Introduction to Knowledge Management

Hi, good morning. Today I am going to start, ah, my first lecture that is to introduce the concept of
Knowledge Management. And then I will also discuss why Knowledge Management is required by the
organization. In the next, I will be discussing the system life cycle, how a Knowledge Management
system is developed over a period of time, and why organizations are looking to align Knowledge
Management with business strategy. This is how I am going to introduce the concept of Knowledge
Management, and then you can see how Knowledge Management has evolved over a period of time.

Understanding Knowledge

Now, what is knowledge? If you look at the concept of knowledge, it has an origin called genesis from
the data. So, the first stage is data. Data is something that is unprocessed; it could relate to facts or
events—anything like that. Say, for example, I say the number of students in the class; I say 15 or 20. It
means that I am talking about data, but it is not a processed fact. But data is converted into information
when we try to organize this data in a meaningful way.

For example, if we say there are 15 students in the class, then we can classify or organize them into
different categories, like how many boys are there, how many girls are there, right? In that way, this
becomes information. Now, this information becomes knowledge when it is contextual, relevant, and
actionable. What I mean to say by saying that it is contextual, relevant, or actionable is that when
information is used in a particular context, right?

Contextual Use of Information

For example, you know that, okay, in this institute, the number of girl students is less, or the number of
girls is 20% and 80% are boys. Now, how are you going to use this information to take certain actions?
So it has to have a context, it must be relevant so you are going to make use of it, and then that
information you can act upon it. That is why we say that it should be actionable also.

So, when we are converting information into knowledge, there is a thin difference between information
and knowledge; that is, information is organized data, but when we make use of that information in a
particular context, which is good for you or the organization, then it becomes knowledge. Let me give
you another example. Say you know how to write a software code; you are a software engineer.

Applying Knowledge in Software Engineering

Now, as a software engineer, you are going to write a code, and for that, the kind of information that
you need is how to write code. You have knowledge—sorry, information—about the programming
language, but this programming language just gives you information about the way to write the program
in a particular context.

Now, suppose your organization asked you to write a program for a customer for a particular specific
act. Now this becomes the context: what is the use of it, why you are going to write it. And then, when
you write a program that is going to be useful to the customer using coding information, then it
becomes an action.

Characteristics of Knowledge
Now, this knowledge has characteristics, like it has a strong experiential and reflective element. What
does it mean when we say that it has a strong experiential and reflective element? It means the
information that you make use of is converted into knowledge based on what you call experience. So,
out of experience, your knowledge accumulates, and your capacity to convert information into
knowledge improves.

The second characteristic is that it has a reflective element. Reflective elements mean that you are going
to reflect on certain things based on the information. Suppose you have certain information that this is
going to happen, have a nice, okay; you know that new technology has come. Now, how is this
technology going to affect your organization?

So, you are going to reflect upon that, and then you see whether you are going to make use of
technology or not. So it has a reflective element also. And why are companies going for using
knowledge? Because knowledge provides you a good leverage. It means, with the help of this
knowledge, you can have a competitive edge over your competitors. It could be individuals, it could be
groups, or it could be organizations, and it can provide you better returns.

Objectives of Knowledge Management Systems

So, the objective of having a Knowledge Management system is to see how you can make use of
knowledge to achieve competitive advantage, get better returns, increase efficiency, and productivity.
And that is why we are using this Knowledge Management system. The next characteristic is that it is
dynamic. What do you mean by saying it is dynamic? Okay, dynamic means what? Dynamic means that
the nature of knowledge keeps on changing. The kind of knowledge that we used to have in the ’70s, or
’80s, or ’90s related to any domain has undergone significant changes. So that is why we say that the
nature of knowledge keeps on changing.

Let me give an example. If you look at Google, which provides a lot of information about particular
activities, now when we say that it is dynamic, if you look at the nature of knowledge on any subject or
in any domain and you search on Google, you will find the latest information and the latest knowledge in
that particular field. What does it mean? It means that the nature of knowledge keeps on changing
because it is updated over a period of time.

So, new knowledge is coming which could be useful and more relevant. Also, if you look at the last point
—that is, it evolves over time with experiences—the nature of knowledge keeps on changing. As you
grow, as you learn, and as you experience, the kind of knowledge that you accumulate and store with
you keeps on changing. So, knowledge is very important, and that is why we are going to have this
course on Knowledge Management.

However, to manage this knowledge in work is going to change because of technology, because of the
economy, and because of the environment, and that is why we have a course on Knowledge
Management. I hope that it is going to be useful to you. Knowledge is also human capital. Why do we
say that it is human capital? Because knowledge resides with people, or it could also reside with groups
or the organization.

Knowledge as Human Capital

So, when we say that knowledge is human capital, it means the knowledge mostly resides with the
people. Now, if you want to see the difference between knowledge management—sorry, information
and knowledge—it is the level of understanding. So, information just organizes data in a meaningful
way.

But when you are going to make use of that information for doing, or acting, or for making certain
decisions, then it becomes knowledge, okay? Now, we will see the differences between the different
kinds of concepts that we have been using, starting with facts, that is, the data, information, knowledge,
wisdom, or something more to that.

The Knowledge Hierarchy: From Data to Wisdom

Now, if you look at this hierarchy, it is like a pyramid. I suggest that the bottom of it is that information is
more than that in facts—that is, the data. From facts, we move to the next stage, that is, information,
which is the meaningful organization of the data. Then, we move to intelligence. Intelligence is how we
are going to make use of it; it shows your ability to make use of that information for doing certain
actions. And when you do it, it means that you are going to infer something from that data based on
your ability—that is, your mental intelligence or mental ability—and that is what we call it as knowledge.

Moving to the next is wisdom. So, when you have done something, then you experience enlightenment.
So that is what we call wisdom. If you look further, two lines are drawn parallel along with this pyramid.
It shows two things: volume, completeness, and objectivity.

Objectivity and Value in Knowledge

If you look at these things, what will happen? The down arrow coming from top to bottom means that at
the bottom of the pyramid, you will find data which is more objective, which is more complete. The
more you move up, okay, the level of completeness goes down. This means that in terms of volume,
completeness, and objectivity, facts are at the best, okay? And then you move up in the hierarchy.

But at the same time, when you look at the value, the value resides more in knowledge, wisdom, and
something like that. But if you look at this structure, it is less structured; it is more subjective. This is
because the data and the information that we have are more organized, complete, and whole in
structure compared to the knowledge because you are going to make use of that in a particular context
and the kind of wisdom that we have, okay?

So, if you look at the difference in terms of objectivity and subjectivity, you will find that data is more
objective, while knowledge and beyond knowledge is more subjective, okay.

A Visual Illustration of Knowledge

Now, moving to the next part, I am going to show you something. Ah, it is a cartoon, and this cartoon
has a source from Cleveland which clearly shows the difference between information, knowledge, and
wisdom. Now, look at the information in the first cartoon. What does it show? It is getting all kinds of
inputs from different sources, that is, the input.

Now it is going to make use of that input to act on that. So, if the inputs are lights are there, grass is
there, sunlight is there, it is raining—all kinds of information he has. So, he is going to make use of that.
Like rabbits eat grass, grass grows in soil, rain falls from the clouds, wolves eat rabbits—so this is
knowledge.

But he is moving beyond knowledge, what we call wisdom. So, he says, okay, with this knowledge, if I act
upon it—suppose if I kill all the wolves, the rabbits will eat up the grass, and soil will all wash away. So,
this is wisdom. This wisdom gives you some kind of enlightenment or an experience that, okay, how we
are going to use this knowledge for the individuals, groups, and organizations.

Types of Knowledge

Now, based on this, let us say that what are the different types of knowledge that we have. Now, when
we are talking about types of knowledge, ah, this is actually classified into three different categories:
whether the knowledge is at the surface level or at the deep level, that is what we call shallow or deep.

Shallow knowledge means that you have very special knowledge about a particular thing, and deep
knowledge is that you have very good knowledge which is acquired through learning and experience,
right? And that is the difference between shallow and deep knowledge.

The next case is explicit and tacit knowledge. I will discuss explicit and tacit in more detail, but here what
I want to say is explicit is knowledge that is documented in some form. It is this documented knowledge
which is available to you in the form of books, manuals, guidelines, and these kinds of things. While
when I am talking about tacit knowledge, it is a kind that is in the mind.

Explicit vs. Tacit Knowledge

What does it mean? Tacit knowledge is that kind of knowledge that actually resides in the mind of the
people. Another way to differentiate knowledge is procedural and episodic. Procedural means how to
do certain things. Episodic means that you have learned through experience, memory, or these kinds of
things, okay?

And then the question is, how are you going to chunk knowledge that could be useful to you? Now, if
you look at differences across knowledge, from procedural to episodic, you can see that on the right side
it shows shallow to deep knowledge. When we say shallow to deep knowledge, it means that the
knowledge from the surface level moves to a deeper level, depending upon your learning, your
experiences, your knowledge, your skill, and these kinds of things.

Now, when I am saying procedural knowledge, it is much more shallow, as it only tells you how to
perform a task. Suppose I am going to use this computer to write something in Word. That means that
the kind of knowledge required is actually motor in nature, which I can use anytime if I want to use this
computer for writing anything.

Procedural Knowledge and Usage

So, knowledge of how to do a task is essentially motor in nature. So, the same knowledge is used over
and above. Whenever I want to write, I will open the computer, follow the procedure known to me, go
through this procedure, open the Word file, and make use of it to write. So, that is what we call
procedural knowledge, which is at the surface level.
However, I do not know how this computer works, so that is the deeper knowledge I will talk about
later. Second is declarative knowledge. This is declarative knowledge available to you whenever you
want to recall it, so it is related to short-term memory, which you can easily remember.

Declarative and Short-Term Memory Knowledge

Declarative knowledge is good because, at the first stage, you should know what is there, which you can
easily remember and which will be useful for you. This is knowledge that you can use for doing certain
things, and that is what we call declarative knowledge, which is known to you and available in your
short-term memory. At a moment’s reflection, you can get it.

Semantic Knowledge

Now, moving to the next part, that is, semantic knowledge. Semantic knowledge is when you move
further to the deeper part of knowledge. This kind of knowledge suggests that knowledge is organized
and classified into different categories.

This classification is based on the nature of the concepts, facts, or relationships. Based on this concept,
fact, or relationship, you organize knowledge into different categories, so it is related to organization,
classification, and codification of knowledge. Semantic knowledge helps you to achieve knowledge from
the data, database, memory, or whatever it is.

Episodic Knowledge

Next is episodic knowledge. What is episodic knowledge? It is organized not by conceptual relationships
but by experience. It is chunked by episodes, meaning you remember certain episodes related to your
experiences. For example, when you talk to a supervisor, based on your experience, you say, “In these
conditions, these are the things that need to be done.” That is how you should be working.

This knowledge is based on your memory, which is intuition, experience, and learning. It is more
complex, and sometimes it is not that easy to extract because it resides in long-term memory, making it
difficult to retrieve. But this type of knowledge is very useful and exists at a deeper level.

Shallow to Deep Knowledge

This shows how knowledge moves from shallow to deep, and the different types of knowledge range
from procedural to episodic. Now, when I was talking about two different kinds of knowledge—that is,
explicit and tacit—let me add some more observations related to these types.

Explicit Knowledge

When I talk about explicit knowledge, I mean objective, rational, and technical knowledge, such as goals,
objectives, papers, and reports. Most explicit knowledge is available in documented form. For example,
a book in the library is explicit knowledge. Whatever information is available in the book is explicitly
given, so you can go through it, read it, and make use of it. This knowledge can be easily codified.

Libraries are examples of explicit knowledge, as books are organized and classified using coding systems.
Explicit knowledge is structured, organized, codified, and classified in such a way that retrieval is very
easy. You can easily manipulate it, share it, be taught, or learn it.

Tacit Knowledge
Now, moving from explicit to tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is highly unstructured and resides in
people’s minds. It is subjective, based on experience, intuition, and the specific knowledge that a person
has. Tacit knowledge is not documented in any form, so you cannot get it easily. It is very personal
because it is specific to the individual.

When we say it is tacit, it could relate to experiences, mental math for doing certain things, insights,
expertise, how to do things, secrets related to trades, skill set, understanding, comprehension, and
ability. All this falls under tacit knowledge.

Summary of Explicit and Tacit Knowledge

So, now we have examined what knowledge is and the different types of knowledge. The most
important thing here is to understand explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is that which is
available in some form, whereas tacit knowledge is informal and resides with people.

Principles of Knowledge Management Systems

Now, let’s look at some of the principles on which a Knowledge Management system works. Why are we
talking about Knowledge Management systems at all today? Here, I will talk about certain principles
related to knowledge so that you can build an effective Knowledge Management system.

The first principle says that knowledge influences success. Whether you are talking about explicit
knowledge or tacit knowledge, both are required. If you have this kind of knowledge, it is going to help
you bring success to your internal achievements, goals, and objectives.

Influence of Knowledge on Success

Knowledge influences success. If you have knowledge, whether it’s explicit or tacit, it helps you achieve
success in terms of meeting goals and objectives. Another important point is which type of knowledge is
more important: tacit or explicit? Since we have identified these two types, it’s important to understand
that tacit knowledge is personal, while explicit knowledge is codified.

Codified and Personalized Knowledge

Why do we call explicit knowledge codified? Because it is available in documented forms, such as books,
videos, or digital formats, making it accessible to others. On the other hand, personalized knowledge
remains with the person and isn’t accessible to others.

Both personalized and explicit knowledge are important. But if we want to formalize the knowledge in
people’s minds, we need to transform tacit, personal knowledge into explicit form, which is very
important.

Transforming Tacit Knowledge

So, we have been talking about codified and personalized knowledge: one that is explicit and the other
one that is tacit. Now, there is a need to have more explicit knowledge that can be used by others. If
knowledge remains only in tacit form, others may not be able to use it. The idea is to transform tacit
knowledge into explicit form.
How does this happen? Through sharing. When we share our knowledge with others, they also come to
know about it, making it very important to share knowledge with each other. There are two ways to
share knowledge: face-to-face at a personal level or by using technology.

Sharing Knowledge Personally and Through Technology

When you share knowledge at a personal level, it remains tacit as you pass on knowledge from one
person to another, but it may not be available in an explicit form. To make it available in an explicit
form, you need to use technology.

For example, if you record certain processes, the knowledge related to those processes is captured using
technology. Technology becomes the carrier and means of expression for that particular knowledge or
process.

Trust in Knowledge Sharing

When you want to share knowledge with another person, especially at a personal level, it requires trust.
If you trust the other person, only then will you share knowledge. But if the knowledge is available in an
explicit form, then trust is not required because it is documented and accessible.

Knowledge-Intensive Organizations

When we talk about Knowledge Management, we need to ask if organizations are making use of
knowledge. Do they have a knowledge system in place? Are they leveraging knowledge to create,
innovate, and perform well? Most organizations today working in a knowledge economy are known as
knowledge-intensive organizations.

Most knowledge-intensive organizations, like IT companies, R&D institutions, and labs, are in the
business of Knowledge Management. They have developed and created systems for Knowledge
Management. They have created a framework that helps them acquire, create, store, and disseminate
knowledge so it can be used within the organization.

Knowledge Reservoirs

Now, these are the different sources where knowledge resides, known as knowledge reservoirs.
Knowledge resides in artifacts, organizations, and people.

 People Level: Knowledge resides with individuals and also groups.

 Artifacts: Knowledge resides in processes, repositories, and technology systems.

 Organizational Units: Knowledge also resides with departments, units, and the networks that an
organization builds over time.

These are different reservoirs where knowledge is available.

Codified vs. Personalized Knowledge

Knowledge can be classified into codified and personalized knowledge, as I mentioned before. Codified
knowledge is owned by the organization, whereas personalized knowledge or other forms of knowledge
may not be legally owned and are retained by different sets of people, groups, or organizations.
Importance of Codified Knowledge

Most codified knowledge legally owned by organizations includes patents, copyrights, trademarks, and
documents. This is crucial because these assets allow for growth and development. For example, books
have copyrights, and organizations have trademarks, trade secrets, and patents, all of which are
valuable assets in terms of knowledge.

Knowledge in Relationships and Communities

However, codified knowledge is only part of it. The most important type of knowledge lies in
relationships, communities of practice, best practices, benchmarks, experiences, expertise, and
theoretical knowledge. This also includes organizational databases.

The key is to make use of this large chunk of knowledge found in relationships, practices, experiences,
and databases by converting it into a formal system of knowledge that is more explicit and usable for
the organization.