b.c.s. - 13 th october 2008

Knowledge Management Research Group

Ray Dawson 13th Oct 2009 http://km.lboro.ac.uk/

B.C.S. - 13th October 2008

Knowledge Management

Implementation Problems and How to Overcome Them

Ray Dawson

Department of Computer Science



Who am I?

Graduated in Maths with Engineering

MPhil in finite element program development

Software Engineer with Plessey Telecomms

Software Lecturer at Plessey Office Systems

Lecturer in Computer Science at Loughborough University

Leader of the Knowledge Management Research Group



The Knowledge Management Research Group

Who are we?

About 40 academics, Research Associates, PhDs

Departments: Computer Science, Information Science, Systems Engineering, Human Sciences, Civil and Building Engineering, Business School

Aim:

To work with business, industry and other organisations to develop and improve tools, techniques, methods and strategies for knowledge management

Emphasis on action research



A Selection of Projects

Standards Modelling

Knowledge to InnovationDecision Tools

Implementation Strategies

Process Improvement

Business Case

Email Knowledge

Rolls-RoyceAstraZeneca Rolls-RoyceAstraZeneca

A.W.E. Celesio LSC Group

BAE Systems

AstraZeneca

3M

LeicestershirePolice

Danwood

Notts CountyCouncil

Notts CountyCouncil

DanwoodI.B.M.Rolls-Royce



Why Worry About Knowledge Management?

Many companies are currently implementing Knowledge Management initiatives

Often they are not as successful as expected

Many initiatives fall into disuse

.... or fail altogether

Just like Total Quality Management

It’s just another fad!



Similarities

Both have generated a lot of excitement

Both involve new ways of working

Both can involve a complete change of culture

Both have “obvious” benefits for an organisation

Both are “necessary” for company survival

Both are a band wagon?



So What is Knowledge Management?

Data consists of facts and figures

Information tells you something useful

Knowledge is understanding the implications in a

particular context

Knowledge Management is aboutrecognising, sharing and using data, information and knowledgeto give some benefit

So where is the problem?



An Alternative Definition

If it is written down in either hard copy or on an electronic record it is information

If it is only held in someone’s head, it is knowledge

information knowledge

Explicit knowledge Tacit knowledge



Is There Such Thing as Explicit Knowledge?

If it has a contextual aspect, it can probably be considered to be knowledge

Eg. A “handover” document

Regulation XYZ states that staff must be given three days notice of meetings.

Geoff gets booked up so let him know at least a week in advance.

Eric always needs a reminder on the day if you need him there.

Regulation XYZ states that staff must be given three days notice of meetings.

Geoff gets booked up so let him know at least a week in advance.

Eric always needs a reminder on the day if you need him there.

Information

Knowledge



Information Without Context

Eg. An instruction manual

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

To remove the widget from the gizmo, undo the bolts at each corner

lah blah blah blah blah.




It is not that easy!



Information + Context = Knowledge

Eg. An instruction manual with owner’s comments







Rear left tends to stick

- Hit it with a hammer. Usually works

Save time later



Problem situation 1

You are sure you have seen some analysis/review documentation on one of your major areas of interest.

You need it again ....

...but you can’t seem to find it anywhere!

This is a problem of knowledge searching and finding



Finding Knowledge

Isn’t this just an Information Systems problem?

Can’t we just use standard Information Systems methods and solutions?

Its the context element that makes it difficult to find knowledge



An example

How many BCS members does

it take to change a light bulb?

For the context of a particular light bulb the answer may be much harder to find.



Problem situation 2

Your company has very full and complete records of all its activities.There is a huge volume of documentation.Unfortunately, this means wadingthrough an abundance of informationto find what you really need.

This is a problem of finding the most relevant information quickly and easily



Problem situation 3

You have a decision to make.

You look up the documentation for the last time the decision was made.

It tells you what was decided last time....

.... but it doesn’t explain why other options were rejected

.... so it is impossible to see if the original decision is still relevant.

Knowledge requires context information to be stored



Problem situation 4

You have a decision to make.

It is possible that similar decisions will have been made before....

.... but you just don’t have

time to search for a records

of previous decisions

“Just-in-time” knowledge is needed.



Problem situation 5

Knowledge in an organisation can often be tacit .... .... how can tacit knowledge be made explicit?

One of your long term employees leaves the organisation ......

.... but it is only when he is gone that you realise how much knowledge left with him!



Problem situation 6

You spend a long time investigating some new technology/methodology/process.

Maybe you call in consultants.

Then after much expense, one of your employees mentions .....

A problem of knowledge identification and location.

Oh, I could have told you about that!



Problem situation 7

You have a well established way of doing some activity.

Somebody suggests a change.

You know there was a very good reason why things are done the way they are....

....but no-one can remember what the reason is!

How can we get hold of “Organisational Knowledge”?



Problem situation 8

A case is being made for a new process tool or method

But you are not sure about it

There is a mountain of facts and figures available

For every argument there is a counter argument

How can you see through allthe arguments to get a clearpicture of what will be best?

This is a problem of knowledge presentation



Problem situation 9

The most innovative ideas generated at your organisation have occurred through chance conversations between employees

How can you create an environmentto promote further innovation?

This is a problem of knowledge communication



Problem situation 10

Your organisation keeps extensive documentation

It is possible to find all sorts of stored information

But ....

It is not always up to date

It is often no longer relevant

This is a problem of knowledge maintenance

.... When does knowledge go out of date?

£1 2/6d



So what can we do about it?

There is no simple solution that will cure everything.

Knowledge management involvesa range of:

strategiestoolsprocesses

Even if you know what knowledge management initiative to employ....

.... Implementing it is not so simple!



The All-Too-Common Scenario

Senior Management recognise that

The organisation’s knowledge is an important asset

Others are employing knowledge management

Knowledge management is identified as a

“good thing”

So they appoint a knowledge manager to do it!



What happens?

The knowledge manager has no real direction

He/she introduces a knowledge management tool, eg. an electronic document management system

The success of the tool is patchy – its value is uncertain

At the next budget round the knowledge management initiative is terminated



Most knowledge managementis not necessary!

Why?

It may be:

A very good idea

A means of saving money

A means of staying competitive....

But....unlike many information systems....

.... it is not essential



The Bottom Line

Knowledge management requires more justification than simply being “good for the soul”!

It requires a business case,

just like any other initiative.

The bottom line:

No visible benefit => No “buy-in” => Rejection!



Knowledge Management Case Study

An office equipment supplier based in the UK

• Medium size. ~1000 employees. 20 regional sales offices

Research task:

1. To examine the role that KM can provide in the company

2. To recommend means of improvement

Need to start with a Knowledge Audit

Danwood



The Knowledge Audit

If you want to know how to get somewhere ..... ....you need to know where you are starting from.

Discovers inefficiencies and ineffectiveness

What knowledge do we have?

What form is it in?Who uses it?

Where is it kept?Where does it “flow”?

Finds problems in existing systems



A promising early discovery

Customer Relationship

Management System

Customer Query Logging System

Potential cost

savings!An obvious overlap



Proposal

Merge the systems to produce a more efficient system!

GLUE

GLUE

Cost-benefit justification based on:

Measured costs of current operation

Estimated costs of merged system development and operation



Result

The company board accepted the proposals

A successful knowledge management initiative!



Or was it?

After 6 months nothing had been done ....

After 1 year nothing had been done ....

After 2 years nothing had been done ....

The company eventually admitted

it was never going to happen

What has gone wrong?



The Reason for Failure – Problem Ownership

There were many problems the company was dealing with .... ....but this problem was not one of them

It was not a problem they even new about beforeThe company managed to function OK without this change

So the proposal was accepted, but ........it had the lowest priority

No-one really cares!



The Starting Point: The Knowledge Audit?



What knowledge exists?






The Starting Point: The Knowledge Audit?



What knowledge exists?




Wrong!



The Problem with a Knowledge Audit

Why find new problems? ....

.... the users “own” plenty of problems already!

Better to start with a

“Problem Audit”

Find what is bugging people the most!



Forget Knowledge Audits?

A knowledge audit can help in:

Revealing the extent of a problem

Finding a solution to a problem

This gives a useful focus to a knowledge audit

Just don’t start with a knowledge audit!

NO!



A 12 Step Solution Methodology for KM

Step 1:Do a problem audit to find a recognised problem

SuccessfulKnowledge ManagementImplementation

The first step:



A 12 Step Solution Methodology

Step 2: Find how bad the problem is

ie. How much does it cost?

Case Study: Knowledge finding at a large engineering company

£ £

Rolls-Royce




Step 3: Find a Knowledge Management solution in the context of the problem

Case Study: A Swedish – Indian collaboration

Step 4: Calculate the cost of the solution R.O.I.




Step 5:

Check the value for each individual:Knowledge providers

Knowledge receivers

£

Case study: Knowledge sharing incentive scheme AstraZeneca




Step 6:

Get buy in from management and individuals based on the business case for the identified problem alone

£

Case Study: Knowledge finding at a large engineering company

Rolls-Royce




Step 7: Involve the users in the implementation

Step 8: Plan for the system

support as well as

the implementation

Step 9: Implement it!

Case study: A military administration system

Army R.A.F. RoyalNavy




Step 10: Evaluate the actual savings made

Step 11: Use the evidence of savings to:Achieve a wider roll out the KM solution

Get buy-in for new KM initiatives

£

Case study:Decision making tools at an engineering company

Rolls-Royce




People Tools Knowledge Stores

(Unstructured)

Documents &

Web pages

with annotations

(Structured)

Knowledge

Object

Database

Expertise

Index

Meetings

Online

Discussion

Forum

Summary

StandardPosting

Email

DynamicMeetingsRecorder

Summariserassistant

Subjectidentifier

KnowledgeObjectCreator

NewObjectInsert

Subjectsearch

ExpertIdentifier& insert

Related knowledge objects

Just-in-time Knowledge

Experts in subject area

Objectsearch

Person

wanting

knowledge

ObjectQueryassistant

Expert

But don’t start from here!

Step 12:

Use small steps to build bigger solutions

AstraZeneca



Conclusion

Knowledge Management has much to offer, but it is more complicated than it first looks!

Don’t get carried away with the hype .... .... it takes more than “religious” belief!

Knowledge Management is NOT a religion

Without substance Knowledge Management will become no more than a passing fad!



Remember

Successful Knowledge Management implementation is possible, but it must be based on:

Sound business principles

Sound engineering quality principles

PlanningCost-benefitsForecasting Return-on- investment

MethodologyPilots

ComponentsIncrements

Testing



Knowledge Management Exercise

A company providing computer solutions

A case study of a real problem

What questions would you ask?

What solutions would you suggest?



Scenario

A customer facing department of ~ 100 analystsRecommending the ideal configuration of hardware and software for each customer

Much expertise and experience goes into each solution

Problem:

How do we share the expertise of experienced analysts with their colleagues.....

.... especially newcomers?



The Company’s Solution

A new KM system to be introduced to:1. Capture details of the requirements2. Capture the recommended solutions

The system would be connected to the sales database so analysts would only need to input requirements details.

Building the system wouldbe well within company capabilitiesincur manageable costs



Question

Will it work?

What do you think?



Alarm Bells!

The size and scope of the problem was undeterminedJust how bad was the problem anyway?

There was no validation of the proposed solutionWould it solve the problem?

No alternative solutions had been consideredWhat about further training or mentoring?

The return for individual’s effort had not been consideredNo-one had asked the users about the proposed solution (or alternatives)!



The First 8 Steps Before Implementation

1. Recognised problem?

2. How bad is it?

3. What KM solution?

4. Cost of solution?

5. Value for individuals?

6. Management buy-in?

7. Users involved?

8. Support plan?

½

Doomed!



Problems with the Solution

ALL solution cases were to be recorded, including:

Solutions which were never likely to be relevant elsewhereTime wasting. Good solutions harder to find

Bad solutions as well as good onesBad practices would be spread and reused

AlsoWithout the alternatives considered and the reasons for the eventual decision ....... would the data be re-usable?



Assessment of the Proposed Solution

It would fail to meet the needs of experienced analysts

Too cumbersome to use

Too time consuming to use

Insufficient motivation to use it

It would fail to meet the needs of inexperienced analysts

Too much redundant data

Insufficient data on relevant cases

Much of it would be missing!

(experienced analysts would not have bothered!)



Assessment of the Proposed Solution

It would fail to meet the needs of experienced analysts

Too cumbersome to use

Too time consuming to use

Insufficient motivation to use it

It would fail to meet the needs of inexperienced analysts

Too much redundant data

Insufficient data on relevant cases

Much of it would be missing!

(experienced analysts would not have bothered!)

FAILED



Proposals

Record the detail of a limited number of exemplar cases

Maybe only 20 – the company to decide

The limited number means that:

Simple technology could be used to store the details eg. HTML with Google search facility

More detail could be recorded for each case eg. alternative considerations and reasons for decision

Incentives would be possible and affordable

They could also become the basis of a training package



A Comment / Discussion For Each Case

This would:

Enable novices to ask questions

Enable experts to

answer questions easily

give short comments on variations the have used

Enable outcomes to be recorded well after implementation

Identify areas for improved training



A Rating Facility

A rating for the exemplar cases would:

Help users identify best practices

Help identify examples that needed replacing

Help identify areas for improved training

Could also rate the discussion & added comments

How helpful did you find this example?



Maintenance and Support

Although a simple system it would still require attention to

Track use

Make updates as required

Monitor and clean up comments where required

A dedicated person should be

allocated to ensure the system

quality is maintained.



The Company Reaction

A new department manager had been appointed who had already recognised:

Throwing technology at the problem would not work

There was no need to record every case

A discussion forum was needed to share knowledge

Incentives would help (but only recognition, not money)

Improved training was needed

Careful maintenance was needed

ie. Near complete agreement !



Contact us

Loughborough University


Find our contact details on our website:

http://km.lboro.ac.uk/



Questions?