Topic: Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management (KM) refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieved

organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge. It focuses on processes

such as acquiring, creating and sharing knowledge and the cultural and technical

foundations that support them. The purpose of Knowledge Management is to provide

the right information to the right people at the right time to enable informed decision

making which enables service providers to be more efficient and improve the quality of

service delivered.

What is Knowledge Management?

It is the management of knowledge within organizations.

Decision Making

Synthesizing
Knowledge
Analyzing

Summarizing Information

Organizing

Data
Knowledge Management is a process to help organization identify, select, organize,

disseminate and transfer Information. KM structuring enables problem-solving, dynamic

learning, strategic planning and decision-making. It is a Leverage value of intellectual

capital through reuse.

Knowledge Management may be viewed in terms of:

 People – How do you increase the ability of an individual in the organization to

influence others with their knowledge?

 Processes – its approach varies from organization. There is no limit on the

number of processes.

 Technology – It needs to be chosen only after all the requirements of a

knowledge management initiative have been established.

 Culture – the biggest enabler of successful knowledge-driven organizations is the

establishment of a knowledge-focused culture.

 Structure – the business processes and organizational structures that facilitate

knowledge sharing.

Knowledge Management Cycle/Process

Create

Capture
Knowledge

Refine

Disseminate

Store

Manage
Knowledge Management Creates knowledge through new ways of doing things, then

identifies and captures new knowledge, then places this knowledge into context so it is

usable, then stores knowledge in repository and reviews for accuracy and relevance

and makes knowledge available at all times to anytime.

Benefits of Knowledge Management

 Improves quality of service to users

 Improve user satisfaction

 Increase adoption of self service

 Higher first call resolution rates

 Reduce time to diagnose incidents and problems

 Reduction in training time and costs

 Faster adoption of new or changed services

 Increase responsiveness to changing business demands

Managing Knowledge Management

 Strategy: The objective is to manage, share, and create relevant knowledge

assets that will help meet tactical and strategic requirements.

 Organizational Culture: Influences the way people interact, the context within

which knowledge is created, the resistance they will have towards certain

changes, and ultimately the way they share ( or the way they do not share)

knowledge.

 Organizational Processes: the right processes, environments, and systems that

enable KM to be implemented in the organization.

  Management and Leadership: KM requires competent and experienced

leadership at all levels like knowledge managers, brokers and so on.

 Technology: The systems, tools, and technologies that fit the organization’s

requirements – properly designed and implemented.

 Politics: The long-term support to implement and sustain initiatives that involves

virtually all organizational functions, which may be costly to implement (both from

the perspective of time and money), and which often do not have a directly

visible return on investment.

Two Types of knowledge

Explicit Knowledge – documented information that can facilitate action

 Formal or codified

 Documents such as reports, policy manuals, white papers, standard

procedures

 Databases

 Books, magazines, journals (library)

Implicit (Tacit) Knowledge – Know-how and learning embedded within the minds of

people.

 Informal and uncodified

 Values, perspective and cultures

 Knowledge in heads

 Memories of staff, suppliers and vendors

The KM Matrix by gamble and Blackwell (2001)

Type

Approach
Embodied Represented Embedded
Observe Gather Hypothesize
Sense
Contextualize Categorize Map
Organize
Share Disseminate Simulate
Socialize
Apply, Decide, Act
Internalize

This model presents a general theoretical framework, as well as specific guidelines for

implementation. The KM process is split into four stages.

 First management must locate sources of knowledge

 Then they must organize this knowledge so as to assess the firm’s strengths and

weaknesses and determine its relevance and reusability

 This is followed by socialization, where various techniques are used to help

share and disseminate it to whomever needs it in the organization

 Finally, the knowledge is internalized through use.