The Practices of Knowledge Managers: an Activity System Based View
Alexandre Perrin ([email protected])Strategy Department
Audencia Nantes School of Management
France
Statements
• KM is a managerial practice (Bain, 2006)
1996 28% of usage
2006 69% of usage
…but companies are dissatisfied with the results
• Appointments of people in charge of knowledge management issues:
Chief Learning Officer, Chief Knowledge Officer, Knowledge Manager, Community Coordinator…
They initiate, drive and coordinate knowledge management programs (Earl and Scott 1999)
Paradox: few researches were conducted on these practitioners…none with a “practice-lens”
Literature Review
- Chief Learning Officer(Awazu et Desouza, 2004)
- Community Coordinator
(Wenger et al., 2002)
Knowledge socialization through
communities of practice
(Wenger et al. 2002 ; Dameron et Josserand, 2006 ; Soenen, 2006 ;
Vaast, 2007 ; Castro, 2007)
Knowledge built and traded in social spaces
(Lave et Wenger, 1991 ; Brown et Duguid, 1991 ; Wenger, 1999 ; Gherardi et Nicolini,
2000 ; Bechky, 2003 ; Kellogg, 2006)
Social Approach of KM
- Chief Information/Knowledge
Officer (Earl et Scott, 1999)
- Chief Protection Officer (Awazu et Desouza, 2004)
Knowledge codification through patents, expert systems or databases
(Hatchuel et Weil, 1992 ; Cowan et Foray, 2000 ; Hansen et al., 1999; Alavi et Leidner, 2001; Prax, 2004)
Individual and collective objects that can be placed
on an external support
(Walsh et Ugson, 1991 ; Grant, 1991 ; Szulanski, 1996 ; Davenport et Prusak,
2000 ; Argote et al., 2003)
Technical Approach of KM
Knowledge Managers as…
KM ToolsKnowledge as…
Research Questions
• A practice-lens:
RQ 1. What are the daily actions of knowledge managers?
RQ 2. What kind of conflicts can emerge from these practices inside the organization ?
RQ3. How these practices evolve over time ?
• Objective: study the practices of knowledge managers through the image of the situated activity Level of analysis
Issue
Organisation Managers
What ?
How ?
Policy Plan
PracticeProcess
Whittington (1996, p.732)
Subject Object
Artefacts
Division of work
Rules
Community
RESULTS
Analyzing Knowledge Managers practices: the Activity Based View
Adapted from Engeström (1996)
Methodology
• Research setting
Multinational corporation with KM function(s)
Three managerial levels: corporate/functions/business units
• Qualitative methodology
18 months of in situ observation (tasks)
30 interviews conducted (discourses)
850 pages of internal documents analyzed (artefacts)
• Four embedded case studies (managers)
Data triangulation obtained context
Content analysis with NVivo 2.0
Personal past experience has eased data analysis
Results
How to ensure common practices
in KM
Modify the content offered or select IT
tools ?
How to measure the value of KM ?
Subject Object
Artefacts
Division of work
RulesCommunity
RESULTS
Animate or control tools (codification &
socialization) ?
Outcomes
1. An evolving agenda with four domains of activity:
Knowledge portfolio (content)
Tools for codification (backbone)
Governance (rules)
Mindset (culture) (see the content analysis)
2. Knowledge Managers practices are influenced by:
Their ability to understand the knowledge that need to be managed (eg. Rewriting best practices)
The organization chart (eg. IT dept. vs Sales dept.)
The degree of understanding by stakeholders
The software/IT consultants
3. Practices evolve according to stakeholders needs
100 %100 %100 %100% Total
38 %4706 words
17 %2759 words
18 %1844 words
12 %2321 words
Mindset
8 %991 words
32 %5194 words
13 %1329 words
14 %2709 words
Governance
22 %2724 words
2 %324 words
13 %1332 words
68 %13158 words
IT
20 %2477 words
49 %7952 words
56 %5737 words
6 %1161 words
Portfolio
Case KTPCase BOOSTER
Case FIRSTCase CKO
Results – Content analysis
(back)
Conclusion
• The situated activity model helps to understand
the different influences or conflicts in exercising the function of knowledge management
the underlying causes of birth and death of the function
the competencies needed to hire a knowledge manager (IT/Rhetoric/Writing)
• Limit of the study
Quantitative study to be made on the four domains of activity
Conduct a survey inside the French knowledge manager community (CoP-1)