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KM Notes Unit1 Part 1

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26 views7 pages

KM Notes Unit1 Part 1

tyds

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chinmaykolhe
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© © All Rights Reserved
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First, what is Knowledge

 In simplest terms, knowledge is the ability of an actor to respond to a


body of facts and principles accumulated over a period of time.
 One way to look at knowledge is as the apogee of the following
continuum –
data information knowledge
 Data = 1 unit of fact; Information = aggregation of data;
Knowledge = potential for action on information
 Data and information have intrinsic properties, the quality of
knowledge depends on the properties of the agent
What is Data?
 Data represents raw numbers or assertions
 Data comprises facts, observations, or perceptions
 Data is just bits: lots of zeros and ones.
 What is Information? Information is data with context and relevance

 In contrast, data can include millions of useless garbage bits,


which are nothing more than uninterruptable zeros and ones
 Information involves manipulation of raw data
 Often, information can be used to obtain a more meaningful
indication of trends or patterns
 Information is data with semantics.

Knowledge
 Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience, value, contextual
information, expert insight and grounded intuition that provides an
environment and framework for evaluating and incorporating new
experiences and information.
 It originates and is applied in the minds of knower's. In organizations,
it often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but
also in organizational routines, processes, practices and norms.
(Davenport and Prusak)
Knowledge Management
 Knowledge management “ is understanding the
organization ’s information flows and implementing
organizational learning practices which make explicit key
aspects of its knowledge base. . . . It is about enhancing the
use of organizational knowledge through sound practices of
information management and organizational learning.”
( Broadbent 1997, 8 – 9)
 The process-technology perspective provides some sample
definitions, as well:
 Knowledge management is the concept under which
information is turned into actionable knowledge and made
available effortlessly in a usable form to the people who can
apply it. (Patel and Harty, 1998)
 A systematic approach to manage the use of information in
order to provide a continuous flow of knowledge to the right
people at the right time enabling efficient and effective
decision making in their everyday business. (Steve Ward,
Northrop Grumman)
 A knowledge management system is a virtual repository for
relevant information that is critical to tasks performed daily
by organizational knowledge workers.
 The tools, techniques, and strategies to retain, analyze,
organize, improve, and share business expertise. ( Groff and
Jones 2003, 2)

 A capability to create, enhance, and share intellectual capital


across the organization . . . a shorthand covering all the
things that must be put into place, for example, processes,
systems, culture, and roles to build and enhance this
capability. ( Lank 1997 )
Multidisciplinary Nature of KM
Knowledge management draws upon a vast number of diverse fields such as:
 Organizational science
 Cognitive science
 Linguistics and computational linguistics
 Information technologies such as knowledge-based systems, document
and information management, electronic performance support
systems, and database technologies
 Information and library science
 Technical writing and journalism
 Anthropology and sociology
 Education and training
 Storytelling and communication studies
 Collaborative technologies such as Computer-Supported Collaborative
Work (CSCW) and groupware as well as intranets, extranets, portals,
and other web technologies
Database Technologies

Collaborative
Technologies

Organizational Science

Electronic Performance
Support Systems

Document and
Information Management

Decision Support Systems Library and


Information Sciences

Figure 1.1
Interdisciplinary nature of knowledge management

The Two Major Types of Knowledge: Tacit and Explicit

Comparison of properties of tacit versus explicit knowledge


Properties of tacit knowledge Properties of explicit knowledge

Ability to adapt, to deal with new and exceptional Ability to disseminate, to reproduce, to access and
situations re-apply throughout the organization

Expertise, know-how, know-why, and care-why Ability to teach, to train

Ability to collaborate, to share a vision, to transmit a Ability to organize, to systematize, to translate a


culture vision into a mission statement, into operational
guidelines
Coaching and mentoring to transfer experiential Transfer knowledge via products, services, and
knowledge on a one-to-one, face-to-face basis documented processes
Library and Information Science (LIS) Perspectives on KM
 Although not everyone in the LIS community is positively inclined
toward KM.
 Blair (2002) notes that the primary differences between traditional
information management practiced by LIS professional and knowledge
management consist of collaborative learning, the transformation of
tacit knowledge into explicit forms, and the documentation of best
practices
 The author often uses the phrase “ connecting people to content and
connecting people to people ” to highlight the addition of non-
document-based resources that play a critical role in KM.
 As with KM itself, there is no best or better perspective; instead, the
potential added value is to combine the two perspectives in order to
get the most out of KM. One of the easiest ways of doing so would be
to ensure that both perspectives — and both types of skill sets — are
represented on your KM team.
Why Is KM Important Today?
The major business drivers behind today’ s increased interest and application
of KM lie in four key areas:
 Globalization of business Organizations today are more global —
multisite, multilingual, and multicultural in nature.
 Leaner organizations We are doing more and we are doing it faster,
but we also need to work smarter as knowledge workers — increased
pace and workload.
 Corporate amnesia We are more mobile as a workforce, which
creates problems of knowledge continuity for the organization, and
places continuous learning demands on the knowledge worker —we no
longer expect to work for the same organization for our entire career.
 Technological advances We are more connected— information
technology advances have made connectivity not only ubiquitous but
has radically changed expectations: we are expected to be on at all
times and the turnaround time in responding is now measured in
minutes, not weeks.
KM for Individuals, Communities, and Organizations
Knowledge management provides benefits to individual employees, to
communities of practice, and to the organization itself. This three-tiered view
of KM helps emphasize why KM is important today

Containers Communities

Content

Figure 1.6
For the individual, KM:
 Helps people do their jobs and save time through better decision
making and problem solving
 Builds a sense of community bonds within the organization
 Helps people to keep up to date
 Provides challenges and opportunities to contribute
For the community of practice, KM:
 Develops professional skills
 Promotes peer-to-peer mentoring
 Facilitates more effective networking and collaboration
 Develops a professional code of ethics that members can adhere to
 Develops a common language

For the organization, KM:


 Helps drive strategy
 Solves problems quickly
 Diffuses best practices
 Improves knowledge embedded in products and services
 Cross-fertilizes ideas and increases opportunities for innovation
 Enables organizations to better stay ahead of the competition
 Builds organizational memory

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