Module 4

Opening Vignette:
• The MITRE Corporation implemented a comprehensive knowledge
management (KM) environment starting with its Information
Infrastructure (MII) project in 1996.
• By fostering a knowledge-sharing culture, MITRE aimed to leverage its
extensive expertise to meet customer needs. The organization, with
over 6,000 employees and a vast range of technical and domain
expertise, faced the challenge of eliminating knowledge silos to address
the requirements of numerous complex research projects.
• MITRE's solution involved the creation of a knowledge locator system,
enabling efficient access to valuable information and promoting a
culture of sharing across the organization.
Introduction to Knowledge Management
• Knowledge Management Concepts and Definitions:
• Importance of KM: KM is essential for identifying,
sharing, and leveraging an organization's knowledge
assets.
• Intellectual Capital: MITRE used KM to transform its
intellectual capital into a valuable asset, reducing costs
and increasing efficiency.
• Systematic Approach: KM is a systematic process
involving the active management of information and
knowledge within an organization.
Knowledge:
• Definition: Knowledge is processed information that is timely,
relevant, and actionable.
• Difference from Data and Information: Data are raw facts;
information is processed data, and knowledge is actionable
information.
• Characteristics: Knowledge is contextual, relevant, and has a high
value due to its applicability in decision-making.
Explicit and Tacit Knowledge:
• Explicit Knowledge: Documented and easily transferable
knowledge (e.g., policies, manuals).
• Tacit Knowledge: Personal, experience-based knowledge that is
hard to formalize and transfer.
Taxonomy of Knowledge:
• Tacit Knowledge: Rooted in actions and experiences, often individual
or social.
• Explicit Knowledge: Articulated and generalized, often documented.
• Individual Knowledge: Created by and inherent in the individual.
• Social Knowledge: Created by and inherent in collective actions.
• Declarative, Procedural, Causal, Conditional, Relational, Pragmatic
Knowledge: Various types, each with specific examples and
applications.
Knowledge Management Systems (KMS):
• Purpose: To manage both tacit and explicit knowledge, making it
accessible and usable.
• Functions: Systematize, enhance, and expedite knowledge sharing and
application within organizations.
Organizational Learning and Transformation
The Learning Organization:
• Refers to an organization's ability to learn from past
experiences.
• Critical steps to build a learning organization:
• Meaning: Define a vision of what the learning organization should be.
• Management: Determine the approach and implementation.
• Measurement: Assess the rate and level of learning.
• Performs five main activities: solving problems systematically,
experimenting creatively, learning from past experiences,
learning from best practices, and transferring knowledge quickly
and efficiently.
Organizational Memory:
• A learning organization must have organizational memory to save, represent, and share its
knowledge.
• Only 10-20% of business data is explicitly documented; the rest exists in people's practices
and procedures.
• Capturing both explicit and tacit knowledge is essential.
• KMS (Knowledge Management Systems) can capture this memory and make it accessible for
reuse.
Organizational Learning:
• Development of new knowledge and insights that influence organizational behavior.
• Occurs when members of the organization share experiences, systems, and memories.
• Skills for learning include openness to new perspectives, awareness of biases, exposure to
unfiltered data, and a sense of humility.
• Critical for organizational success and involves collaboration across the organization.
• Depends on establishing a supportive culture for learning.
Organizational Culture:
• Determines the ability to learn, develop, and share knowledge.
• Over time, organizations learn what works and what doesn't.
• New employees learn from mentors about the organizational culture.
• Creating a culture that supports KM is essential for success.
• Barriers include lack of a learning-oriented culture and resistance to change.
Encouraging Knowledge Sharing:
• Sharing knowledge is vital for KM efforts but often faces obstacles.
• Common reasons people resist sharing knowledge include:
• Lack of time and incentives.
• Fear of reducing importance or making mistakes.
• Insufficient capture and sharing of experiences.
• Lack of trust and recognition.
• Technological barriers and inappropriate project alignment.
Barriers to Knowledge Sharing:
• Lack of Time: People may feel they don't have the time to
share knowledge.
• Fear of Reducing Importance: Sharing knowledge might be
perceived as making oneself less valuable.
• Insufficient Capturing: Knowledge sharing might be
inadequate due to lack of proper tools.
• Differences in Backgrounds: Cultural and educational
differences can impede knowledge sharing.
• Technological Mismatch: Inappropriate technology can
hinder effective knowledge management.
Knowledge Management Activities
• Knowledge Management Initiatives and Activities
• Importance: Due to global competition and the need to leverage
intellectual resources, organizations must manage knowledge
effectively to reduce costs and retain valuable information.
• Challenges: Recreating existing knowledge wastes time and
resources. Managing knowledge helps organizations remain
competitive.
• Three Main Aims:
• Knowledge Reuse: Making existing knowledge available.
• Developing Knowledge: Creating new knowledge assets.
• Building Knowledge Infrastructure: Establishing systems to support
knowledge management.
Knowledge Creation
• Definition: The process of generating new insights, ideas, or routines.
• SECI Model: Knowledge creation involves Socialization, Externalization,
Combination, and Internalization.
• Socialization: Sharing tacit knowledge through direct interaction.
• Externalization: Converting tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge.
• Combination: Integrating different types of explicit knowledge.
• Internalization: Learning and applying explicit knowledge internally.
Knowledge Sharing
• Definition: The deliberate act of exchanging knowledge between
individuals.
• Factors Affecting Sharing: Organizational culture, fear of reducing
personal value, and unclear value of shared knowledge.
• Facilitation Methods: Creating a supportive environment, fostering
access to knowledgeable members, and encouraging voluntary sharing.
Knowledge Seeking
• Definition: The act of looking for and acquiring knowledge.
• Hindrances: Reluctance to seek knowledge due to personal or cultural barriers, and fear of
exposing ignorance.
• Encouragement: Creating a culture that values knowledge seeking, and implementing formal
and informal knowledge seeking methods.
Approaches to Knowledge Management
• The Process Approach to Knowledge Management
• Characteristics: Focuses on explicit knowledge using formal controls, processes, and
technologies.
• Benefits: Structured knowledge reuse, scalability, and responsiveness to changes.
• Disadvantages: Potential rigidity, innovation limitations, and high IT investment
requirements.
The Practice Approach to Knowledge Management
• Characteristics: Centers on tacit knowledge sharing through informal social groups and
storytelling.
• Benefits: High-value tacit knowledge generation and transfer, fostering creativity and
innovation.
• Disadvantages: Potential inefficiency and lack of structure.
Hybrid Approaches to Knowledge Management
• Definition: Combining elements of both process and practice approaches to manage knowledge
effectively.
• Implementation: Balancing codified and tacit knowledge management practices.
• Challenges: Maintaining the balance and integrating both approaches seamlessly.
Best Practices and Knowledge Repositories
Best Practices
• Definition: Methods or techniques that consistently show superior results.
• Identification: Analyzing effective methods, benchmarking, and success stories.
• Application: Best practices can be used in specific departments or organization-wide.
Knowledge Repositories
• Definition: Systems for storing valuable knowledge and making it accessible throughout the
organization.
• Types: Databases for codified knowledge, or collections of expert knowledge for problem-solving.
• Importance: Facilitates knowledge sharing and reuse, enhancing organizational learning and
performance.
Information Technology(IT) in Knowledge Management
• 1. The KMS Cycle
• The Knowledge Management System (KMS) follows a cycle to continuously
update knowledge due to the changing environment. The cycle includes:
[Link] Knowledge: Developing new ways of doing things or innovations.
[Link] Knowledge: Identifying valuable new knowledge and representing
it for use.
[Link] Knowledge: Organizing new knowledge to make it actionable.
[Link] Knowledge: Storing useful knowledge in a repository.
[Link] Knowledge: Maintaining the repository and ensuring relevant
updates.
[Link] Knowledge: Sharing knowledge throughout the organization.
2. Components of KMS
• Communication Technologies: E-mail, intranets, corporate intranets for
accessing and sharing knowledge.
• Collaboration Technologies: Tools for group work and communication,
both synchronous and asynchronous.
• Storage and Retrieval Technologies: Systems for managing knowledge
storage, such as databases and repositories.
3. Technologies That Support Knowledge Management
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI methods in KMS include expert systems,
neural networks, and intelligent agents for enhancing knowledge sharing,
identifying patterns, and providing decision support.
• Intelligent Agents: Software systems assisting users by identifying and
delivering relevant knowledge.
• Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD): Techniques for extracting useful
information from large data sets, facilitating decision-making processes.
4. Knowledge Discovery in Databases
• KDD involves extracting information from large volumes of data, including:
• Data mining: Identifying patterns and rules.
• Model marts and model warehouses: Storing and analyzing decision support
information.
5. Extensible Markup Language (XML)
• XML: Facilitates data sharing and integration across different systems by
providing standardized data structures.
• Applications: Useful in e-commerce, supply chain management, and
enterprise integration by simplifying data exchange and integration.
6. Web 2.0
• Web 2.0 Technologies: Enhance information sharing and collaboration
through social networks, blogs, wikis, and other user-generated content
platforms.
• Impact: Web 2.0 facilitates knowledge management by providing tools for
easier communication and collaboration, leading to better knowledge
creation and sharing.
Knowledge Management Systems Implementation
Knowledge Management Products and Vendors
•Knowware: Technology tools supporting KM, including collaborative
computing tools, knowledge servers, and content management systems.
•Knowledge Servers: Integrate various KM components to facilitate
personalized and efficient knowledge management.
•Enterprise Knowledge Portals: Act as doorways into KMS, integrating EIS,
DSS, web browsers, and DBMS.
•Electronic Document Management (EDM): Focuses on managing
documents electronically.
•Content Management Systems (CMS): Manage web documents and
provide access to current data.
•Knowledge Harvesting Tools: Capture and manage knowledge
contributions.
•Search Engines: Locate necessary documents within KM repositories.
Consulting Firms and ASPs
• KM Consulting Firms: Provide KM services, products, and proprietary systems.
• Knowledge Management ASPs: Offer KM outsourcing services, focusing on
collaboration and data management.
Integration with Other Systems
• Integration with DSS/BIS Systems
• KMS applies knowledge to decision-making problems using a set of integrated tools.
Integration with AI
• AI methods assist in identifying expertise, extracting knowledge, and interfacing with
users.
• Technologies like intelligent agents and KDD enhance KM by automating the discovery
and organization of knowledge.
Integration with Intranets and Extranets
• KMS utilizes intranets and extranets to enable information sharing across the
organization.
• These systems support collaboration by connecting internal and external stakeholders.