overview of knowledge management

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

TRIMESTER 6: PGDM 2011-13 By

FIRDAUS KHAN Assoc. Professor (Finance & Corp. Training)

ICBM-SBE, AP, India

firdaus@icbm.ac.in 4/30/2013

Data Overload?

Or Knowledge Revolution?

• Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data — so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone!

• 1.8 zettabytes is being created & replicated this year alone. It would require 57.5 billion 32 GB iPads to store & will be worth about $34.4 trillion - equivalent to the GDP of USA, Japan, China, Germany, France, UK & Italy combined!!

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Knowledge Shared = (Knowledge)2

HOW HAS THE MODERN WORK

ENVIRONMENT CHANGED?

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Traditional Work

• Data oriented

• Internal

• Centralized

• Hierarchy

• Structured, deterministic

• 1 position, 1 person

• Fixed work station

• Things

• Coordination of access, integrity & control of redundancy

Knowledge Work

• Communication oriented

• Cooperation, Coopetition, Networks

• Decentralized

• Network

• Unstructured, ad-hoc workflows

• Multiple roles per person

• Mobile, virtual, multiple workstations, telecommuting

• Flows

• Synchronization, info sharing, search & retrieval

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Criteria

• Orientation

• Focus

• Command

• Structure

• Process

• Role

• Workspace

• Location of value

• Data Handling

DIMENSIONS OF KNOWLEDGE WORK

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DATA

vs.

INFORMATION

vs.

KNOWLEDGE

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Data, Information & Knowledge

• Data refers to facts, which have not been structured & have not been interpreted, therefore have no meaning.

• Information is relevant, structured and meaningful data. There is a sender & a receiver. It can be stored on media such as paper, computer, audio tape, etc.

• Knowledge is factual information acquired through personal experience. It has a purpose & intent but is emergent & socially constructed. It exists only in people’s heads.

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FROM DATA TO WISDOM

Wisdom

Knowledge

Information

Data

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MEANING

CONTEXT

INSIGHT

TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE TACIT KNOWLEDGE

EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE

EMBRAINED KNOWLEDGE

EMBODIED KNOWLEDGE

ENCULTURED KNOWLEDGE

EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE

ENCODED KNOWLEDGE firdaus@icbm.ac.in

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KM DRIVERS

KM

Fragmentation of Knowledge

Need for Speed –

Cycle Time Reduction

Knowledge Attrition

Globalization & Knowledge

Merging

Content Management

E-Learning

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KM IS INTER-DISCIPLINARY • Cognitive science

• Relational and object databases,

• Expert systems, Artificial Intelligence,

• Computer-supported collaborative work (groupware), object-oriented information modeling

• Library and information science

• Technical writing, Document management

• Decision support systems, Simulation

• Semantic networks

• Organizational science, performance support systems

• Electronic publishing technology, hypertext, internet

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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT • Knowledge Management can be defined as a

systematic process that creates, captures, shares, and analyzes knowledge in ways that directly improve organizational performance.

• It comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable the adoption of insights and experiences.

• It is the ability to get the right information to the right people at the right time, and in the right place, so that an organization can be operated smoothly and efficiently.

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COMPONENTS OF KM CYCLE

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KM TECHNOLOGIES

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KM LIFE CYCLE • Knowledge is acquired or captured using intranets,

extranets, groupware, web conferencing, and document management systems.

• An organizational memory is formed by refining, organizing, and storing knowledge using structured repositories such as data warehouses.

• Knowledge is distributed through education, training programs, automated knowledge based systems, expert networks.

• Knowledge is applied or leveraged for further learning and innovation via mining of the organizational memory and the application of expert systems such as decision support systems.

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TOOLS USED IN EACH PHASE OF KM

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OUTCOMES OF KM

• Foster innovation and organizational learning by encouraging the free flow of ideas

• Improve decision making • Improve customer service by streamlining

response time • Boost revenues by getting products and services to

market faster • Enhance employee retention rates by recognizing

the value of employees' knowledge and rewarding them for it

• Streamline operations and reduce costs by eliminating redundant or unnecessary processes

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OUTCOMES OF KM (contd.)

• Achieving shorter new product development cycles

• Leveraging the expertise of people across the organization

• Increasing network connectivity between internal and external individuals

• Managing business environments and allowing employees to obtain relevant insights and ideas appropriate to their work

• Managing intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the expertise and know-how possessed by key individuals)

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KM IN PRACTICE • Large revenue gains & efficiency improvements

have been recorded by many major companies.

• Ford Motor Company accelerated its concept-to-production time from 36 months to 24 months.

• Dow Chemical Company saved $40 million a year in the re-use of patents.

• Chase Manhattan Bank used CRM KM initiatives to increase its annual revenue by 15%

• Pfizer credits KM practices for discovering the hidden benefits of the Viagra drug.

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CAN KNOWLEDGE

CREATE

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

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“An organization’s capacity to improve existing skills and learn new ones is the most defensible competitive advantage of all.”

- C.K. Prahlad

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KNOWLEDGE STRATEGY

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A Knowledge Strategy refers to the planned balancing of an organization’s knowledge resources & capabilities with the knowledge required for providing products and services superior to those of its competitors. – (Zack 1999b,131)

WHAT STRATEGIC OPTIONS

DOES A FIRM HAVE IN TERMS

OF A KNOWLEDGE STRATEGY?

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Key Aspects of a Knowledge Strategy

• Which business areas should be the focus?

• Which type of knowledge should be captured?

• Who is the target group?

• Which business process will the knowledge strategy be applied to?

• Will the orientation be more human or technological?

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KM Strategy Focusing On Key

Business Areas

Improve organization-

wide handling of knowledge

CRM

R & D

Value Chain Mgt.

Geographical Expansion

Post Merger Integration

Virtual Organization

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KM Strategy Based on Type of

Knowledge Degree of Increase in

Knowledge:

Primary Source of Knowledge

Speed of Learning

Knowledge Base

Type of Knowledge to Focus on

Orientation

• Exploitation • Exploration

• Internal • External

• Fast • Slow

• Broad • Narrow

• Tacit • Explicit

• Human • Technological

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KM Strategy Based On Target

Group Employee

Rank

Employee

Manager

Executive

Employee Life Cycle

New recruits

Retirees

“To-be-Promoted”

Types

Organizational Scope

Core Group

Organization

Organization & Partners

Unlimited

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KM Strategy Based on Business

Process

Which business process

to target?

Simple vs. Highly

Complex Processes

Mgt. vs. Core vs. Service

Processes One process vs. Few vs. All processes

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EMPIRICAL ASPECTS -

Strategic KM Initiatives

Undertaken by Organizations

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• Expert Directories • Skill Databases • Yellow Pages based on Knowledge Areas

Map Sources of Internal Expertise

• Separate Unit headed by CKO • Roles for Knowledge related tasks • (K. Broker/Engineer, Subject Matter Expert)

Establish New Knowledge Roles

• Greater number of mobile workers • Disrupted social connections in a work

community

Create a Virtual Work

Environment

• People working on same problem areas • People having complementary knowledge

Create Networks of Knowledge

Workers

• Balancing Push & Pull of Knowledge • Connect seekers & providers of Knowledge

Support knowledge Flows

In an Organization

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• Making Knowledge available at points of action • Spread the good word to as many in the network

Transfer of Knowledge & Best Practices

• Pull approach, not push. No micro-managing • Each responsible for renewing & sharing own

knowledge assets

Personal Responsibility for

Knowledge

• Capture knowledge about customers • Provide customer-centric solutions, increase

customer loyalty

Customer Focused

Knowledge

• Basic & Applied R&D • Employee Motivation & Insights for Innovation

Innovation & Knowledge

Creation

• Enterprise level management of patents, technology, practices, etc

• Valuating, safekeeping, marketing of K. assets

Intellectual Asset Management

Strategy

OPERATIONAL RISKS IN A KNOWLEDGE STR.

DEPENDENCY LIMITED QUALITY

INSUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

LOSS OF KNOWLEDGE ASSETS

KNOWLEDGE RISKS

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Barriers to a Knowledge Strategy

• Lack of motivation, ignorance or skilled incompetence of knowledge provider

• Lack of motivation or insufficient learning/retentive capacity or role – constrained learning by knowledge seeker

• Insufficient context or ambiguity of causality of transferred knowledge

• Infrastructural and cultural inadequacies or hindrances

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Factors Essential for the Success

of a Knowledge Strategy • Holistic, integrated & standardized approach • Knowledge Oriented Culture • Management support • Clear economic benefits • Exact vision & language • Effective aids for motivation • Appropriate process orientation • ICT & organizational infrastructure • Stable knowledge structures • Continuous participation of employees

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“Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.”

– Peter Drucker

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Sources

• http://www.unc.edu/~sunnyliu/inls258/Introduction_to_Knowledge_Management.html

• Knowledge Management Systems - Ronald Maier (3rd Edition, Springer)

• Mashable.com

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