actual job site withtask accomplishment as a part of the process.



KM Technologies

• Knowware are technology tools that supportKM.

• Collaboration tools, or groupware, were the

first used to enhance collaboration for tacitknowledge transfer within an organization.

• KM suites are complete KM solutions out-of-the-box.

• Knowledge Servers contain the main KMsoftware, including the knowledge repository.



KM Architecture

· It builds – as a repository system – upon manifold differentsources, and thus exploits the value already existingInformation source.

• · It creates a unifying view via the so-called knowledge map,or corporate taxonomy, in order to provide a content-oriented

integration of different sources.• · It provides both collaboration and discovery services thus

addressing to some extent both the process-view and theproduct-view on KM.

• · It supports – through a knowledge portal as the integrated

interface – directly a number of predefined knowledgemanagement practices as Competitive Intelligence, BestPractice gathering, etc.



Components of Knowledge

Management Systems

• Technologies – Communication

• Access knowledge

• Communicates with others

– Collaboration• Perform groupwork

• Synchronous or asynchronous

• Same place/different place

– Storage and retrieval• Capture, storing, retrieval, and management of both

explicit and tacit knowledge through collaborativesystems



• Supporting technologies

– Artificial intelligence

• Expert systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, intelligentagents

– Intelligent agents

• Systems that learn how users work and provide assistance

– Knowledge discovery in databases• Process used to search for and extract information

– Internal = data and document mining

– External = model marts and model warehouses

–

XML• Extensible Markup Language

• Enables standardized representations of data

• Better collaboration and communication through portals



Metrics• Financial

– ROI

– Perceptual, rather than absolute

– Intellectual capital not considered an asset

• Non-financial – Value of intangibles

• External relationship linkages capital

• Structural capital

• Human capital

• Social capital

• Environmental capital



Factors Leading to Success and Failure

of Systems• Success

– Companies must assess need – System needs technical and organizational infrastructure

to build on – System must have economic value to organization – Senior management support – Organization needs multiple channels for knowledge

transfer – Appropriate organizational culture

• Failure – System does not meet organization’s needs – Lack of commitment – No incentive to use system – Lack of integration



Organizational Learning• Learning organization

– Ability to learn from past – To improve, organization must learn

– Issues• Meaning, management, measurement

– Activities• Problem-solving, experimentation, learning from past, learning

from acknowledged best practices, transfer of knowledge withinorganization

– Must have organizational memory, way to save and share it

• Organizational learning – Develop new knowledge

– Corporate memory critical

• Organizational culture – Pattern of shared basic assumptions



Concept of Learning Organization• Continuous learning at the systems level.

Individuals are expected to learn frequently andto share their learning in ways that enable thelarger system to learn. This involves more thanone level of learning (individuals, teams,organization as a whole) but it may not always

include everyone and may not always involve allpossible levels.

• Knowledge generation and sharing. Employeesare called upon to think in new ways; critically in

order to identify assumptions; and collaborativelythrough dialogue with one another about work.Value is placed on creating, capturing, and movingknowledge rapidly and fluidly so that people who

need it can access and use it quickly.



• Systemic thinking capacity. Employees are asked tothink systemically in order to see linkages andfeedback loops.

• Greater participation and accountability by a largerpercentage of employees. Ideas and informationshould emerge from those who have something tocontribute, regardless of their position in theorganization. Increased accountability demands newlearning.

• Culture and structure of rapid communication andlearning. Learning is rewarded, supported, andpromoted from the top down and through various

reward systems. At least on paper, people are expectedto take calculated risks, experiment, learn from theirmistakes, and share information freely acrossboundaries.



DRIVERS• Culture of ’Error harvesting’

• People can share their mistakes

• People do not want to hide hard-won lessons

• The benefits of ’error harvesting’:

• Prevent costly mistakes

• Improve the organisational culture

• Quality circles and action learning groups

• Maintains the status quo

• Disincentive in terms of innovation

• Lead to

• Satisfaction, Restricted search, Restricted

attention, Risk aversion, Homogeneity, ’play it

safe



Organisational learning framework –

Level Process Inputs/outcomes

Individual IntuitingExperiences, Images

Methaphors

Interpreting

Language

Cognitive map

Conversation/dialogue

Group Integrating

Shared understandings

Mutual adjustments

Interactive systems

Organisation Institutionalising

Routines

Diagnostic systems

Rules and procedures

Organisational learning Learning organisation



Organisational learning Learning organisation

Means End

Process or activity Idealised form

Attainable Easily lost due to changes

Descriptive research Prescriptive research

Inductive Deductive (normative)

Academic and scholarly orientationPractitioner and consultancy

orientation

Predominantly qualitative researchPredominantly quantitative

research (little empirical evidence)

Theoretical orientation Action orientation

L i i i (S )



• Learning organisation (Senge)

• System thinking

•

Team learning• Shared vision

• Mental models

• Personal mastery

• Organisational learning (Garvin)

• Problem solving

• Experimental learning

• Knowledge sharing

• Vicarious learning

• Experimenting

Intellectual Capital and Knowledge



Intellectual Capital and Knowledge

Management• In today’s knowledge era, intellectual capital is most

frequently described as having three components :human capital, structural capital, and customer capital.

• Human capital resides in the people who work in asystem themselves with all of their knowledge,

experience, and capacity to grow and innovate.• Structural capital is what remains behind when people

leave the premises: systems, policies, processes, tools,or intellectual property that become property of thesystem itself.

• Customer capital is the system of relationships that anorganization has with its clients irrespective of thepeople who work there or the structural capital that isin place.



• IC as a language for thinking, talking and doingsomething about the drivers of companies’ futureearnings’ ’ • Elements:

• Relationships with customers and partners• Innovation efforts

• Company infrastructure

• Knowledge skills of organisational members

•

Problems:• Knowledge sharing difficulties

• Relationships between interpreter and receiver



Human Resources• Chief knowledge officer

– Senior level

– Sets strategic priorities – Defines area of knowledge based on organization mission and goals – Creates infrastructure – Identifies knowledge champions – Manages content produced by groups –

Adds to knowledge base• CEO

– Champion knowledge management

• Upper management – Ensures availability of resources to CKO

•Communities of practice

• Knowledge management system developers – Team members that develop system

• Knowledge management system staff – Catalog and manage knowledge



Roles & Responsibilities

Agency Management

• Identify critical knowledge components and KSA’s

• Develop Knowledge Transfer Plan including development of

appropriate tools.

• Assure Plan is accomplished

Management Services Consultants

• Coach managers in identifying KSA’s

•

Coach managers in developing Knowledge Transfer Plan andtools.

• Available for ongoing consultation and coaching.



Managerial IssuesOrganizational culture change. How can we change

organizational culture so that people are willing to both contributeknowledge to and use knowledge from a KMS?

How to store tacit knowledge.

How to measure the tangible and intangible benefits of KMS

The importance of knowledge management. KM is not another management fad .

Implementation in the face of quickly changing technology

How can our organization develop a successful knowledge

management system?

Determining the roles of the various personnel in a KM effort .



THANKS