Knowledge Management

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

Knowledge Management:

Approach And Activities

Presentation Outline ∀ ∀ ∀ Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

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What is knowledge What is knowledge management The value of knowledge assets Knowledge Processes The value of KM The development of KM The scope of KM Knowledge Management and Information Technology KM Activities KM Approaches Benefits of Knowledge Management

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

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

♦ One way to look at knowledge is as the apogee of the

following continuum – Data  information  knowledge – 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

Data

restructure Information Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

Data Bases

Knowledge Base

make explicit use Flow from external sources Knowledge

Actions

What is knowledge management

♦ At its broadest, KM is the ‘process through which organizations

generate value from intellectual and knowledge based assets’ Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

♦ The purpose of KM is to gather, categorize, store and spread all

knowledge that is needed to make the organization both grow and prosper. It is not as much a technology change as it is a cultural change, but technology is a primary enabler of KM practices.

The value of knowledge assets ♦ There are two types of knowledge assets – – Explicit or formal assets like copyrights, patents, templates, publications, reports, archives, etc. Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

– Tacit or informal assets that are rooted in human experience and include personal belief, perspective, and values

♦ 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

Knowledge Processes Knowledge Generation

Creation & Capture Unlocking • Research our • Studies knowledge to• Assessments optimize • ourField workExp. in •Asia Dialogue and with Partners Pacific

Technology

Class’n, Storage & Retrieval

Sharing & Enriching

• Teams

• Committees • Networks

Communication And Application

• Documentation

• Databanks -Lessons Learned -Best Practices -Research Findings • Targets

Organization Constraints/ Support

• Reporting • Incentives • Systems • Technology • Skills • Resources

Dissemination

• Publications

• Policy advice • Institution building support • Seminars/ forums • Websites • Online services

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) Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

– Most of the work is information based (and often immersed in a computing environment) – The products, services, and environment are more complex than ever before – Workforces are increasingly unstable leading to escalating demands for knowledge replacement/acquisition ♦ Knowledge management is fast emerging as a core strategy, that

organizations worldwide are adopting to manage and leverage organizational knowledge for sustainable business advantage.

Good Examples Of Successful KM Programs ♦ Ford Motor Company's Manufacturing Best Practices Program

improves the efficiency of manufacturing processes and the quality of products.

♦ Rolls-Royce's Knowledge Acquisition and Modeling Process

improves project management processes.

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

♦ BP's

knowledge management program started with the exploration and production process, but now includes project management processes.

♦ Shell Oil's Global Learning and Development involves

continuous learning around the exploration and production process.

♦ The Knowledge and Learning Practice at the World Bank

Institute focused on improving development projects funded through the World Bank.

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

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in ♦ Asia and Pacific

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 scope of KM ♦ Today, most companies define the scope of KM

as – Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

– 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) Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

♦ Information management tries to make the right

information available to the right person at the right time through 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 power of technology

KM culture ♦ All knowledge has a social and evolutionary

facet

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

♦ 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 systems ♦ KM succeeds fully when it is woven into the

fabric of an organization and becomes intrinsic to an organization’s processes

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

♦ 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

Knowledge Management and Information Technology ♦ While technology can support KM, it is not the

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

starting point of a KM program. Make KM decisions based on who (people), what (knowledge) and why (business objectives). Save the how (technology) for last. ♦ Organizations can attain maturity in KM only

through healthy coexistence processes and people.

of

technology,

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: ACTIVITIES ♦ 1) Searching for knowledge and receiving knowledge ♦ 2) Restructuring the knowledge ♦ 3) Making knowledge explicit Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

♦ 4) Associating the knowledge with the actions described in

the process model ♦ 5) Making knowledge available for actions which need it and delivering it to the right agents in the right moment ♦ 6) Updating knowledge and change management ♦ 7) Quality management

Knowledge Management and General Management

♦ All these tasks cannot be separated from the general

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

management activities. ♦ Knowledge is used when actions are performed and actions are organized by the management. ♦ Actions on the other hand change the knowledge, e.g. – organizational changes – change in the employees – change of the context (new products, customers etc.)

♦ Therefore knowledge management is a central

element of management.

ACTIVITY (1): Searching and Receiving Knowledge ♦ Data, information and knowledge does not come from itself ♦ Some sources of knowledge are known, others have to be found ♦ The management’s task is to:

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

– – – – –

Get an overview over sources and organize the search for them Determine the times (or periods) when sources have new knowledge Organize the access to and the flow from the sources Receive the demanded knowledge properly Classify and receive the knowledge which came in but not on demand

Sources ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Document Oriented Knowledge Structure Tables Content Oriented Knowledge Structures Linguistic tools, Thesaurus etc. are useful.

ACTIVITY (2): Restructuring Knowledge ♦ The task of the knowledge management is to

organize Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

– Restructuring – Pointing out weaknesses and getting other sources

♦ Restructuring has two aspects: – Restructuring of a single input document – Embed in or distribute the input over the whole knowledge structure

Different agents may need knowledge pieces in different forms or formats

ACTIVITY (3): Making Knowledge Explicit ♦ It is the purpose of data mining techniques to make

knowledge in data bases explicit. Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

♦ The knowledge management has to organize this: – Where are weak points ? – Which information can be helpful for improvement ? – How to obtain the information ?

♦ Knowledge in texts can at least partially be made

explicit by – Extracting key words – extracting phrases – extracting abstracts

ACTIVITY(4): Which Knowledge for What ?

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

Knowledge in business: ♦ Is oriented on business processes ♦ Influences partially the general structure of the processes ♦ Has to allow a fast and optimal representation of the knowledge in actual contexts Important Define information goals and a plan to achieve them in order to have optimal effects The value of a piece of knowledge is the difference of costs connected with the action when performed with or without the knowledge.

ACTIVITY(5): Organizing the Use of Knowledge ♦ Missing Knowledge creates errors ♦ Too much knowledge confuses

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

Knowledge for each task has to be accessible ♦ for the right persons ♦ at the right time ♦ at the right place ♦ in the needed format

This task is very complex and uses different techniques.

ACTIVITY (6): Change Management ♦ Knowledge is not invariant but undergoes continuous

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

changes. There are external reasons for this (the context changes) as well as internal reasons (e.g. organizational changes). ♦ These changes have to be reported at the right time to those agents who need it. ♦ The report can be given on demand as well as proactive. ♦ The change management organizes this in a systematic way.

ACTIVITY (7): Quality Management ♦ Quality decreases over time due to changes (external

as well as internal) if no reaction takes place.

♦ The quality of the processes has to be controlled Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

continuously:

– Observation of the environment data – Observation of the process – Interpretation of observed data on the basis of quality models.

♦ The results of the control are transformed into actions

which re-establish the quality.

♦ The knowledge manager has to ensure the quality of

the knowledge and has in particular to deal with knowledge gaps.

Knowledge Management Approaches

♦ In a posting to the Knowledge Management

Forum, Karl-Erik Sveiby identified two "tracks" of knowledge management: Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

• Management of Information: "… knowledge = Objects that can be identified and handled in information systems." • Management of People: knowledge consists of "… processes, a complex set of dynamic skills, know-how, etc., that is constantly changing."

Mechanistic approaches to knowledge management ♦ Mechanistic approaches to knowledge management are characterized by

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

the application of technology and resources to do more of the same better. Assumptions – Better accessibility to information is a key, including enhanced methods of access and reuse of documents (hypertext linking, databases, full-text search, etc.) – Networking technology in general (especially intranets), in particular, will be key solutions. – In general, technology and sheer volume of information will make it work. Assessment: +ve ♦ relatively easy to implement for corporate "political" reasons ♦ the technologies and techniques are familiar and easily understood. -ve ♦ it’s simply not clear whether access itself will have a substantial impact on business performance, ♦ Unless the knowledge management approach incorporates methods of leveraging cumulative experience, the net result may not be positive, and the impact of implementation may be no more measurable than in traditional paper models.

Cultural/behavioristic approaches to knowledge management

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

♦

Substantial roots in process re-engineering and change management

♦

tend to view the "knowledge problem" as a management issue. Technology — though ultimately essential for managing explicit knowledge resources — is not the solution.

♦

focus more on innovation and creativity (the "learning organization") than on leveraging existing explicit resources or making working knowledge explicit.

Assumptions ♦ Organizational behaviors and culture need to be changed ♦ It’s the processes that matter, not the technology. ♦ Nothing happens or changes unless a manager makes it happen. Assessment: ♦ The cultural factors affecting organizational change have almost certainly been undervalued, and cultural/behavioristic implementations have shown some benefits. ♦

But the cause-effect relationship between cultural strategy and business benefits is not clear

♦

Positive results achieved by cultural/behavioristic strategies may not be sustainable, measurable, cumulative, or replicable

Systematic approaches to knowledge management ♦

Systematic approaches to knowledge management retain the traditional faith in rational analysis of the knowledge problem: the problem can be solved, but new thinking of many kinds is required.

Assumptions :

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific

–

It’s sustainable results that matter, not the processes or technology … or your definition of "knowledge."

–

A resource cannot be managed unless it is modeled, and many aspects of the organization’s knowledge can be modeled as an explicit resource.

–

Cultural issues are important, but they too must be evaluated systematically. Employees may or may not have to be "changed," but policies and work practices must certainly be changed, and technology can be applied successfully to business knowledge problems themselves.

–

Knowledge management has an important management component, but it is not an activity or discipline that belongs exclusively to managers.

Assessment: +ve: ♦

rationalists in the business world are taking a systematic approach to solving the "knowledge problem." You’ll also find evidence of such approaches as well as a less formal use of the term systematic knowledge management

♦

Systematic approaches show the most promise for positive cumulative impact, measurability, and sustainability.

Benefits of Knowledge Management

Unlocking our knowledge to optimize our work in Asia and Pacific