knowledge management audit

5 activities of Information Resources Management (Willard –

1993) ;

Identification: What information is there? How is it identified and

coded?

Ownership: Who is responsible for different information entities &

coordination?

Cost and Value: What is a basic model for making judgments on

purchase and use?

Development: How can we increase the value of information or

stimulate demand?

Exploitation: What is the best way to proactively maximize the value

for money?

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The result of KM audit:

Identification of core knowledge assets and flows—who creates,

who uses.

Identification of gaps in information and knowledge needed to

manage the business effectively.

Areas of information policy and ownership that need improving.

Opportunities to reduce information-handling costs.

Opportunities to improve coordination and access to commonly

needed information.

A clearer understanding of the contribution of knowledge to

business results


KM audit provides evidence-based information about current

knowledge status (knowledge health).

As a basis to set up new knowledge management program.

KM audit function as a regular review and assessment of

existing knowledge management practices in the company.

KM audit must be focused on people

Once the ―as is‖ portrait of the organization has been completed

through information gathering and the knowledge audit, a gap

analysis can be performed


The difference between the organization‘s existing and desired

KM state is analyzed in terms of enablers and barriers to

successful KM implementation

Gap analysis should consider these points ;

What are the major differences between the current and desired KM

states of the organization?

List barriers to KM implementation (e.g., culture where ―knowledge is

power‖ or where individual possession of knowledge is consistently

rewarded).

List KM leverage points or enablers (e.g., existing initiatives that could

be built upon)



Identify opportunities to collaborate with other business initiatives

(e.g., combine knowledge continuity goals with succession planning

initiatives in Human Resources).

Conduct a risk analysis (e.g., knowledge that will soon ―walk out the

door‖ due to imminent retirements or knowledge that is at risk

because only a few individuals are competent in this area and very

little of their expertise exists in coded or tangible knowledge assets).

Are there redundancies within the organization (e.g., the case of the

right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing)?



Are there knowledge silos (e.g., groups, departments, or individuals

that hoard knowledge or block fluid knowledge flows to other groups,

departments, or colleagues)?

How does the organization rank with respect to others within the

industry? (e.g., are they early adopters of KM, KM leaders who are

emulated by others, or are they just becoming aware of KM needs

within their organization?)


This analysis can then be used to list and prioritize KM

objectives to be addressed by the organization.

The results of the gap analysis should be validated by returning

to the stakeholders who were initially involved in the

information-gathering and needs analysis phases.

The priorities should be determined by a consensus of the

organization‘s key stakeholders.

The result will be a KM strategy document that can be used as

road map to implement KM within the organization.


A knowledge audit, is a more of a qualitative evaluation.

A sound investigation into an organization knowledge

‗health‘. KM audit will look at ;

What are the organization‘s knowledge needs?

What knowledge assets or resources does it have and where are

they?

What gaps exist in its knowledge?

How does knowledge flow around the organization?

What blockages are there to that flow (to what extent do its

people, processes and technology currently support or hamper the

effective flow of knowledge?

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The knowledge audit provides an evidence-based

assessment of where the organisation needs to focus its

knowledge management efforts.

It can reveal the organization‘s knowledge management

needs, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and

risks.

If properly done, it would provide accurate identification,

quantification, measurement and assessment of the sum

total of tacit and explicit knowledge in the organization (Ann

Hylton, 2002)


Knowledge audit may also identify the following (Wiig, 1993) :

Information glut or scarcity

Lack of awareness of information elsewhere in the

organization

Inability to keep relevant information

Significant ‗reinventing‘ the wheel

Common use of out of date information

Not knowing where to go for expertise in a specific area (Knowledge Management Methods: Practical Approaches to Managing Knowledge)


Knowledge audit is the process to identify

Every knowledge produced by an organization,

Who produce and use it,

How frequent is the knowledge used, and

Where is the knowledge stored



Assembly Hall, Hoi An

Vietnam, 2012

Intellectual assets are intellectual materials that have been

formalized, captured, and leveraged to produce higher value

for the firm

Intellectual asset classified as ;

Body of tacit and explicit knowledge about a task, person, or

organization.

The capital resources (human, structural, and relational) that

augment this body of knowledge.


3 categories of knowledge assets (p. 267)

Human Capital brainpower that left after 5 pm

Structural Capital brainpower that stay after 5 pm (procedures,

system, software, policies, patent)

Customer Capital relationship value (current & future)


Organization can take inventories of the IC/IA, or even sell

them (training, consultancies)

Example of IA inventories ;

Product formula

Business plan

Marketing strategies

Vendor terms

Employee lists

Product composition

New services process

SWOT analysis


4 dimensions of business that form Skandia Navigator model

Financial focus, represented in monetary terms.

Customer focus, a financial and nonfinancial measure of the value

of customer capital.

Process focus, address the effective use of technology within

organization

Renewal and development focus, attempts to capture the

innovative capabilities of the organization.

All related to human capital


3 popular approach for measuring KM are ;

Benchmarking

Balance scorecard

House of quality


Originated from Xerox in 1970‘s, when it learn the logistic of

LL Bean (p. 272)

Learn from the best to become one

Internal – comparison against other unit

External – comparison with other companies/industries

3 types of benchmarking (grasp the idea in p. 273)

Industry group measurement

Best practices studies

Cooperative / collaborative benchmarking

Competitive benchmarking


Industry group measurement

Measurement of various aspects of the operation and compare to

similar industry measurements.

Best practices studies

Studies and lists of what works best.

Useful to benchmarking research, but they are not useful as

metrics.

What works best for an entity in its specific environment may not

work the same way in another environment.

Book, consulting, research


Cooperative benchmarking

the measurement of key production functions of inputs, outputs,

and outcomes with the aim of improving them.

Performed with the assistance of the entity being studied (the

benchmark ―partner‖).

The entity selected as a benchmark must be the one that has

―best practices‖ in the area of interest or has won a major national

or international quality award.

Collaborative benchmarking

Both entities study each other and work together to improve.


Competitive benchmarking

The study and measurement of a competitor without its

cooperation for the purposes of process or product quality

improvement.

A version of competitive benchmarking is the commisioning of a

third party to study a group of competitors and share the results.

The third party consultant is might knows what data belong to

which entity.


Comparison with key leader in the industry to identify any

best practices that can be applied in other organization

Avoiding wheel reinventing, by looking at what has worked

and what has not worked for other companies operating in

comparable environments or industrial sectors

Lack of sufficient value & flexibility in the future, leads to

other measurement tools and techniques to measure the

effectiveness of KM


The key steps ;

1. Determine what to benchmark: which knowledge processes,

products, services? Why? With what scope?

2. Form a benchmarking team.

3. Select a benchmarking short list—which companies will you be

benchmarking against?

4. Collect and analyze data.

5. Determine what changes should be made as a result of the

metrics obtained

6. Repeat when an appropriate amount of time has lapse to

measure progress


The potential benefit ;

Overall productivity of knowledge investments.

Service quality.

Customer satisfaction and the operational level of customer

service.

Time to market in relation to other competitors.

Costs, profits, and margins.

Distribution.

Relationships and relationship management.


A measurement and management system that enable

organization to clarify its vision & strategy, then translate

them into action

Provides feedback on both the internal business processes

and external outcomes in order to continuously improve

strategic performance and results.

A conceptual framework for translating an organization‘s

vision into a set of performance indicators distributed among

four dimensions – Financial, Customer, Internal Business

Process, Learning & Growth

See p. 275 for the illustration of BSC


The BSC keep the balance between ;

Internal & external measures

Objective & subjective measures

Performance result & driver of the future results

Financial indicator ;

Operating income

ROI

Economic value added


Customer indicator ;

Satisfaction

Retention

Market share

IBP indicator ;

Cost and quality

Time and resources

L & G indicator ;

Employee satisfaction & retention

Skills set

Career management


BSC can be expanded to include ;

Objectives the major goals to be achieved (e.g., profitable

growth).

Metrics parameters that will be monitored in order to measure

progress toward these stated goals (e.g., growth in net margin).

Targets specific thresholds to be met for each metric (e.g., 2%

or greater growth in net margin).

Initiatives describe the actions, projects, programs, and so on

to be put into place in order to be able to meet the stated goals.


Develop to show the connection between true quality,

quality characteristics, & process characteristic
