Understanding

Knowledge
Lecture One Part II
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-2
Review of Last Lecture
What is Knowledge Management (KM)?
What are the driving forces?
Role of KM in todays organization
What is Knowledge Management System
(KMS)?
Classification of Knowledge Management
Systems
Effective Knowledge Management
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-3
In this Lecture
Basic Knowledge-related
Definitions
Data, Information and
Knowledge
Data Processing versus
Knowledge-based Systems
Types of Knowledge
What makes someone an
expert (knowledge worker)?
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-4
Basic Knowledge-Related
Definitions
Common
Sense
Fact

Heuristic

Knowledge


Intelligence

Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-5
Basic Knowledge-Related
Definitions
Common
Sense
Inborn ability to sense, judge, or perceive
situations; grows stronger over time
Fact

Heuristic

Knowledge


Intelligence

Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-6
Basic Knowledge-Related
Definitions
Common
Sense
Inborn ability to sense, judge, or perceive
situations; grows stronger over time
Fact A statement that relates a certain element
of truth about a subject matter or a domain
Heuristic

Knowledge


Intelligence

Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-7
Basic Knowledge-Related
Definitions
Common
Sense
Inborn ability to sense, judge, or perceive
situations; grows stronger over time
Fact A statement that relates a certain element
of truth about a subject matter or a domain
Heuristic A rule of thumb based on years of
experience
Knowledge


Intelligence

Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-8
Basic Knowledge-Related
Definitions
Common
Sense
Inborn ability to sense, judge, or perceive
situations; grows stronger over time
Fact A statement that relates a certain element
of truth about a subject matter or a domain
Heuristic A rule of thumb based on years of
experience
Knowledge Understanding gained through experience;
familiarity with the way to perform a task;
an accumulation of facts, procedural rules,
or heuristics
Intelligence

Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-9
Basic Knowledge-Related
Definitions
Common
Sense
Inborn ability to sense, judge, or perceive
situations; grows stronger over time
Fact A statement that relates a certain element
of truth about a subject matter or a domain
Heuristic A rule of thumb based on years of
experience
Knowledge Understanding gained through experience;
familiarity with the way to perform a task;
an accumulation of facts, procedural rules,
or heuristics
Intelligence The capacity to acquire and apply
knowledge
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-10
Data, Information, and
Knowledge
Data: Unorganized and
unprocessed facts; static; a
set of discrete facts about
events
Information: Aggregation
of data that makes decision
making easier
Knowledge is derived from
information in the same way
information is derived from
data; it is a persons range
of information
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-11
Relationship between data,
information and Knowledge
Information Data
Zero Low Medium High Very High
Value
Knowledge
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-12
An illustration
Zero Low Medium High Very High
Value
Information Data
H T H T T
H H H T H

T T T H T
p
H
= 0.40
p
T
= 0.60
R
H
= +$10
R
T
= -$8

n
H
= 40
n
T
= 60
EV = -$0.80
Knowledge
Counting
p
H
= n
H
/(n
H
+n
T
)
p
T
= n
T
/(n
H
+n
T
)
EV=p
H
R
H
+ p
T
R
T
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-13
Relating Data, Information,
and Knowledge to Events

Knowledge
Information Data
Information
System
Decision
Events
Use of
information
K
n
o
w
l
e
d
g
e

Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-14
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-15
Types (Categorization) of
Knowledge
Shallow (readily recalled) and deep
(acquired through years of experience)
Explicit (already codified) and tacit
(embedded in the mind)
Procedural (repetitive, stepwise) versus
Episodical (grouped by episodes or cases)
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-16
Explicit and Tacit Knowledge
Explicit (knowing-that)
knowledge: knowledge
codified and digitized in
books, documents, reports,
memos, etc.
Tacit (knowing-how)
knowledge: knowledge
embedded in the human
mind through experience
and jobs
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-17
Illustrations of the Different Types
of Knowledge
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-18
What makes someone an
expert?
An expert in a specialized area
masters the requisite knowledge
The unique performance of a
knowledgeable expert is clearly
noticeable in decision-making
quality
Knowledgeable experts are more
selective in the information they
acquire
Experts are beneficiaries of the
knowledge that comes from
experience
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-19
Experts Reasoning Methods
Reasoning by analogy:
relating one concept to
another
Formal reasoning:
using deductive or
inductive methods
Case-based reasoning:
reasoning from relevant
past cases
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-20
Deductive and inductive
reasoning
Deductive reasoning:
exact reasoning. It
deals with exact facts
and exact
conclusions
Inductive reasoning:
reasoning from a set of
facts or individual
cases to a general
conclusion
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-21
Humans Learning Models
Learning by experience: a
function of time and talent
Learning by example: more
efficient than learning by
experience
Learning by discovery:
undirected approach in which
humans explore a problem area
with no advance knowledge of
what their objective is.
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-22
End of Lecture One
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-23
Youve just been hired by Woolworth and
have been asked to bag groceries for
customers.

How would you do this?


Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-24
A classic example of deductive reasoning,
given by Aristotle, is
All men are mortal. (major premise)
Socrates is a man. (minor premise)
Socrates is mortal. (conclusion)


Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-25
The wheel is round. (Or, all wheels I have
seen are round)
The bird flies. (Or, all birds I have seen
could fly)
to infer general propositions like:
All wheels are round.
All birds can fly.


Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-26
What is Knowledge
Management?
Knowledge management (KM)
may be defined simply as doing
what is needed to get the most
out of knowledge resources.
Related to the concept of
intellectual capital (both
human and structural).
KM focuses on organizing
and making available
important knowledge,
wherever and whenever it is
needed.
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-27
Forces Driving Knowledge
Management
Increasing Domain Complexity

Accelerating Market Volatility

Intensified Speed of Responsiveness

Diminishing Individual Experience
Chapter 1: Understanding Knowledge
1-28
What is Knowledge Management
Systems ?
Social/Structural mechanisms (e.g., mentoring
and retreats, etc.) for promoting knowledge
sharing.
Leading-edge information technologies (e.g.,
Web-based conferencing) to support KM
mechanisms.
Knowledge management systems (KMS): the
synergy between social/structural mechanisms
and latest technologies.