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
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