Professional Documents
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A practitioner’s perspective
Agenda
What is knowledge management
(KM)
Definition(s)
History
Key concepts
First, what is knowledge
In simplest terms, knowledge is the ability of an actor
to respond to a body of facts and principles
accumulated over a period of time
One way to look at knowledge is as the apogee of the
following continuum – datainformationknowledge
Data=1 unit of fact; information=aggregation of data;
knowledge=potential for action on information
Data and information have intrinsic properties, the quality
of knowledge depends on the properties of the agent
What is knowledge
management
There is no universal definition for
knowledge management
At its broadest, KM is the ‘process
through which organizations
generate value from intellectual
and knowledge based assets’
Knowledge assets
There are two types of knowledge
assets –
Explicit or formal assets like copyrights,
patents, templates, publications, reports,
archives, etc.
Tacit or informal assets that are rooted
in human experience and include
personal belief, perspective, and values
The value of knowledge
assets
Knowledge assets are often
described as the the intellectual
capital of an organization
The value of intellectual capital is
often intangible
A popular measure is the difference
between the cost of capital assets
and the cost of replacing them
The value of KM
It is important to manage knowledge assets
because –
Organizations compete increasingly on the base of
knowledge (the only sustainable competitive
advantage, according to some)
Most of our work is information based (and often
immersed in a computing environment)
Our products, services, and environment are more
complex than ever before
Workforces are increasingly unstable leading to
escalating demands for knowledge
replacement/acquisition
The development of KM
Knowledge began to be viewed as a competitive asset in the
80s, around the same time that information explosion started
becoming an issue
The trend was fueled by the development of IT systems which
made it simple to store, display, and archive classified,
indexed information
The process received a fillip after Drucker (and others)
stressed the role of knowledge as an organization resource,
and Senge popularized ‘learning organizations’
Seeds of KM may also be found in business practices like TQM
and BPR to which KM is often compared
The sources of KM
Today, KM draws from a wide range of
disciplines/practices –
Cognitive science
Groupware, AI, KBMS
Library and information science
Document management
Decision support systems
Technical writing
Organizational science
Many more
KM today (catch-all?)
There is a great risk today of KM
over-reaching itself
Everything from organizational learning
to business and competitive
intelligence has become fair game for
KM
There are KM components to each of
these but these spaces are however
best left to specialized practitioners
The scope of KM
Today, most companies define the
scope of KM as –
KM mechanics (tools for information
management)
KM culture (knowledge as a social activity)
KM systems (knowledge sharing as part of
an organization’s DNA)
KM mechanics
Information management may well be considered the first
wave of KM (and is still often considered synonymous with
KM)
Information management tries to make the right information
available to the right person at the right time though a
variety of database driven information applications
Information management tools try to capture the human
experience of knowledge through the collecting, classifying,
disseminating, searching, indexing, and archival power of
technology
Limitations of mechanical
KM
Reliance on technology produces consensual
knowledge (over-reliance on best practices
for instance) and may stifle innovation
The notion that ‘right information’ is
predictable and flows from historical data
may be flawed
Making information available in not enough;
getting people to use it is more critical
KM culture
All knowledge has a social and
evolutionary facet
There is a crying need to
continuously subject knowledge to
re-examination and modification
It is important to keep the human
and social elements of organization
involved in all stored knowledge
KM culture through CoP
Communities of practice (or thematic groups) are
a popular way of injecting KM culture in an
organization
CoPs are fora where members share information
and experiences, develop new insights,
assimilate and transform knowledge
CoPs emphasize shared interests and work
across locations and time zones (often using
technology developed during KM’s first wave)
KM systems
KM succeeds fully when it is woven into the
fabric of an organization and becomes intrinsic
to an organization’s processes
Common practices include –
Formal KM leadership
Formal rewards and recognition for KM oriented work
Tools and mechanisms that encourage knowledge
sharing
Development of knowledge bases
Intellectual asset management
Metrics to evaluate KM initiatives
KM systems today
In many ways, the systemic approach is
the logical culmination of KM mechanics
and KM culture
Many KM systems are however not yet
robust enough –
KM metrics (surveys, benchmarking,
cost/benefit studies, service evaluation) are
still an inexact science
Knowledge workers are often KM resistant (KM
is frequently considered an oxymoron)
KM – the report card
Clearly, the jury is still out on KM though there is
increased acceptance that KM can be central to
organizational success
The key achievements of KM have been in
emphasizing that –
There is a tacit dimension of knowledge creation which
must be recognized and valued
Knowledge is subjective and interpretative and distinct
from raw data or information
Meaning is central to knowledge creation
Knowledge is social and interactive in nature
Technology is an inalienable aspect of KM
KM readings/references
Good sources on the internet include
The KM forum (http://www.km-forum.org/)
The CIO magazine’s knowledge
management research center (
http://www.cio.com/research/knowledge/)
The KMNetwork (http://www.brint.com/km/)
The KM resource center (
http://www.kmresource.com/exp.htm)
KM readings/references –
contd.
The KM literature is vast, but good starting points
include –
Nonaka, Ikujiro, and Hirotaka Takeuchi. The Knowledge-
Creating Company.
Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice
of the Learning Organization
Wiig, Karl, M. Knowledge Management Foundations:
Thinking About Thinking - How People and Organizations
Represent, Create and Use Knowledge
Menou, Michel J. (Ed.). Measuring the Impact of
Information on Development
Harris, Michael H. History of Libraries in the Western World
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