Designing

Knowledge Management Systems

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
Assess your Knowledge Management System

Do you know what knowledge exists in the organization? Who

has it? How to get it?

Is knowledge being systematically transferred inside the

organization? How is it done? Who does it?

Is your organization systematically acquiring outside knowledge?

How is it acquired? Is the knowledge used?

Is your organization creating new knowledge? Is it being

captured and shared?

Is your organization leveraging knowledge?

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
Does your organization measure its knowledge assets? What are
the returns on them?

Does your organization use available technology to acquire,

disseminate and transfer knowledge?

Do people share their knowledge? Are they encouraged to do so?

Do senior managers understand and support management of

knowledge?

Are you using new metaphors to improve knowledge

management?

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
Knowledge Management Process Framework

Tactical Process Strategic Process

Get Assess
Use

Knowledge-based
Assets
Learn
Contribute Build/
Sustain

Divest
Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of
Management, Bangalore
 The Tactical Process

Get
 How do organization members seek information that is relevant to
problems/decisions ?

Use
 How do organization members combine information/knowledge to apply to
problems/decisions?

Learn
 How do organizational members acquire knowledge from successes and
failures ?

Contribute
 How do organization members share their knowledge / learning with others in
the organization?

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
 Get

Articulation (People can describe their information needs)

 Understand and communicate intended use of information

 Direct information requests appropriately

Awareness (People know where to find knowledge resources)

 Provide signposts: directories, Yellow Pages and maps

 Use communities of practice to highlight organizational knowledge

Access (People have the necessary technology support)

 push/pull technologies
 involve the user in deciding on access technologies

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
Guidance (People have expert help seek and find information)

 Librarian/Cybrarian
 Knowledge Manager (new role)
 Domain/Area Experts

Completeness (Knowledge infrastructure is comprehensive and

well organized)

 access to centrally managed and self-published information

 frameworks and processes that promote reuse

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
 Use
Permeability (Ideas flow both in and out of the organization,
exposing people to many different perspectives and possibilities)

 From bureaucratic to organic structures

 Design the physical environment in ways that cross-fertilize ideas
 Treat information as an open resource that flows freely
 Collaboration with all stakeholder communities

Freedom (People are comfortable and confident about acting on new

ideas)

 Value the contribution of everyone in the organization

 Create time and space for play

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
 Learn

Visibility (The link between strategy and the learning derived from
everyday actions is obvious)

 Picture the complexity of human systems

 Engage the mind and the body to connect ‘soft’ issues to strategy

Habituation (The practice of Learning is commonplace)

 Promote the pleasure principle at work

 Embed reflection mechanisms into the habit of work
 Capture the benefits of mistakes, failures and disagreement
 Nurture the art of learning by doing

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
 Contribute

Motivation (Members want to contribute the knowledge)

 Remove barriers to sharing
 Link contribution to opportunity and advancement
 Without benefit from non-contributors
 Find points of mutual benefit

Facilitation (Systems and Structures support the contribution process)

 Allow employees the time and space to contribute their best work
 Create dedicated roles that support the contribution process
 Support transfer of tacit knowledge
 Weave an organizational web

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
Trust (The organization promotes understanding of and respect for value of
contributed intellectual capital)

 Support a contract of reciprocity

 Create explicit policies on the use of intellectual assets.
 Use self-publishing to promote ownership
 Overlap spans of trust

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
 The Strategic Process

Assess
 How can the knowledge-based assets be leveraged to create value for
customers?

Build and Sustain

 How can it be ensured that future knowledge keeps the organization viable
and competitive ?

Divest
 When and how to withdraw efforts related to knowledge that no longer
provides competitive advantage ?

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
 Assess

Perspective (Expand the theory of the organization to capture the impact of

knowledge on organizational performance)

 Identify new forms of organizational capital

 Conceptualize the new tasks of management

Integration (Incorporate into the overall management process a new set of

frameworks, processes and metrics that evaluate the entire organizational asset
base)

 Visualize the underlying structures that guide knowledge management

practices
 Experiment with metrics and valuation approaches to evaluate strategic
outcomes
 Communicate with key stakeholders

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
 Build and Sustain

Direction (Resources are channeled in ways that replenish and create

knowledge)

 Subordinate information technology to people

 Structure positions that focus organizational attention to knowledge-based
assets.

Connection (The organization forms relationships that further its

knowledge management objectives)

 Encourage cooperation among departments and divisions

 Partner with other organizations
 Retain the right people

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
Recognition (The organization sees how to extract the value embedded
in knowledge)

 Use knowledge to strengthen the customer relationship

 Disassemble the organizational whole to take a fresh look at its parts

Reciprocity (Policies, procedures and cultural norms support a covenant

between the organization and its members)

 Demonstrate that value creation is a values proposition

 Make room for the entire person to show up for work every day

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
 Divest

Forbearance (Unnecessary knowledge is not acquired)

 Discriminate between forms of knowledge that can be leveraged and those that
are limited.
 Find alternatives to direct acquisition in order to experiment with knowledge.

Conversion (Knowledge that is a drain on resources is converted into

sources of value)

 Recognize and dispense with true resource drains

 Avoid throwing out the baby with the bathwater

Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of

Management, Bangalore
Abhoy K. Ojha, Indian Institute of
Management, Bangalore