knoledge management
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Supporting Knowledge Management
The Challenge
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Knowledge Management
One of the enduring topics in the field of IT
since the mid 1990s
Greatest corporate assets walk out the
door every evening
Taking with them another crucial asset,
knowledge
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Attempts to capture knowledge in computer
systems continue
Not something that can be captured in amachine
But, it only exists inside a persons head
Unlike information !! Many feel that the term KM creates a wrong
impression
The M in KM brings in the we can control itmindset
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Knowledge cannot be controlled or engineered
[So, the basic mechanical metaphor is wrong]
However, knowledge can be leveraged throughprocesses and culture
[The biological or ecological metaphor is much
better] The more people are connected, and the more
they exchange ideas, the more their knowledge
spreads,
And can thus be leveraged !!
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This view is still being debated, and raises
questions
If we cannot disembody knowledge, how do we
better manage the knowledge within people to
leverage this asset?
Tony Brewer [Managing Knowledge, Wentworth
Research Program, 1995] researched this topic
As we move from a service economy to a
knowledge economy, organizations move
towards managing their intellectual capital in a
more formal and deliberate way
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In essence, knowledge exists in two states
Tacit/Implicit knowledge
Exists within a persons mind Is private, and
Unique to each person
Combination of intellect, experience and information
Explicit knowledge
Articulated
Made public
Visible resides in documents, books etc.
Easy to capture, transfer
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Western management practices haveconcentrated on managing explicit knowledge
But, cultivating and leveraging tacit knowledge
is just as important Effective knowledge management requires
transferringknowledge between these two
states HOW?
Because knowledge is not a physical asset, itcannot be described in terms of manufacturinganalogies, such as storing it in inventory
It needs to be thought of in ecological terms,such as nurturing it, cultivating it, and
harvesting it
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Furthermore, ways to transfer knowledge back and
forth between its tacit and explicit states are crucial
Generally, a result of encouraging the free flow of
ideas and information Many of todays organizational norms, departmental
boundaries, and national differences inhibit this!!
The process of transferring tacit knowledge to othersis a key part of managing knowledgeknowledge
sharing
IT is an enabler barriers fall, knowledge flows, and
sharing increases
Unfortunately, free time is not seen as important
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A model for Managing Knowledge
Due to the increasing emphasis on knowledge,it is now called intellectual capital that firms
possess
A model proposed by Giga Information Group[Best Practices in Knowledge Management,
1997] for managing intellectual capital
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A knowledge Management Framework
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A cyclic model
Four stages representing what peoplegenerally do with knowledge
First they create it or capture it from a source
Next they organize it and put it intocategories for easy retrieval
Then, they distribute it (push), oraccess it(pull)
Finally, they absorbanothers knowledge for
their own use, or to create more newknowledge
Thus, the cycle begins again
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The four stages create 3 types of intellectual
capital Human Capital
Structural Capital, and
Customer Capital
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Human Capital consists of
Knowledge, skills, and innovativeness of employees
Also company values, culture, and philosophy
Created during the knowledge creation-
capture, and knowledge absorption-reuse
stages
These 2 stages focus on getting people
together to share knowledge
Deal with the people aspects of knowledge
management
Main question How do we get people to have
more knowledge in their heads?
S C
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Structural Capital capabilities embedded inhardware, software, databases, organizationalstructure, patents, and trademarks that support
employees and relationships with customers Formed in the knowledge organization-
categorization and knowledge distribution-access stages
These stages focus on moving knowledge frompeoples heads to a tangible company asset
These stages deal with the technology issues
Main question
How do we get knowledge outof peoples heads and into a computer, aprocess, a document, or another organizational
asset?
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Customer Capital is the strength of a
companys franchise with its customers
Concerned with its relationships and networks
of associates
When customers are familiar with a companys
products or services, the company can call that
familiarity, customer capital
May be
Human relationships with the company
Structural products used from the company
Main question Is there any short-cut to gain
customer capital?
Gi I f di d th t
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Giga Info group discovered that
Human capital and structural capital stagesrequire different mindsets
Companies had to use different approaches togrow each one
The techniques for one do not work for the
other Building human capital needs touchy-feely
people-centric approaches
Building structural capital take the typical ISapproach, using technology for problem solving
To succeed in leveraging intellectual capital,companies need to do both
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Building Human Capital
Main question How do we get people to have
more knowledge in their heads?
Four ways:
Create it
Capture it Absorb it, and
Reuse it
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Knowledge Creation and Capture:
Generates knowledge by nurturing employees,
or
Acquire it from outside
Deals with both human and customer capital
Companies emphasizing this phase ofmanaging knowledge use high-touch
approaches
Creating a sharing culture
Urging people to meet in person, or electronically
Encouraging innovation
C E l B k L b t i
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Case Example Buckman Laboratories
An industrial chemical company in Tennessee
1200 employees around the world
The concept of sharing knowledge and bestpractices has been around in Buckman for over15 years
The companys code of ethics reinforces thesharing culture
They believe that successfully transferring
knowledge depends 90% on having the rightculture and 10% on technology
KNetix a knowledge transfer system, theBuckman knowledge network
Ai /G l t b i th k l d f ll th
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Aim/Goal to bring the knowledge of all theemployees to bear on a customer problemanalysis anywhere in the world whether in
Europe, South Africa, Australia/New Zealand,or Japan
To get people to communicate with each other
Develop trust in each other Trust that one person was interestedin the
others success
Trust that what one person received fromothers was valid and sincere, and
Enough trust in the culture to help someoneelse
T l t l d ll th ld t
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Ten years ago, people traveled all over the world to
see each other with lots of face-to-face meetings
Today they also stay in touch in between meetings
making communications more continuous People ask for information via forums TechForum
One influential company-wide shared conversation
was during Buckmans global sales awards A large cash award was shared among top 3
salespeople worldwide
The entire award structure was restructured in front of
all employees top management did not dictate terms
Rare opportunity for solving an important, sensitive
issue taking along everyone!!
C ti th b i f t f i
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Conversations are the basis for transferring
knowledge
Experts identify threads of conversation
Valuable streams of reasoning are collected, edited
Given key words, and stored in the forum library
Virtual teams are always in action
Self-building knowledge base is created Later used for what-if analyses, and can be mined
later to create new knowledge
Another prime benefit timely, high quality responsesto customer needs
A new employee gets immediate advice from a 25-yr
experienced veteran colleague
K l d Ab ti d R
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Knowledge Absorption and Reuse:
Addresses the notion of getting knowledge into
peoples heads
There it can be enhanced and reused
High touch approaches emphasized in this
phase Also focused on nurturing interactions among
people
Two important actions: Recognize the knowledge brokers
Support communities of practice
R i i K l d b k
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Recognizing Knowledge brokers
Discovering who has what knowledge is a big step in
the right direction to fostering knowledge sharing
Dr. Seemann Patricia [Building KnowledgeInfrastructure: Creating Change Capabilities, 1995]
The Rudy Problem
Suffered during downsizing! Crucial, but unrecognized asset
Giving Rudy a title would have sent a positive signal
that knowledge sharing was recognized in the Co.
They are/can not be appointed. They just emerge from
within!
And when they emerge, they need support !
Support communities of practice T Shaped
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Support communities of practice T-Shapedmanagers: One approach to foster knowledgesharing
Morton Hansen [Harvard Business School] andBolko von Oetinger [Boston Consulting]
Executives who have both a
Vertical role running a business unit, and A horizontal role sharing knowledge with their
peers in other business units
It helps counterbalance the tendency tocompete with each other, and hoard expertise
However, success does not just happenreward!
Building Structural Capital
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Building Structural Capital
Main questionHow do we get knowledge outof peoples heads and into a computer, a
process, a document, or another organizationalasset?
Dr. Seemann created online yellow pages of
knowledge brokersRudys name was there! These yellow pages are a form of structural
capital
Companies emphasizing building structuralcapital generally use high-tech approaches
Two phases:
Knowledge Organization and Categorization
Knowledge Distribution and Access
Knowledge Organization and Categorization:
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Knowledge Organization and Categorization:
Creating best practices knowledge bases
Valuing intellectual capital
Knowledge Distribution and Access:Emphasizes
Pushing knowledge out to users, and
Accommodating users who pull information tothemselves
Also uses high-tech approaches
Focused on implementing networks andnetworking tools to access human andstructural capital
Intranets and groupware are the IT-based tools
B ildi C t C it l
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Building Customer Capital
Strength of a companys franchise with its
customers
The percentage of customer mindshare in its
industry
Brand recognition is a part of customer capital
Familiarity with ones products is another
The Cultural Side of Knowledge Management
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The Cultural Side of Knowledge Management
Success in KM comes as much from the changing
organization behaviour as from new technology
There will be cultural barriers Red Flags
Being seen as a whistle-bloweror messenger of bad
news (Shoot the messenger) avoid presenting early
warnings Losingones place as a gatekeeper knowledge
brokers may feel threatened with a KM project
KM doestake time experts may hide so that they are
not bothered by requests; others may not participateas there is no reward, so they think
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Some Examples
British petroleum uses desktop
teleconferencing to connect its drilling repairspecialists around the world
ONGC is working on a similar idea now
KOL (knowledge online) system of Booz Allenprovide detailed resume of every employees
experience