Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice

Lecture 2: The Knowledge Management Cycle

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Overview

Major KM Cycles Knowledge-Information Cycle (ACIIC

Knowledge Economy) Meyer and Zack KM Cycle Bukowitz and Wiliams McElroy KM Cycle Wiig KM Cycle

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KM Cycle Processes

Knowledge Capture Knowledge Creation Knowledge Codification Knowledge Sharing Knowledge Access Knowledge Application Knowledge Re-Use

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5

Bukowitz and Williams

GET

USE

LEARN CONTRIBUTE

ASSESS

BUILD/SUSTAIN

OR: DIVEST

Knowledge

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Bukowitz and Williams /2

Get: seeking out information Tacit and explicit Being selective when faced with information

overload Use: combine content in new and interesting

ways to foster innovation in the organization Learn: learning from experiences

Creation of an organizational memory

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Bukowitz and Williams/3

Contribute: motivate employees to post what they have learned to a knowledge base Link individual learning and knowledge to

organizational memory

Assess: evaluation of intellectual capital Identify assets, metrics to assess them and link

these directly to business objectives

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Bukowitz and Williams/4

Build and Sustain: allocate resources to maintain knowledge base Contribute to viability, competitiveness

Divest: should not keep assets that are no longer of any business value Transfer outside the organization e.g.

outsourcing Patent, spin off companies etc.

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KM Cycle Processes

Knowledge Capture Knowledge Creation & Contribution Selectively filter contributions Knowledge Codification & Refinement Knowledge Sharing Knowledge Access Knowledge Learning &Application Knowledge Evaluation & Re-Use OR Divest

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Wiig KM Cycle

Processes by which we build and use knowledge As individuals As teams (communities) As organizations

How we: Build knowledge Hold knowledge Pool knowledge Apply knowledge

Discrete tasks yet often interdependent & parallel

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Wiig KM Cycle/2

Build Knowledge

Hold Knowledge

Pool Knowledge

Use Knowledge

•Personal experience•Formal education and training•Intelligence sources•Media, books, peers

•In people•In tangible forms (e.g. books)

•KM systems (intranet, dbase)•Groups of people- brainstorm

•In work context•Embedded in work processes

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Wiig KM Cycle/3

Build Knowledge

Hold Knowledge

Pool Knowledge

Use Knowledge

•Personal experience•Formal education and training•Intelligence sources•Media, books, peers

•In people•In tangible forms (e.g. books)

•KM systems (intranet, dbase)•Groups of people- brainstorm

•In work context•Embedded in work processes

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Building Knowledge

Learning from all kinds of sources to: Obtain Knowledge Analyze Knowledge Reconstruct (Synthesize) Knowledge Codify and Model Knowledge Organize Knowledge

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Obtaining Knowledge

Create new knowledge Research and development projects Innovations, experimentation, trial and error Reasoning with existing knowledge Hire new people

Import knowledge from existing sources Elicit knowledge from experts Acquire from manuals, books, other documents Transfer people between departments

Observe the real world

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Analyzing Knowledge

Extract what appears to be knowledge from obtained materials Analyze transcripts, reports about new concepts Listen to explanation and select key concepts

Abstract extracted material Identify patterns to describe, estimate Create explicit relations between knowledge elements

(e.g. causal, correlation, contribution nets) Verify that extracted content is correct through

observation

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Reconstruct (Synthesize) Knowledge

Generalize analyzed materials to obtain broader principles

Generate hypotheses to explain observed behaviour in terms of causal factors

Establish conformance between new and existing knowledge (validity, coherence)

Update total knowledge pool by incorporating new knowledge Discard old, false, outdated, no longer relevant knowledge

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Codify and Model Knowledge

Represent knowledge in our minds by building mental models

Model knowledge by assembling declarations and relational statements into a coherent whole

Document knowledge in books and manuals Encode knowledge into knowledge bases

(computerized KBS tools)

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Organize Knowledge

Organize new knowledge for specific uses E.g. sequence for diagnostics, help desk, FAQs

Organize new knowledge according to an established framework Categorize according to organizational standards Taxonomy, ontology, official list of key words,

attributes, linguistic/translation guidelines….

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Building Knowledge - Examples

Market research Focus groups Surveys Competitive intelligence Data mining on customer preferences

Synthesis of lessons learned (what worked, what didn’t) – generate hypotheses Validate using customer satisfaction questionnaire and

interviews Document as training manual for marketing to this specific

target market

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Wiig KM Cycle/4

Build Knowledge

Hold Knowledge

Pool Knowledge

Use Knowledge

•Personal experience•Formal education and training•Intelligence sources•Media, books, peers

•In people•In tangible forms (e.g. books)

•KM systems (intranet, dbase)•Groups of people- brainstorm

•In work context•Embedded in work processes

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Holding Knowledge

In people’s minds, books, computerized knowledge bases, etc. Remember knowledge – internalize it Cumulate knowledge in repositories (encode it) Embed knowledge in repositories (within procedures) Archive knowledge

Create scientific library, subscriptions Retire older knowledge from active status in repository (e.g. store

in another medium for potential future retrieval – cd roms, etc.)

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Holding Knowledge - Examples

Company owns a number of proprietary methods and recipes for making products

Some knowledge documented in the form of research reports, technical papers, patents

Other tacit knowledge can be elicited and embedded in the knowledge base in the form of know-how, tips, tricks of the trade Videotapes of specialized experts explaining various

procedures Task support systems

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Wiig KM Cycle/5

Build Knowledge

Hold Knowledge

Pool Knowledge

Use Knowledge

•Personal experience•Formal education and training•Intelligence sources•Media, books, peers

•In people•In tangible forms (e.g. books)

•KM systems (intranet, dbase)•Groups of people- brainstorm

•In work context•Embedded in work processes

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Pooling Knowledge

Can take many forms such as discussions, expert networks and formal work teams

Pooling knowledge consists of: Coordinating knowledge of collaborative teams Creating expert networks to identify who knows what Assembling knowledge – background references from

libraries and other knowledge sources Accessing and retrieving knowledge

Consult with knowledgeable people about a difficult problem, peer reviews, second opinions

Obtain knowledge directly from a repository – advice, explanations

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Pooling Knowledge - Examples

An employee realizes he or she does not have the necessary knowledge and know-how to solve a particular problem

She contact others in the company who have had similar problems to solve, consults the knowledge repository and makes use of an expert advisory system to help her out

She organizes all this information and has subject matter experts validate the content

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Wiig KM Cycle/6

Build Knowledge

Hold Knowledge

Pool Knowledge

Use Knowledge

•Personal experience•Formal education and training•Intelligence sources•Media, books, peers

•In people•In tangible forms (e.g. books)

•KM systems (intranet, dbase)•Groups of people- brainstorm

•In work context•Embedded in work processes

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Using Knowledge

Use established knowledge to perform routine tasks, make standard products, provide standard services

Use general knowledge to survey exceptional situations, identify problem, consequences

Use knowledge to describe situation and scope problem Select relevant special knowledge to handle situation, identify

knowledge sources Observe and characterize the situation, collect and organize

information Analyze situation, determine patterns, compare with others,

judge what needs to be done

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Using Knowledge (con’t)

Synthesize alternative solutions, identify options, create new solutions

Evaluate potential alternatives, appraise advantages and disadvantages of each, determine risks and benefits of each

Use knowledge to decide what to do, which alternative to select

Rank alternatives & test that each is feasible, acceptable Implement selected alternative

Choose and assemble tools needed Prepare implementation plan, distribute it, authorize team to proceed

with this solution

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Using Knowledge - Examples

Expert mechanic encounters a new problem Gathers info to diagnose and analyze Synthesizes a list of possible solutions with the

tools he knows are available to him Decides on the best option and uses it to fix the part

Non-routine tasks are approached in a different way than familiar, standard ones

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KM Cycle Processes

Knowledge Capture Knowledge Creation & Contribution Knowledge Codification & Refinement (inc. Sanitize) &

Reconstruction (e.g. synthesis) Selectively filter contributions Knowledge Modeling Knowledge Sharing & Pooling Knowledge Organization &Access Knowledge Learning &Application Knowledge Evaluation & Re-Use OR Divest

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Five Critical Knowledge Functions for each KM Cycle Step

Type of knowledge or skill involved Securities trading expertise

Business use of that knowledge Increase the value of a retirement fund portfolio

Constraint that prevents knowledge from being fully utilized

Expert will retire at the end of the year with no successor

Opportunities, alternatives to manage that knowledge Elicit and codify knowledge before person retires

Expected value-added of improving the situation Valuable knowledge is not lost to organization

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Group activity

In small groups, discuss the following: What knowledge object would you want next

year’s class to have? To re-use? Go through the KM processes and see how you

would capture and make available to them What would you have liked to have known

before coming to our program? Anything unexpected? Surprises? Things you had to discover….?

Can continue discussion online…

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Some topics from previous classes….

Workload Student life in a new city State of the profession - - wiki Alumni, recent graduates, job statistics Course information – satisfied with information that was

mailed out, that is on the website Specific course information

tailored so students coming from diverse background (work, undergrad degree, technological know needed for course, theoretical content etc.

provide demographic info on the incoming class

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Next:

Selected knowledge management models