lecture 2 analysis km

Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011

Slide 1.1

Analysis 1: Evidence and the Nature of Knowledge in the Digital Age

Topic: Knowledge Management

Topic Number: 2


Slide 1.2

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• To explain the diversity of disciplines that constitute the field of knowledge management

• To distinguish between different perspectives in knowledge management

• To assess the differences in the management of knowledge from ancient to modern times


Slide 1.3

DEFINITIONS OF KM

Table 1.1 Representative sample of knowledge management definitions


Slide 1.4

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Figure 1.2 Tree of knowledge management – disciplines, content and activity


Slide 1.5

DIMENSIONS OF KM

Figure 1.3 Dimensions of knowledge management


Slide 1.6

Question to think about during the session

• Do you think information systems can provide the solution to most organisational problems? If not, why not?


Slide 1.7

DATA, INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE

Figure 1.4 Data, information, knowledge and purposeful action


Slide 1.8

Memory

• What is the best way of memorising something?

• What are the problems of using memory for knowledge sharing?

Figure 1.6 Scribe comparing two texts in a monastery (© The British Library Board(Lansdowne 1179 f34v))


Slide 1.9

ANCIENT TIMES: KNOWLEDGE & ORAL TRADITIONS

• Utilises natural human memory

• Requires prolonged contact between two or more individuals

• Lengthy process spent memorizing information leaving little room for critical evaluation

• Recited traditional rituals, myths, legends, music and epic poems


Slide 1.10

SUMERIANS & CUNEIFORM

• Sumerians emerged in Mesopotamia around 3500 BC

• Developed writing system called cuneiform

• Three-corned stylus cut different combination of wedges (‘cunei’) into damp clay tablets

• Early tablets mainly contained numbers – precursor to money

• Used for land management, bills, taxes and contracts

• Developed ‘archive mindedness’Figure 1.5 Example of cuneiform writing (this records the allocation of beer) (© TheTrustees of the British Museum)


Slide 1.11

KING ASHURBANIPAL’S LIBRARY

• Writing becomes an artificial memory with an objective existence

• Training required many years of arduous study under headmaster or ummia in ‘tablet houses’

• House of Knowledge (bit mummi) contained around 1200 distinct texts

• Omen texts predominate • Includes literary and archival material and

horoscopes, incantations, prayers, hymns, fables, proverbs and poetry


Slide 1.12

WRITING DEVELOPMENT

• Different technology used to make knowledge more transportable than clay or stone tablets

• Wood, bamboo, bark, palm leaf, bone, ivory, leather, metal, cloth, silk, Papyrus (Egyptian) and Chinese paper

• Thought writing – transmit ideas visually through objects and human representations such as 50,000 Chinese characters and 700 Egyptian hieroglyphs

• Sound writing – phonetics can manage with20–50 signs

• More information can be stored in less space


Slide 1.13

ANCIENT GREECE

• Books written on papyrus rolls or parchment• Aristotle’s Lyceum and Plato’s Academy

possessed a library• Pergamum library in Asia Minor housed around

160,000 rolls• Collection had some 200,000 books and a

catalogue• Possibly seized by Mark Anthony in 41 BC and

presented as a gift to Cleopatra but scholars are divided as to the accuracy of this information


Slide 1.14

RISKS TO KNOWLEDGE IN ANCIENT ROME

• Libraries vulnerable to fires• Damage to texts by insects or frequent handling• When Ovid fell from favour with Augustus, his

works were removed from libraries in 8 AD• Triumph of Christianity over paganism in 4th

century led to decay of traditional culture


Slide 1.15

MEDIEVAL LIBRARIES

• Adherents of Latin Christendom preserved recall of the past

• Scrolls changed from papyrus to parchment• Books invented as practical information

conveyance and valued commodity or revered object, art and artefact simultaneously

• Table of contents and indexes first appeared


Slide 1.16

Questions to Think About

• Why was print seen as a threat to knowledge sharing in the 15th century?

• What are the limitations of print?


Slide 1.17

PRINTING & KNOWLEDGE SHARING

• In 1455 Johann Gutenberg invented printing with movable type and printed 42-line Bible

• 16th century – new technology of copperplate engraving improved quality

• 1545 – as books proliferated Conrad Gesner published Bibliotheca Universalis

• Literacy rose as a result of printing press with Protestanism emphasis on private reading of Bible

• 18th century – introduction of newspapers, mechanisation of bookmaking process and cheap wood pulp


Slide 1.18

IT & KNOWLEDGE SHARING

• Computers leading to ‘paperless’ society but increased paper to be stored as printout backups

• ‘Information explosion’ leads libraries to share resources

• Print has limitations – learning based on dialogue• Dialogue through email, groupware and video

conferencing systems• Can store vast amounts of data into data

warehouses for store, analysis and retrieval


Slide 1.19

ROOTS OF MODERN DAY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

• Organisational learning

• Psychology

• Information systems

• Strategic management

• Culture


Slide 1.20

TIME FOR REFLECTION

What lessons can we learn from history to improve the quality of knowledge management within organisations?


Slide 1.21

Reading and preparatory work to be done

Read:• Jashapara, A. (2011) “ Knowledge Management:

An Integrated Approach” Pearson Education, Chapter 2

Work to be done before the seminar:• Carry out all the reading above• Answer the questions on the handout• Bring your work to the seminar

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Slide 1.22

Essential work for next week

• Please consult the OLE for details of:– Essential readings*– Seminar/workshop preparation work*– Recommended further readings– Any additional learning

* Essential readings and preparation work must always be completed in time for the next session

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lecture 2 analysis km

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