Knowledge Management

UNIT 1

Knowledge Management
Knowledge management (KM) comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in individuals or embedded in organizations as processes or practices. Knowledge management efforts typically focus on organizational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and continuous improvement of the organization

 "Knowledge management is the process of capturing, distributing, and effectively using knowledge. "Knowledge management is a discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing all of an enterprise's information assets. These assets may include databases, documents, policies, procedures, and previously un-captured expertise and experience in individual workers. - Duhon, 1998

 Knowledge management (KM) cannot be achieved with a single definite activity. It involves an assortment of activities. These are usually referred to be knowledge activities. The utilization of the knowledge activities at the resources connected to knowledge which is limited and assisted through an extensive choice of aspects will result in KM. KM supports & coordinates the creation, transfer & application of individual knowledge into value creation process.

HISTORY
KM efforts have a long history, to include on-the-job discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. More recently, with increased use of computers in the second half of the 20th century, specific adaptations of technologies such as knowledge bases, expert systems, knowledge repositories, group decision support systems, intranets, and computer-supported cooperative work have been introduced to further enhance such efforts

 In 1999, the term personal knowledge management was introduced which refers to the management of knowledge at the individual level (Wright 2005). More recently with the advent of the Web, the concept of Knowledge Management has evolved towards a vision more based on people participation and emergence

Knowledge V/S Information

Knowledge
Something that we have acquired individually through experience and education that is useful to our lives. It becomes knowledge once we apply it or use it Knowledge is personal and individual Involves a personal experience Knowledge is made up from other factors, such as: information, belief, experiences. Can be shared but might be perceived differently

Information
Bits of facts that have been provided about something or someone. Data and facts that we know are there The raw data collected through observations General data expressed by numbers, words, images and sounds Can be shared, much more easily understood by everyone Provided information

TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is intangible, dynamic, and difficult to measure, but without it no organization can survive. Tacit: or unarticulated knowledge is more personal, experiential, context specific, and hard to formalize; is difficult to communicate or share with others; and is generally in the heads of individuals and teams. Explicit: explicit knowledge can easily be written down and codified.

 Explicit Knowledge is knowledge that is consciously understood & can be articulated. In other words, knowledge the knower is aware of & can talk about. Explicit knowledge Objective, rational, technical Policies, goals, strategies, papers, reports Codified Leaky knowledge

 Tacit Knowledge is knowledge that knower is not aware about. Tacit knowledge Subjective, cognitive, experiential learning Highly personalized Difficult to formalize Sticky knowledge

KNOWLEDGE ASSET
A Knowledge Asset is any type of knowledge held or in use by an organization. Knowledge Assets are related to but distinct from tangible assets, monetary assets, and the traditional accounting concept of intangible assets. These assets may include stakeholder relationships, customer loyalty, know-how, employee competency, trust, and experience.

 Knowledge Base: Computing the underlying set of facts, assumptions and inference rules which a computer system has available to solve a problem: a set of database. Knowledge Box: The head knowledge factory, a university college etc; which places emphasis on vocational training or which overemphasizes factual knowledge. Knowledge Industry: The development and use of knowledge in universities, polytechnics etc.

Knowledge Economy
The knowledge economy is the use of knowledge technologies to produce economic benefits as well as job creation. It can be defined as " The concept that supports creation of knowledge by organizational employees and helps and encourages them to transfer and better utilize their knowledge that is in line with company/organization goals The global economy is in transition to a "knowledge economy," as an extension of an "information society.

 The transition requires that the rules and practices that determined success in the industrial economy need rewriting in an interconnected, globalized economy where knowledge resources such as know-how and expertise are as critical as other economic resources. These rules need to be rewritten at the levels of firms and industries in terms of knowledge management and at the level of public policy as knowledge policy or knowledge-related policy.

 The new source of wealth is knowledge, and not labor, land, or financial capital. It is the intangible, intellectual assets that must be managed. The key challenge of the knowledge-based economy is to foster innovation. For several decades the world's best-known forecasters of societal change have predicted the emergence of a new economy in which brainpower, not machine power, is the critical resource. But the future has already turned into the present, and the era of knowledge has arrived.

The knowledge economy rests on three pillars: The role that knowledge plays in transactions: it is what is being bought and sold; both the raw materials and the finished goods The concurrent rise in importance of knowledge assets, which transform and add value to knowledge products The emergence of ways to manage these materials and assets, or KM

The Grey Revolution

R A Mashelkar, Director General of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has been a well known proponent of grey revolution and one who believes that the country has the best potential to come on top of the world through an intensive knowledge gaining process. The emergence of seamless laboratory culture is driving the global technology game and India has more than a fighting chance to have a share in this game. After R&D it is going to be patenting where much of the action will take place which is an area where KM would play a very important role.

Do You Really Need KM?

Competitive success will be based on how strategically intellectual capital is managed Capturing the knowledge residing in the minds of employees so that it can be easily shared across the enterprise Leveraging organizational knowledge is emerging as the solution to an increasingly fragmented and globallydispersed workplace

 If your department wants to stop constantly reengineering and downsizing: talented people are assets to be developed for a global 21st Century If you are interested in the Knowledge Grid If you understand that reuse of knowledge saves work, reduces communication costs, and allows a company to take on more projects

Organizational Knowledge: Why Is It Important?

Knowledge can be embedded in processes, products, systems, and controls Knowledge can be accessed as it is needed from sources inside or outside the firm It is versatile and can be transferred formally, through training, or informally, by way of workplace socialization It is the essence of the competitive edge!

Knowledge Management Types

Competency Management :Competency management -one of the fastest growing areas of knowledge management is competency management, which focuses on displaying information in sophisticated ways to understand labor trends and compensation. Telecommunications giant L.M. Ericsson in Sweden has already embraced the idea of tracking skills and competencies throughout the organization. The company has used knowledge management to post consistent performance gains throughout the 1990s.

 Knowledge Sharing: Another type of KM that is attracting attention is knowledge sharing. A growing number of firms use Intranets and online forums to spread knowledge. Glance into the inner workings of Buckman Laboratories and you get an idea of how knowledge can flow in every direction and how each person can become a willing participant in the program.

 Competitive Knowledge Management Competitive knowledge management -- yet another area of knowledge management blends competency management and knowledge sharing. Since Arthur Andersen's Atlanta-based business consulting division established an Intranet two years ago, consultants at the firm post knowledge workplans, methodologies, research, proposals and resumes, so that others in the organization can tap into high-level expertise on an asneeded basis. It's called: not reinventing the wheel logic!

For Successful Managing of Knowledge

Focus on five tasks: Generating knowledge Accessing knowledge Representing and embedding knowledge Facilitating knowledge Transferring knowledge It is a process of instilling the culture and helping people find ways to share and utilize their collective knowledge.

Knowledge Management Enablers

Leadership Knowledge champions, such as CKOs Culture Access Technology Learning Culture