MGT403 Slide All Chapters

Knowledge Management in
Theory and Practice
Lecture 13: Future Challenges for KM

Overview
 KM Issues
 Politics of Organizational Context and
Culture
 Five models of information politics
 Four measures applied to rank them
 KM R&D
 Protection of IP vs. knowledge sharing
 Recap of Course
Major KM Issues
1. KM Strategies
2. KM Organizational Culture
3. KM Knowledge Transfer and Organizational
Renewal
4. KM Interoperability
5. KM Performance Metrics
6. KM Learning and Training
7. KM Tools and Technologies
8. KM at the Operations Level
KM Issues/2
 Metrics must address not only the information itself

but also the business practices and processes that
generate the information
 Organizational context will play a significant role
 E.g. at Dow Chemical, managers believe there should be
a common set of financial processes around the world to
create common measures of financial performance
 E.g. at IBM, they rely on more traditional measures such
as customer satisfaction, time to market, cost evaluation
etc.
Models of Information Politics
 Five models identified:

 Technocratic utopianism
 Anarchy
 Feudalism
 Monarchy
 Federalism
Technocratic Utopianism
 A heavily technical approach to information

management stressing:
 Categorization
 Modeling of an organization’s full information
assets (exhaustive inventory)
 Heavy reliance on emerging technologies
Information system-driven
Anarchy
 The absence of overall information

management policy
 Individuals left to their own devices to obtain
and manage their own information
 Made possible by the introduction of the
personal computer
 Often seen in early stages of start-ups
Feudalism
 Management of information by individual

business units or functions, which define
their own information needs and report only
limited information to the overall corporation
 Most commonly encountered model
 “the control of information”
 “knowledge is power”
Monarchy
 The definition of information categories and reporting

structures by the firm’s leaders who may or may not share
the information willingly after having collected it
 The CEO or someone empowered by the CEO (“the King”)
dictates the rules for how information will be managed
 Extreme top-down model
 Common in
 entrepreneurial profiles,
 small business owner,
 micro-manager
 Appropriate when consensus cannot be reached
Constitutional Monarchy
 Can evolve directly from feudalism or monarchies

 Document (Magna Carta) that is an information
management charter
 States monarch’s limitations
 Identifies what information will be collected, rules,
processes, platforms, common vocabulary, etc.
 E.g. EIS, Dow Chemical and Digital for financial
information
Federalism
 An approach to information management based on

consensus and negotiation on the organization’s key
information elements and reporting structures
 Preferred model for most intellectual capital management
applications
 Use of negotiation to bring potentially competing and non-
competing parties together
 People with different interests work out among themselves a
collective purpose and a means of achieving it
 Requires strong (but not too strong) central leadership and a
culture of trust, cooperation and learning
KM R&D: Research that
Reinvents the Corporation
 “The most important invention that will come out
of the corporate research lab in the future will be
the corporation itself” (John Seely Brown, Xerox Parc)
 Companies will no longer simply innovate new products but

design the new technological and organizational
architectures that will make a continuously innovating
company possible
 Use of technology to support naturally occurring local innovation
that takes place at all levels of any big company
 Co-production of technological and organizational innovation with
other departments but also with the customers of the company
Case Study: Xerox PARC (Palo
Alto Research Centre)
 Bit map display computer screens

 Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)
 LANs for distributed computing
 Overlapping screen windows
 Point and click editing using a mouse
 SmallTalk – the first object-oriented
programming language
Did you know that all of these were invented at Xerox PARC?
What Happened?
 Xerox PARC never became a dominant

player in the personal computer industry
 1st prototype laser printer
 1st prototype flat screen
 While scientists had technical vision there
was no strategic vision
 There was no identification, nor retention of
intellectual capital
Brilliant research but no link to company’s business
Xerox PARC Today
 Focus is on interrelationships between

technology and work
 More multidisciplinary research teams
 Anthropologists, sociologists, linguists,
psychologists as well as computer scientists,
physicists and engineers
 How can IT be used to support effective group
collaboration?
CSCW – Computer-Supported Collaborative Work
Harvesting Local Innovation
 Anthropologists used to study work practices

throughout a company
 This type of research provides fundamental insights into
the nature of innovation, organizational learning and
good product/service design
 How do people go about doing their jobs?
 Explicit job descriptions, formal manuals
 Tacit, informal practices that they constantly improvised,
inventing to deal with unexpected problems, and to solve
immediate problems
 They were highly creative and innovative – but nobody knew
about it
Most ideas generated by employees are lost to the company

The Tacit Dimension
 Formal office procedures have almost

nothing to do with how people do their jobs
 “by the book”
 rookies or novices
 “work to rule”
 People use formal knowledge to identify the
goals but not the steps needed to attain them
These “tricks of the trade” are almost never captured
Next Generation KM
 A next generation KM application must:

 Be able to recognize and capture previously unknown
relevant information
 Have an adaptive response
 Be secure in that knowledge is forwarded based on a
knowledge worker’s access rights
 Be fully automated for capture, analysis and distribution
of knowledge
 Be accurate and self-regulating with respect to useful
lifespan of specific knowledge items
Shifting Role of the Leader
 In simpler times it made sense to direct

organizational knowledge flows upward because
that is where the decisions were made
 Model of the leader as expert
 In today’s organizations, expertise is highly
specialized and more likely to reside in the front-
line worker at the customer interface
 Leaders no longer at the top of the organization but at the
centre
 True leadership hinges on the ability to grasp the value-
creating potential of the organization’s knowledge base
New Leadership Roles in KM
 Set strategy and communicate it in a compelling

fashion
 Shift from being the source of knowledge to
managing the networks of knowledge flows
 Pay attention to the environment rather than the
rules
 Coach rather than tell
 Ask the right questions rather than provide the right
answers
More distributed decision-making
Employees Look Like
Customers and Vice Versa
 In the past, customers were clearly outside the
company
 Today they are almost interchangeable due to job
mobility
 Need to retain good employees
 Access to the organizational knowledge base as a way to
boost performance seen as a “perk”
 Customers becoming more development partners to
create an “extended enterprise”
Need to attract & cultivate knowledge that will
create long-term value for the organization
Measurement and Valuation
 Measurement and valuation will become

standard management tools
 Driven by need to measure and value the costs
and benefits of managing knowledge
 Put a monetary value on investing in KM and
assess the subsequent ROI from it
Knowledge Management must come out of

the financial black box
Meaning Making
 Access to information is only a small part of

knowledge management
 No benefit if people can’t find and/or can’t understand
what they find
 Demand will continue to skyrocket – users need
intelligent help to sort to and apply the knowledge
 Meaning is context-dependent – still beyond the reach of
most technology (data mining, intelligent agents, etc..)
 Will need “infomediaries” – people who are not
necessarily content experts but who are expert at sorting,
organizing, summarizing, notifying, and connecting
people to information
Infomediary??
 Human filters
 Librarians
 Knowledge managers
 Researchers
 Writers
 To help control the information floodgates
Middle Managers
 Since the downsizing craze of the late 80’s early

90’s, organizations are finding they have significant
knowledge gaps
 Middle management was belatedly realized to be
the communications link that connected the front
lines to the top executives
 Expertise in project management
 Understanding of how the organization really worked
 Preservation of organizational memory
 Many are hired back as independent contractors
Need to re-connect the knowledge flows – up/down & across

Knowledge Managers Needed:
 To facilitate communication across

traditional and process silos
 To leverage knowledge-based resources
 To transfer internal and external best
practices and lessons learned
 To identify synergies
 To encourage knowledge re-use
Trust is a Valuable Commodity
 Freer information flow means that more people have access

to what was once proprietary and only available to the
organizational elite
 This means trust becomes essential
 Tension between organization trying to extract knowledge from
employees who want to hang on to what they know to stay employed
 KM will fail unless employees feel that knowledge sharing increases
rather than decreases their individual value
IT Systems are a Context for
Connection
 When the computer was first developed over 20
years ago, it was to manipulate data
 Few people could have predicted that email would
become the ‘killer app’
 Technology triumphs in its ability to connect people –
email, intranet, chat rooms, forums
 Simply making information available is not enough –
leveraging of knowledge comes through conversation, Q
& A, easier access to expertise and broader membership
in different communities
It is all about…..virtual communication

Opposites Blend and Are the
Better for It
 KM has at one extreme ‘hard’ IT and at the

other extreme ‘soft’ interpersonal dynamics
 Different practitioners are attracted to
different poles
 Need to look at organizations as complex
adaptive systems – holistic lens
 IT modifies human behaviour and human
behaviour modifies IT
KM Teams: s/w designers, sociologists, journalists……
Protecting Intellectual Property
 Need a more flexible approach to copyrigth

 Need a conceptual model
 Need a knowledge-sharing culture
 Need strategic management of intellectual assets
 Need a copyleft or Creative Commons Agreement,

which allow the core right to redistribute a work for
non-commercial purposes without modification*
*http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
Evolution of the Knowledge
Economy
 Energy economy dealt largely with objects

and processes, things that existed in time and
in space
 Yet by the end of the 20th century, the richest
countries were those poorest in natural resources
 Became more important to do something
intelligent with resources than simply owning
them
Role of knowledge is to ADD value
Today’s Organizations
 The advent of information technology has

decreased rather increased the size of
companies
 Information paradox: the more companies spent
on IT, the less concurrent gains they made in
productivity
 Led to change from hierarchical command and
control to coordinated clan-like forms of
collaboration
Emergence of the Knowledge
Economy
 Lower production costs
 Increasing storage and processing capability
 Enough interpersonal trust exists
 Density of knowledge assets increases to create a
critical mass in the k-base
 Increasingly dynamic – unstable
 Decreased learning curve & useful lifespan of knoweldge
 Increasing globalization
Knowledge economy is an emergent phenomenon
Knowledge Can Also Exist in its
Natural Context
 Codified knowledge still requires access to

the uncodified (tacit) knowledge in the heads
of the people concerned
 E.g. NASA’s 30 year collection of 3000 images
from the Viking mission to Mars in 1975 were
never processed – the people who understand the
highly technical jargon in the data entry
procedures were no longer there
Knowledge without context is without value - worthless
Summary –Knowledge Management
in Theory and Practice
1. Key KM concepts and their definitions

2. History of KM
3. KM Models and the KM Cycle
4. Knowledge Capture and Codification
5. Knowledge Sharing and Communities of Practice
6. Knowledge Acquisition and Application
7. Knowledge-Sharing Culture
8. KM Tools & Techniques
9. KM Strategy
10. The Value of KM
11. The KM Team
12. KM Research and Development and Future Trends for KM
Knowledge Management in Theory
and Practice
Lecture 12: The KM Team

Overview
 The KM Team
 Roles and Responsibilities in KM
 Critical Skills
 Job Titles and Potential Employers
 The KM Profession
 The Ethics of KM
2
KM Dream Team
 Would together possess the following knowledge,

skills and attributes:
 Communication
 Leadership
 Expertise in KM methodologies, processes, tools
 Negotiation skills
 Strategic planning skills
 Knowledge of the organization
 Holistic approach (systems view)
 Intuitive risk taker
3
The knowledge ‘marketplace’
 Knowledge Brokers
 Connect the dots: link those who need to know
(“buyers”) with those who know (“sellers”)
 Connect not only
people to content but
people to people
4
Skills, Attitudes, Work Habits…
 TFPL – is a British company specialized in

recruitment, consulting, training, and
research
 Library and information management
 Knowledge management
 Record management
 Web management
 Publish a skills map for KM – available at:

http://www.tfpl.com/resources/skills_map.cfm
5
TFPL – 7 Critical KM Skills
1. Time management
2. Learning techniques
3. Information seeking techniques
4. Advocacy and inquiry skills
5. Networking skills
6. Facilitation skills
7. IT skills
TFPL Skills Map 2000
6
TFPL – 6 critical dimensions
1. Business and strategy

2. Management
3. Learning
4. Communication
5. Information-literacy
6. Technology-literacy
7
Key KM Abilities
 Able to learn efficiently and effectively – curiosity

 Initiative – doesn’t wait for instructions
 Collaboration – team player
 Able to connect the dots – “see the big picture”
 Humility – able to admit and learn from mistakes
 Able to think and act fast
TFPL Skills Map 2000

8
Specific capabilities
 Understands the business

 Communication
 Technology
 Understands key KM concepts
 Management, strategic planning
 Information management
 Leadership
 Change management
 Content organization
 Human resource management
 Project management
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Major KM Roles
 Chief Knowledge  Knowledge synthesizer

Officer (CKO)  Content editors
 Chief Learning Officer  Web developers
(CLO)  Mentors, coaches
 KM champion/leader  HR roles
 Knowledge manager  Knowledge publishers
 Knowledge navigator  Help desk activities
 Information architect
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KM Responsibilities
Designing information systems

 Designing, evaluating, or choosing information
content,
 Database structures,
 Indexing and knowledge representation,
 Interfaces, networking, technology
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KM Responsibilities…
Managing information systems

 maintaining the integrity, quality, currency of the data
 updating, modifying, improving the system
 operating the system
Information resources management
 managing organizational information resources to
support organizational missions and for competitive
advantage
12
Training
 Coaching, mentoring
 Community of practice start-up and lifecycle
training support
 Feeding back lessons learned, best practices into
training content
13
Information agencies
 Acting as information consultants or guides for
clients: advising, training, guiding on
information, information sources, information
use
 Acting as an agent on behalf of the client:
gathering, evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing,
summarizing information for a clients
14
 Competitive intelligence
 Customer relations for information
systems/technology
 acting as intermediaries between clients and information
system designers
 translating client needs into functional specifications
 sales
15
 Designing and producing information

services and products
 publications, databases, information systems
 multimedia products
 Stories from storytelling workshops
 Knowledge journalist
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 Organizational information & KM policy

analysts
 Designing corporate, organizational information
& KM policies
access, quality control
 Maintaining proprietary information and KM
 Mapping corporate intellectual assets
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 Government KM policy analysts

 Formulating government policies at all levels
regarding such issues as the KM infrastructure,
access to and use of government information,
intellectual property, privacy;
 Public/ private roles in knowledge creation,
dissemination and use, government acquisition
of information and information technology
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Potential KM Employers
Organizations concerned primarily with information content.

 Publishers
 Database creators and providers
 The press/mass media
 New media companies (e.g., multimedia developers)
 Information collectors (e.g., Reuters)
 Data service companies (e.g., Mead)
 Value-added providers (e.g., Standard and Poors)
 Disciplinary societies (e.g., American Chemical Society,
Canadian Mining & Metallurgical Society)
19
Potential KM Employers…
Organizations concerned primarily with

information & knowledge delivery.
 Telecommunications and cable companies
 Database vendors e.g. DIALOG
 Networks, service providers (e.g., BARNET, ANS)
 Big Six Consulting Companies (PWC, E&Y….)
20
Organizations concerned primarily with

information technology.
 The software industry
 Computer hardware companies and systems
integrators, especially to develop criteria for
hardware and software and optimize systems
for customers
 Instructional technology development
21
Organizations concerned primarily with information

organization, access and preservation.
 Libraries (e.g., college/university libraries, public
libraries, corporate libraries, school libraries, research
libraries, other special purpose libraries such as hospital
libraries)
 Museums
 Archives
 Data centers
 Hospitals and other medical organizations
22
Information functions in organizations that are not

primarily information organizations:
 Design and management of information systems,

paper and computer-based, for organizations of all
kinds and sizes including banks, manufacturing,
insurance.
 Internal information
 External information
23
B. Application of information technology -

evaluation, selection, applications design - software
industry, hardware, system integrators
C. Research and information-gathering, synthesis,

and evaluation - libraries, competitive intelligence
units.
D. Records Management, Document Management
24
 Government
 Governmental agencies engaged in information
production and distribution (e.g., Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Department of Commerce, National Center for
Education Statistics, NTIS, ERIC, US Geological
Survey, NIH, Bureau of the Census, Patent and
Trademark Office, United Nations, World Bank, foreign
governments.)
 Canadian: Stats Can, Industry Canada, Health Canada,
Environment Canada, DFO, DND….
25
B. Governmental agencies involved in information

regulation
 e.g., Industry Canada regarding telecommunications
regulation)
C. Governmental agencies involved in information
technology assessment, development and policy.
D. Information resources management to help
agencies accomplish their missions
 e.g., recent GAO report criticized Dept of Energy for
inadequate information resources management which
impeded its operations
26
E. Intelligence community
 e.g. CIA, CSIS, NSA, RCMP
F. Agencies involved in policy formulation/decision-

making: as consumers of information
 e.g. food and drug administration (US)
 CFIA (Canada)….
H. Law firms, medical practices, pharmaceutical

companies – almost every type of organization!
27
Other academic and research organizations:
A. Large scientific enterprises

 e.g., Human Genome project, Mission to Planet Earth).
B. Design and management of discipline-specific

information systems.
28
Specifically for Ph.Ds
 Academic departments.
 Information industry firms for R&D.
 Government agencies.
29
Traditionally….
 Knowledge is kept in a ‘safe’

 Only ‘important people’ had the
key
 Possessing knowledge meant
having power
 Sharing knowledge meant losing
your job!
30
The Challenge:
 Evolve the role of the KM professionals such that

they can:
 Improve the decision-making process
 Encourage innovation
 Enable the creation and sharing of valuable knowledge
 Provide access to knowledge
 internal and external knowledge
 Explicit and tacit knowledge
 Increase ability to document and use knowledge
31
Non-traditionally….The KSO
Knowledge Support Office (e.g. McKinsey)

 Identifies important knowledge resources within and outside
of the organization
 Ensures findability (efficient retrieval via catalog, index,
thesaurus)
 Maintains the ‘knowledge bank’
 Provides a one-stop shop for all knowledge needs
 Knows who the experts are
 Provides advice (recommends sources to consult, quality,
usefulness etc)
32
KM Code of Ethics
 Valuing human beings is the core of ethics in any

environment
 Ethics is considered simple whereas it is not
 Boundaries can help members of an organization
stay on the correct side of organizational policy and
can help clarify ethical issues
 Landmarks
 Fences
 DMZs (Demilitarized zones)
33
The Ethics of KM /2
 Landmark = high-level ethical guideline

 Often built upon the company’s culture
 E.g. value the demonstration of social
responsibility among their employees
 Promote recycling, donating to local charities,
paying employees to work on community events
 Often can be conveyed through good stories
34
The Ethics of KM /3
 Fences = explicit boundary that shows

exactly where an important ethical line lies
 E.g. official company policies on ethics
 They should be ubiquitous
 Policies define the fence and the procedures
define operating within the limits of the ethical
fence
35
The Ethics of KM /4
 DMZs = active compliance monitoring

 E.g. monitoring of software licenses
 Define exactly where the ethical line is
 Prevent employees from crossing the ethical line
 Monitors and reports any violations
36
and Practice
Lecture 11: Organizational learning

and organizational memory
Overview
 Some definitions
 Whyworry about organizational learning (OL) and memory
(OM)?
 How do organizations learn and remember? Why do they
forget?
 How can we manage organizational memory?
 Models of organizational memory
 Lessons learned and best practices
 A three-tiered approach to knowledge continuity
2
Some definitions:
Organizational Memory
 The Ford Motor Company today is very different from the
same company of 1970, yet many essential characteristics
remain so that Ford is still Ford, for better or worse. The
persistence of organizational features suggests that
organizations have the means to retain and transmit
information from past to future members of the social
system. This capability we might call the organization's
memory
 Knowledge is the key asset of the knowledge organization.
 Organizational memory extends and amplifies this asset by
capturing, organizing, disseminating, and reusing the
knowledge created by its employees.
3
Definitions - continued
 Organizations routinely forget what they have done in the

past and why they have done it.
 But organizational memory is not just a facility for
accumulating and preserving but also for sharing
knowledge. As knowledge is made explicit and managed
it augments the organizational intellect, becoming a basis
for communication and learning. It can be shared among
individuals working alone, by teams needing a project
memory, and by the organization as a whole for between-
team coordination and communication.
4
Goals of Organizational Memory
 OM consists of stored information from the

organization’s history that can be brought to bear
on present decisions and activities
 It consists of
 personal memories of people working in the
organization
 document archives (electronic and paper-based),
 cultural norms, rules, procedures
 all further pieces of knowledge that are important for
organizational success.
 Goal of OM is to improve the way in which it
manages its knowledge and the way in which it
learns from past successes and failures
This notion of collective memory can be translated into an organizational context

5
OM link to Organizational
Learning
 Organizations can not be said to have truly
learned until that learning is embedded in the
OM
 The distribution and accuracy of memory
affect learning
 Influences the way the organization
interprets new information
 Can also constrain organizations from
learning something new
6
Why worry about OM and OL?
 The problem of knowledge continuity e.g. the baby

boom exodus
 Every 7 seconds someone turns 60
 This process will continue for the next 18 years
 Increased job mobility and turnover

 People do not stay in one organization for their
entire career – people change jobs, companies
continue to downsize
7
Need for OM: a Microsoft story
 Construction began on a .5 -1 million sq ft

office building
 Missing blueprints for construction
 Head of real estate and facilities retired
 Only person to have all the necessary
documentation was a contracted electrician
8
Cost of lost knowledge
 Mini–knowledge collapse. = knowledge disappeared

suddenly and with serious impact.
 Damages relationship with clients
 Declining customer satisfaction,
 lost market share,
 Lower revenue
 major project delays.
 Can lead to major knowledge collapse when multiplied by
number of retirees and situations affected by the loss of their
knowledge into a knowledge collapse of major proportions.
9
How do organizations learn and
remember?
 Organizational learning is a process
 Organizations need to have processes in place
that allow reflection on what worked well (best
practices) and what could be improved in the
future (lessons learned)
 Organizational memory is a container
 Where the products or outcomes of learning are
stored, preserved and reused in the future
10
Learning organization (LO)
 A learning organization is one that has

achieved a successful end state
 The LO label is “earned” when successful
organizational learning processes have become
part and parcel of the way of doing things
 Organizational learning is said to have become
“institutionalized” – an integrated routine
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Senge's Model of the Learning Organization
Framework for
seeing wholes Collective picture
of desired future
Dialogue Clarifying
personal vision
Deeply ingrained
assumptions
Why do organizations forget?
 Barriers to organizational learning

 Inability to reflect, to discuss mistakes without being defensive or
deluded (e.g. “not our fault”)
 Legal issues (e.g. intellectual property, litigation)
 Confidentiality issues (e.g. security of sensitive content)
 Barriers to organizational remembering
 Lack of processes to document tacit knowledge (knowledge resides in
the minds of a few employees and is never documented)
 Lack of awareness of OM (e.g. “we have a lessons learned database?!”)
 Difficulty accessing and reusing content in OM (e.g. context was not
preserved rendering content unintelligible, difficult to understand)
 Lack of OM maintenance (e.g. content that is past its “best by” date)
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Cultural barriers
 Emphasis on artefacts and not process

 Resistance to knowledge capture
 Effort deemed excessive
 Fear for job security
 Fear of litigation
 Resistance to reuse of OM content
 Hard to find, hard to use, hard to understand
 Too much effort required
14
Technical barriers
 Knowledge capture tools non-existant

 Little standardized tools and methods to document OL
 Knowledge sharing tools limited
 Intranets, portals are not inherently difficult to use but
information overload typically occurs making
information retrieval a challenge
 OM maintenance is demanding
 Yet needed to ensure content is always up-to-date and
relevant
15
Management of OM
 There are a number of OM models

 Content consists primarily of best practices
(BPs) and lessons learned (LLs)
 2 sides of the same coin
 BP and LL cycle
16
Managing OL and OM
 Step 1: need a place to put all the learning –

especially what was learned “the hard way”
 FAQs are a good starting point
 Need to have an easily accessible place to store BPs and
LLs – an organizational memory
 Typically on the organization’s intranet
 Step 2: employees need to be aware an OM exists,
know how to access and use its content AND know
how to contribute their own content (procedure and
policy/guidelines)
17
Managing OL and OM
Three-tiered approach to
knowledge continuity
 Knowledge continuity mirrors the term business
continuity – to continue operations should a disaster
occur
 Knowledge continuity is a form of documenting and
transferring knowledge (populating OM and ensuring
more than one person possesses expertise, respectively)
so that knowledge/know-how is not lost
 A three-tiered approach is recommended so that
knowledge continuity is ensured at the individual, group
and organizational levels
19
Knowledge continuity at the
individual level
 To transfer knowledge from one individual to
another:
 Approach: individual structured interviews with experts
 Types of knowledge that can be transferred: operational,
anecdotal, lessons learned, best practices and where to
find knowledge & experts
 Tangible items that result: map of key knowledge, map
of key contacts, memberships, glossary of discipline,
interview templates, interview transcripts, key tasks and
task support systems
20
group level
 To transfer from individuals/groups to
groups:
 Approach: facilitated workshops with community of
practice members
 Types of knowledge that can be transferred: tactical
knowledge, knowledge flow facilitators, knowledge flow
blocks and identification of CoPs
 Tangible by-products: workshop notes, knowledge
repository design and implementation, and a map of
social interactions within CoP and with external
stakeholders 21
organizational level
 To transfer from individuals/groups to the
organization (to OM):
 Approach: storytelling workshops and individual
interviews with key executives
 Types of knowledge transferred: strategic consensus re.
key intellectual assets and criteria for evaluation of
intellectual assets’ business value
 Tangible by-products: map of key intellectual assets of
the organization, organizational lexicon of key concepts,
springboard stories and historical knowledge
(organizational ‘saga’) 22
Next:
 The KM Team
23
Theory and Practice
Lecture 10: The Value of KM

KM Metrics Overview
 Some commonly used approaches:

 Sveiby’s Four Categories for Measuring Intangible
Assets
 ICM Group – Current Measures for Intellectual Capital
 Edvinsson and Malone’s Universal Intellectual Capital
Navigator
 Benchmarking
 The Balanced Scorecard Method
 The House of Quality Method
 Results-based or outcome-based approaches
Why measure?
 To prove that a KM initiative is fulfilling its

objectives and creating value
 To convince management and stakeholders
of the value of KM
 To refine the project by providing regular
benchmarks to identify areas for
improvement, change or adaptation
What do we want to measure?
 Meaningful measures relate directly to specific

targets and objectives
 KM measures should tie into the critical success factors
of the project
 Need a clear understanding of your goals before
choosing metrics
 Measurements have varying levels of
informativeness
 Some quantitative metrics give you hard data without
explaining why things are so
For whom are we measuring?
 Who is concerned by the success of the KM

initiative, and what kind of results are they
expecting?
 Target interests of stakeholders with metrics
 Three main categories:
 Program funders - ROI
 Managers – adoption
 Employees/participants - practicality
When should we measure?
 4 phases of KM projects
 Pre-Planning
 Start-Up
 Pilot Project
 Growth & Expansion
 Begin metrics during the pilot phase
 Although some metrics can be useful in the start-up
phase to garner support and keep people involved
Smith. (2001) “Metrics Guide for Knowledge Management Initiatives.”

How should we measure?
 Quantitative measurement
 Pros: assigns a numerical value to an observable
phenomenon and provides concrete evidence (or
financial value) of the success of KM programs
 Con: problematic for demonstrating the value of the
more intangible results of KM.
 Qualitative measurement
 Pro: provides context and value to notions that are either
difficult or irrelevant to quantify (e.g. perceptual value)
 Con: more difficult to convince stakeholders
How should we measure?
 Anecdotal – qualitative/quantitative hybrid

 “serious anecdote” = story that has a
“lessons learned” punch line

 excellent for capturing the context of a
valuable piece of knowledge

 often carries a quantitative measurement
Davenport and Prusak (2000). Working Knowledge.

How should we collect data?
 Different methods for different metrics

 Built into IT systems
 Surveys
 Interviews
 Focus groups
 Financial analysis
 Others…
How can we analyse results?
Source: Smith, 2001, 67

How do we measure different
levels of impact?
 3 types of metrics:
 Outcome metrics - applying metrics to the
productivity and revenue of the organization as a whole
 Output metrics - measurement at the project level,
usually specific processes
 System Metrics - measurement of IT tools, and their
integration and usefulness in supporting initiatives
Source: Smith, 2001)

How to answer the question:
“What is it worth?”
 KM metrics are a heuristic exercise not a

precise mathematical one
 More craft than science
 May change as field matures
 Multiplicity of approaches used
 More guidelines than recipes/formulae
 Tend to be customized more than generic
Results-based management
(RBM)
 RBM – Emphasis on:
 defining realistic results based on analysis
 monitoring progress of expected results
 reporting
 Result = describable or measurable change
resulting from a cause and effect relationship
 Also used by CIDA, UN agencies, USAID, Fujitsu,
among many others
RBM - continued
 Results chain: Explores how resources and activities connect with

changes (flow type)
 Activities: actions to be undertaken within the scope of the project
 Immediate outcomes (a.k.a outputs): short-term effects of the completed
activity
Intermediate outcomes: medium-term results, one step removed from
activity
 Final outcomes (a.k.a impact): long-term big-picture results,
contribution towards ultimate goal (may not be visible during
project)
 Indicators: evidence of progress, metrics
 Results aggregate at each level

Results chain – “splash and ripple”
Evidence of progress,
Indicators Indicators Indicators
metrics
Results at
Immed. Final
each Intermed.
Activities outcomes outcomes
Level outcomes
(outputs) (Impact)
aggregate
short-term
action to be medium-term
effects of the long-term
undertaken results, one step
completed big-picture results,
within scope removed
activity contribution towards
of the project from activity
ultimate goal (may
not be visible
Adapted from: Plan:Net. during project)
Splash and Ripple! Planning and
Managing for Results. 2004.
Why RBM for KM?
 Traditional metrics frameworks are difficult

to apply to KM, especially in government
 Strong ROI focus
 Not enough emphasis on cause and effect
 Although metrics is not an exact science,
indicator selection is made easier with clear
and well-defined results
Case study: Canadian anti-
terrorism organization
 KM strategy and initiatives implemented in 2002
 facilitate interactions within the chemical, biological,
radiological and nuclear (CBRN) research community,
 stimulate science and technology innovation and
knowledge creation
 provide knowledge to the broader stakeholder
community
 2005-2006 is year 4 of 5 year mandate so it was a
good time to assess success of KM
KM at CRTI
 4 main KM projects at CRTI, with 2 related

initiatives
 CRTI InfoPort (Portal)
 Community support (Training, exercises, etc)
 Symposia and workshops
 Knowledge products
 Media communications
 Information management
Results chain for CRTI
InfoPort
Develop a virtual workspace Timely access to current
(CRTI InfoPort) and valid CBRN knowledge
Create an inventory of
Knowledge products
Technical support for virtual
(Database of CBRN knowledge sharing
Knowledge and sources) and collaboration
Identify CRTI experts and Assistance in

offer online access connecting with experts
Collect and archive
CRTI documentation Enhanced communication
and offer electronic access and dissemination of
Activities CRTI information
Immediate
outcomes
Results chain for CRTI InfoPort
Timely access to current Increased connections
and valid CBRN knowledge within community
Technical support for virtual

knowledge sharing Increased collaboration,
and collaboration cooperation
Assistance in
connecting with experts
Improved decision-making,
Enhanced communication performance
and dissemination of
CRTI information
Increased exchange of
Immediate tacit knowledge
outcomes
Intermediate
outcomes
Results chain for CRTI InfoPort
Increased connections
within community Development,
management
Increased collaboration, and leveraging
cooperation of CBRN knowledge
and expertise
Improved decision-making,
performance Stronger links
within CRTI
communities
Increased exchange of Final outcomes

tacit knowledge (Impacts)
Should align to CRTI
Intermediate objectives, outcomes
outcomes
Examples of indicators
 Quantitative
 Number of users, hits, downloads
 Number of available knowledge products
 Domains of expertise covered in expertise locator
 Qualitative
 Perceived value of portal, knowledge objects
 Value of connections made through expertise locator
 Time saved in solving problems due to use of portal
AND/OR examples of problems avoided or quickly
solved
Source: Plan:Net. Splash and Ripple! Planning and Managing for Results. 2004.
Logic Model: Collaboration Support
CS1: Foster facilitation CS3: Contribute to CS6: Explore & establish
CS2: Establish & CS4: Hold workshops CS5: Identify FR gaps
leadership & reporting, relationship building standards for
support CoPs & conferences & requirements
provide resources interoperability
- Meetings with other
- Workshops - FR Workshops
- Templates for reports organizations - Harmonize lab procedure
- CoP support - Conferences - Feedback mechanisms
- After-action reviews, etc. - Joint sponsorship of protocol
- CRTI-wide exercises
workshops etc.
Organizational Awareness of CRTI Procedural support for

Immediate More tacit New partners are Exchange of S&T & Participation by
processes & expertise, projects, data exchange and
outcomes knowledge is established, S&T operational knowledge FRs is
reporting quality gaps, successes is communication among
captured community is expanded is increased increased
are enhanced increased labs is increased
Collaboration &
CRTI
Trust and communication
Intermediate Tacit knowledge community Interoperability
synergy is within & between
outcomes is preserved learning is is increased
increased clusters is
increased
increased
Final Knowledge continuity is Horizontal capability

Performance is improved
outcomes increased is increased
Utlimate
outcome Capability to
respond is
increased
Why RBM and not some of the other
KM measurement Frameworks?
 Value Chain Scorecard

 Indicators are quantitative only
 Skandia Navigator
 Indicators were not all relevant to KM @ CRTI
 Intangible Assets Monitor
 Presented challenges in linking KM goals to CRTI goals
 Balanced Scorecard
 Causal relationships in BSC are arguably, in reality, only
logical and not causal.
Identifying the Metrics
 Identify metrics for each outcome box in the logic flow

 Example from Collaboration Support: organizational processes
and reporting quality are enhanced
 How many after action reviews have been done?
 Have you participated in writing after action reviews?
 Do you make use of the (KM designed) templates for reports?
 Have the templates improved the quality of your reporting?
 Have these templates enhanced or improved any organizational
processes in which you are involved?
 Have the reports and after action reviews been incorporated into internal
document repositories?
Collection Tools
 Electronic qualitative survey (SurveyMonkey)

 Likert scales
 Open ended questions
 Distributed to CRTI members through CRTI’s
portal
 Follow up with interviews to gather additional
anecdotal information on the impact that KM
has had on CRTI’s ultimate goals
Preliminary findings
Sample findings:
 100% feel that the KM activities have increased the communication of
CRTI information and documentation
 100% feel their personal network of partners expanded as a result of
the KM activities
 92% agree that the KM activities have provided valuable learning
experiences
 69.3% feel that the KM activities have had an impact on project
development
 While 66.7% feel they have centralized access to CBRN S&T through
the portal, 53.8% rarely use the portal to accomplish tasks
Some Recommendations
 Measure continuously
 Experiment with different types of methods and
approaches – use a combination
 Measure what is strategically important
 Use conservative numbers and keep it simple
 Use different measures for different stakeholders
Some additional references
 APQC. Measure what matters: Section1 - Designing the

performance measurement system. 2000.
 Bukowitz, Wendi and Gordon P. Petrash. "Visualizing, measuring
and managing knowledge." Research Technology Management
.Jul/Aug (1997): 24-31.
 Dalkir, K., and McIntyre, S. (2011). Measuring intangible assets:
Assessing the impact of knowledge management in the S&T fight
against terrorism. Chapter 8 in: Identifying, Measuring, and
Valuing Knowledge-Based Intangible Assets: NewPerspectives
IGI Global, V. Bélén (Ed.). Pages 156-176.
 European Committee for Standardization. European Guide to
good Practice in Knowledge Management - Part 4: Guidelines for
Measuring KM. CWA 14924-4:2004 (E), 2004.
 Smith, A. "Metrics Guide for Knowledge Management
Initiatives.". 2001. Department of the Navy
Next:
 Organizational memory and organizational

learning
Theory and Practice
Lecture 9: KM Strategy
Overview
 KM Strategy
 What do we want to achieve?
 The investment
 KM Metrics
 How will we know if we succeeded?
 The return on investment (ROI)
KM Strategy Overview
 KM Strategy
 Answering the “why” and “so what” questions
 General Approaches
 Bottom-up grassroots pilot projects
 Top-down based on objectives
 Middle-out – a combination of the above

KM Strategy Framework
People
Process Business Tools

Objectives
Organization
BTOPP: Benefit-Tools-
Organization-Process-People
People Are people ready for KM?
Are we getting value from KM?
Processes Benefits Tools
Do we have tools to do KM?

Do we have KM
processes in place?
Organization
Does our organization support KM?

Some Examples
•Organizational learning
•Individual performance • Personal motivation
•Knowledge-sharing culture • Recognition program
People • Incentives for sharing
•Cost savings
•Competitive intelligence… • Learn and use best practices
• Repository, intranets
to capture, disseminate,
Processes Benefits Tools share & collaborate
• corporate yellow pages
• Web-casts, e-meetings
• Identify, validate and
retire best practices
• Post-mortems to identify • New roles & responsibilities
and document lessons Organization • Provide time & meeting places
learned • Policy of incentives, rewards
• A seamless part of
everyday business
KM Strategy – Key Steps
1. Understand business objectives

2. Describe KM issues (need for a KM solution)
3. Inventory existing resources (KM audit)
4. Agree on KM objectives
5. Perform gap analysis between “as is” (from audit)
and desired “to be” states (from KM objectives)
6. Recommend short term (1-year) road map and 3-5
year KM strategy

year KM strategy

 Assess the core KM policies, activities, practices, tools etc… that are in
use in the organisation
year KM strategy
KM Audit
 What information/content is there? How is it

currently stored/used/coded?
 Who is responsible for the different types of content
and their coordination?
 What criteria are used to value/select content?
 How is value added to content?
 How is content proactively managed for
organizational viability and competitiveness?
KM Audit …/2
 Conducting a knowledge audit is the first

step in developing a KM strategy.
 A knowledge audit is meant to identify
owners, users, uses, and key attributes of an
organization’s key knowledge attributes.
 Assessing the status of existing knowledge
practices within the organization should be
done prior to developing KM objectives.
KM Audit …/3
 The KM audit should review how well an

organization is addressing
 Knowledge capture, codification, and or creation through
knowledge repositories and knowledge continuity
programs;
 Knowledge sharing and dissemination through
communities of practice, knowledge portals and
organizational storytelling;
 Knowledge acquisitions and re-use through taxonomies
and content management policies.
KM Audit …/4
 Interviewing stakeholders to establish

knowledge needs is an excellent method for
gaining an overview of the knowledge within
an organization.
 The level of organizational readiness for a
KM strategy and particular initiatives can
also be assessed during the KM audit and
mapped onto a maturity model map
Typical KM Audit Questions
 What is the average age of your employees?

 Have you done a good job of documenting
processes and capturing knowledge?
 Do you have a mentoring program in place to
transfer and share knowledge between experts and
newcomers to the organization?
 Do you spend a good part of the day looking for
valuable content that has been misplaced?
 Do you have time to chat with your colleagues in an
informal way?
Liebowitz, J. (2003) Addressing the human capital crisis in the Federal government.

 To be identified in relation to the organization’s goals
year KM strategy
KM Objective Formulation
 Supporting and enhancing existing knowledge

processes (which were identified in he knowledge
audit) is the ultimate goal of KM and should be the
target of KM objectives
 KM objectives should explicitly point out the
amount and type of contribution they can be
expected to bring to bear on the higher level
organizational goals.
KM Objective Formulation /2
 KM objectives should be created on the

normative, strategic and operational levels
and should address organizational structures,
activities and behaviours on all three levels.
 A KM visioning workshop is an effective
tool for identifying and developing KM
objectives
Best practices in KM goal &
objective formulation
 Operationalize KM goals into objectives

 Coordinate KM goals with existing goals
 Break down KM goals into departments,
groups and individuals
 Ensure all goals are measurable

 Analyse the difference between the findings in the knowledge audit (the
current state of KM in the organisation) and the KM objectives (the
desired state)

year KM strategy
Key Findings – Phase 3: KM Gap
Analysis
 Conducting a gap analysis, in which the gap between the
organization’s current KM activities/capacities and its KM
goals/objectives follows the identification of KM goals and
objectives
 Organizational culture is generally one of the major enablers
or obstacles to bridging the gap between current KM status
and desired KM status
 KM initiatives should be designed with the organization’s
culture in mind to help garner support for, and increase the
chances of success of, the initiatives
Gap Analysis ../2
 What are the major differences between the current

and desired KM states of the organization?
 List barriers to KM implementation
 List KM leverage points (enablers)
 Identify opportunities to collaborate with other
business units/initiatives
 Conduct a risk analysis
 Are there any redundancies? Silos? Potential for
synergies?

year KM strategy
 Development of a road map representing a three- to five-year
strategy with clear milestones, targets and metrics to measure
the successful achievement of them
KM Road Map
 How will the organization manage its knowledge better

for the benefit of the business?
 Content management priorities (explicit and tacit
content)
 Identification of processes, people, products, services,
organizational memory, relationships, knowledge assets
as high priority knowledge leverage points to focus on
 What is the clear, direct link between KM levers and
business objectives?
 How will KM capability be sustained over the long
term?
KM Strategy Recommendations
 A KM Road Map, which typically represents

a three- to five-year plan for implementing a
KM strategy with clear milestones or targets
to be achieved throughout that time, is an
effective tool for structuring the development
and implementation of a KM strategy.
Strategy Recommendations /2
 Developing a KM metric strategy is critical

part of ensuring the success of a KM strategy
as well as all KM initiatives. The appropriate
measurement framework will be determined
by the organization’s existing measurement
practices and culture as well the nature of
KM initiative to be measured.
Strategy Recommendations /3
 Build sustainability of the KM strategy by

developing upper-level KM positions within
the organization, by training employees in
key KM skills, and developing a culture of
organizational knowledge sharing and
learning
What are some critical success
factors?
 Consistency between core values, business strategy
and actual work environment
 The best KM solutions address a business issue that is already
perceived to be important.
 Ensure KM strategy is integrated with other
organizational strategies
 Involve IT and human resources from the start to expedite KM
implementation
 Top leaders serve as good role models – “they walk
the talk”
 A passionate, committed line business leader is key to successful
KM initiatives
Examples of 1st and 2nd year KM
Strategies
 Create KM awareness at all levels (working groups, seminars)
 Develop CoPs with active facilitators
 Begin mentoring programs
 Develop technology infrastructure needed to support KM
 Incorporate KM strategy into organizational strategy
 Develop organizational roles needed to support KM (KM team)
 Embed KM processes (lifecycle) into everyday working activities of employees
(e.g. capture lessons learned during each phase of project, storytelling at staff
meetings, etc.)
 Enhance the reward and recognition system to promote good KM behaviours
 Expand KM pilots into full-fledged KM projects (increase scope to organization-
wide)
 Conduct KM audit
 Use social network analysis to understand knowledge flows (e.g. how well are
newer employees interacting with more senior experts?
KM strategy should revolve
around knowledge assets
 Intangible assets or intellectual capital
 What does the organization know how to do well?
 Intellectual property, patents, human expertise, etc.
 One of the strategic KM goals is to help an
organization identify its intellectual assets and to
achieve a good balance between fluidity and
institutionalization
 Between innovation and efficiency
Finding The Right Balance
Where is the high-value IC??
Fluid Institutional
•Spontaneous •Structured
•Creative Knowledge •Codified
•Dynamic •Controlled
•Experimental •Measured
Tacit Explicit 30
Next:
 How to assess the value, the return on

investment (ROI) of KM?
and Practice
Lecture 8: The KM Toolkit

Overview
KM Tools and Techniques

 Knowledge mapping
 Community of Practice mapping
 Knowledge Taxonomies
 Knowledge Repository Design
 Groupware and collaboration tools
 Knowledge repository tools (intranet, www, portal…)
 EPSS (task support tools)
 AI-based tools (e.g. CBR)
2
Some Examples
 http://fiftylessons.com
 http://firefighternearmiss.com
 http://www4.worldbank.org/afr/ikdb/search.c
fm
3
The World Bank – Knowledge
Bank
 http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTER
NAL/WBI/WBIPROGRAMS/KFDLP/0,,con
tentMDK:20934895~menuPK:2128002~pag
ePK:64156158~piPK:64152884~theSitePK:4
61198,00.html
4
Knowledge Bank – Introductory
Video
 http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTER
NAL/WBI/0,,contentMDK:20212624~menu
PK:575902~pagePK:209023~piPK:207535~t
heSitePK:213799,00.html
5
Knowledge Bank – Stephen
Denning Storytelling Video
 http://info.worldbank.org/etools/bspan/Prese
ntationView.asp?PID=1189&EID=277
6
Enterprise KM Architecture
 Data Layer
 Unifying abstraction across different types of data with
potentially different storage mechanisms (database,
textual data, video, audio)
 Process Layer
 Describes the logic that links data with the use made by
people or other systems of that data
 User Interface
 Provides access for people to the information assets of
the enterprise via logic incorporated in the process layer
7
KM Enterprise Architecture
Profiles for Unifying User Interface User views

Personalization Or representations
UI Layer
Applications Functions for KM

Process
Help Locate Record Find Alert to
Layer
System Experts B P s Associations New Factors
Metadata
Data
Data Sources Data Types Data Formats Layer
8
KM Data Layer
 Data Sources
 Groupware repositories (LotusNotes)
 Document management
 Media management
 Intranets
 File servers
 World Wide Web….
9
Data Types
 Relational data bases

 Text files
 Audio/video
 Web pages
 Discussion/email threads…
10
Data Formats
 XML
 HTML
 ASCII
 GIF
 MPEG
 WAV
 Proprietory…
11
Metadata
 KM cannot be supported by the simple

amalgamation of a mass of data
 Requires the structuring and navigation
supported yb metadata: the formal description of
data and its inter-relationships
 Metadata about physical structures, data types,
access methods and about content
12
Metadata (con’t)
 Metadata in KM is used to categorize, define, and

describe and falls into 2 categories:
 Taxonomy (knowledge maps, glossaries, thesauri..)
 XML standards
 Manual approaches complemented by automated relationship
discovery
 Unification and access of data silos
 Need to locate data, access multiple types of data in multiple
formats from multiple repositories
 Must be reliable, scalable as required with access by large
numbers of users
13
UI Layer
 Personalization Profiles
 Data about people, tasks, and preferences
 Unifying user interface
 Browser, icons, portal, application interface
 Viewing or representation
 Multidevice
 Multimedia
 Abstraction
 Navigation
14
Process Layer
 Encapsulates the application logic that

delivers content from the data layer to the
user via the UI layer
 Scripting languages e.g. VisualBasic
 Rule-based retrieval systems
 Search engines
 Intelligent filtering agents
15
Physical Layer
 Web Browsers
 Hyperlink model, multimedia documents, ..
 Single logical content model
 Unifying network services
 Common access methods
 Internet standards
 Content/semantics (XML, WebDAV)
 Presentation (multimedia and multimode)
16
Tools and Techniques for each
step of the KM cycle
 Capture and store
 Search and retrieve
 Publish and disseminate
 Structure and navigate
 Use and apply
17
Checklist for KM Technologies
 Capture and Store - - Knowledge Mapping

 Can define templates,
 Can identify authors,
 Can manage work steps to create, update, review
and approve end products
 Shared capture processes (e.g. multiple authors)
 Can capture and group units of knowledge in a
shareable repository
18
What is a Knowledge Map?
 Definition
 Knowledge mapping creates high-level knowledge
models in a transparent graphical form
 Knowledge mapping is the techniques and tools for
visualising knowledge and relationships in a clear form
such that business-relevant features are clearly
highlighted
 Knowledge maps are created by transferring certain
aspects of (tacit or explicit) knowledge into a graphical
form that is easily understandable by end-users, who may
be business managers, experts or technical system
developers
19
Knowledge Map Example/1
20
Knowledge Map Example/2
21
Checklist (con’t)
 Search and Retrieve

 Search and query without familiarity with content nor
location
 Transparent access to disparate data sources
 Efficient access through indices, data warehousing, data
marts or document repositories
 Access to richer media and content such as text, video,
audio and images
 Multiple search techniques such as simple Boolean,
fuzzy, conceptual or contextual, and feature detection
searches and complex natural language queries
22
Checklist (con’t)
 Disseminate/publish
 Routing and delivery of information to those
who have a need and the notification of
subscribers
 Email, workflow, push technology to notify of
changes, of newly posted information, expired
subscriptions and expired materials
 Pattern matching against user profiles (including
structured or adaptive profiles)
23
Repository Design
24
Products – Repository Design
What’s New TC Headquarter TC Regions
Rail Industry
Links Reports Members Maps
25
Products – Repository Design
26
Rail Industry
What’s New TC Headquarter TC Regions Links Reports Members Maps
27
Checklist (con’t)
 Structure and Navigate

 Provide a classification scheme for the organization’s
knowledge assets - hierarchies, taxonomies, semantic nets
 Provide and a means to effectively navigate the structure
using a visual or textual UI path; enable multiple views
 Index the explicit information content
 Build electronic linkages from classification scheme to
relevant knowledge assets
 Identify of human experts and their areas of expertise; id of
users and their CoPs
 Link from UI topics to related KM content, people and
processes 28
Taxonomies
 Taxonomies are ways to structure vast amounts of

information, e.g.
 Dewey system, SIC, animal kingdom
 Multiple parallel taxonomies can co-exist, e.g.

 from a product point of view
 from a process point of view
 from a R&D point of view
 The “first cut” at a taxonomy should be done by a domain

expert and KM expert
 Taxonomies can be living entities (updateable)
 Content that is mapped by the taxonomies can be
automatically “refreshed” and sorted 29
Yahoo: Hierarchical Taxonomy
30
TheBrain: Semantic Nets
31
Northern Light: "Word" Folders
32
Semio: Categories on demand
33
Themescape:Word Count and Relation
34
Dataware: Concept Identification
35
Checklist (con’t)
 Share and Collaborate

 Connect people with other people via groupware
 Major KM technology – stimulates collaboration
 Real-time application sharing and videoconferencing, chat rooms
 Exchange of info as well as sharing creation of products, sharing
workspace
 Ability to link to experts on-demand if they are online
 Allow multiple authoring, shared retrieval by CoP
members
 Group decision support systems
 Shared screen conferencing
 Networked virtual meetings
36
Collaborate
 Find (people)
 Validate (external confirmation of people as
experts, content as valid)
 Facilitate
 Mediate (the differences in time and space)
 Augment
 Share
 align
37
Evolution of Collaboration and
Knowledge Management
Online 1997 -
CoPs
Know Mgmnt 1996 -
Collab Apps/Groupware 1993 -
Network Applications 1991-1994
Networks/Infrastructure 1989-1993
38
What is Groupware?
 Collaboration = the ability to work together

and exchange information and knowledge
 Show clear economic benefits in order to be
successful and to be sustained
 Groupware = the electronic technologies that
support person-to-person collaboration
 Email, electronic meeting systems, desktop
videoconferencing, workflow and BPR
39
Building Community
 Organizations are beginning to realize the

importance of relationships to managing
knowledge and intellectual capital
 Most organizations are now networks of small
communities – CoPs that are purpose-driven
 Need to build the electronic and cultural
infrastructure to support these communities
40
Technologies to Support
Collaboration
 Increasingly in demand due to:
 Distributed workforces
 Virtualization of work
 Information overload
 Time-to-market pressures
 “on” and “contactable” at all times, upon
demand
41
Definitions of Groupware
 Groupware supports the efforts of teams and other

communities which require people to work together
even though they are not actually in the same time
and/or space
 Relatively new term first coined in 1978
 “intentional group processes plus software to support
them”
 “a co-evolving human-tool system”
 “computer-mediated collaboration that increases the
productivity or functionality of peer processes”
42
Groupware Taxonomy
 Twelve functional categories are used to

form a logical taxonomy which includes
 A separate category for g/w services,
 A separate category for g/w applications and
 A special category for internet-based
collaborative applications
43
Groupware Taxonomy (con’t)
1. Electronic mail & messaging

2. Group calendaring & scheduling
3. Electronic meeting systems
4. Desktop video, Real Time synchronous conferencing
5. Non-Real Time asynchronous conferencing
6. Group document handing
7. Workflow
8. Workgroup utilities and development tools
9. Groupware services
10. Groupware and KM frameworks
11. Groupware applications
12. Collaborative Internet-based applications and products
44
So…What is a Portal?
 Basically: A home-page on steroids.

 Provides access to diverse enterprise content
 Provides access to enterprise communities
 Provides links to services within the enterprise
 Provides key links to services and information
outside the enterprise
 Provides "utility services", e.g. personalization,
security
 Channels
 More….
59
Different Types of Portals
Consumer Corporate Customer Vertical Portals Commerce
Portals Portals Portals Portals
Example Yahoo, Business Premier Pages Industry Web Site, Digital

AOL Portal/EIP Energyportal.com, Marketplace,
Commerce Hub
Target User Consumers Employees Customers Business Business

Professionals in a Professionals in
single discipline. any discipline;
Communities of eMarkets
Interest and
Practice
Purpose Directory/ Internet Leverage Intranet Customer Specific Content, Links, Online forum for
Apps Resources Views and Commerce B2B supply chains
Content Anything Intranet Apps/ Catalogs, Articles, Job Catalogs,

Internet Content Manuals, FAQs, Listings, Catalogs, Shopping Guides,
Transactions Guides Transactions
60
Case: First Creative Alternative
61
Case: Third Alternative
62
63
Checklist (con’)
 Synthesize
 Discovery of new knowledge and insights from
available information: BI, data, skill, text
mining
 Extracting data, downloading data for user
analysis and reuse, visual representation of
trends and patterns
64
Checklist (con’t)
 Profile and Personalize
 Align and group people into work and interest communities
and with information, objects or interests
 Self-selected alignment, peer-selected alignment or
enterprise-determined alignment or automated alignment
based on history of usage
 Filter incoming information to match user needs
 Part of security program
 Automated agents = s/w that acts as an intermediary for a
person by performing some activity. Agents can learn an
individual’s preferences to deliver knowledge to them “at
point of need” – to search, retrieve, synthesis, recommend
on behalf of the user 65
Checklist (con’t)
 Solve or Recommend
 Encode knowledge in a model that produces a solution or
recommendation
 E.g. credit-risk assessment, insurance underwriting,
equipment diagnosis
 Rule-based systems, case-based reasoning systems,
neural networks used for this highly task-oriented type of
knowledge
 Can be triggered by workflow rule and then delivered to
individuals or groups based on their profiles
66
Task Support Objectives:
The Digital Insurance Office
 Offers insurance agents just-in-time access to:
 Relevant checklists
 Relevant standards, guidelines
 Relevant articles of law
 Right procedures
 Useful training modules
 Relevant examples
 Relevant tools, templates, job aids
 List of people who can help you in accomplishing this
task – now!
67
Other Tools and Technologies
for Knowledge Sharing
 Relational databases  Data warehouses
 Intranets  Data mining tools
 Data analysis tools  CRM
 Document search  Enterprise profiling
 Web portals  AI tools (CBR, agents)
 Information filters  Group memory context
 Knowledge Mapping  Teamware
68
What about social media?
 Wikis  KM is inherently about

 Twitter collaboration so it is a perfect fit
 Blogs with social media
 Web 2.0  KM also leads to greater
transparency – again a good fit
 FaceBook
 Last but not least – collaborative
 LinkedIn content creation can only fuel KM
 Others... implementation in both
organizational and in networks
69
Next:
 KM Strategy and ROI
70
and Practice
Lecture 7: The Role of Organizational

Culture
Overview of lecture
 Feedback on MBTI (online questionnaire)

 Explanation of the dimensions
 Correlation with career choice
 Role of organizational culture
 Maturity models
 Case studies
 Research study
2
Cognitive Styles and MBTI
 Cognitive differences
 We all have preferred habits of thought that influence
how we make decisions, how we interact with others and
how we prefer to learn
 These are neither good nor bad
 They emerge early in our lives and tend to remain fairly
stable through the years
 People tend to choose professions that reward or
correspond to their preferred cognitive styles
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is an example of a
widely used tool to assess cognitive styles
3
Your Personality Profile
 Why profile?
 How do you learn? How do you solve problems?
 What career are you likely to choose?
 How do you work in teams?
 How do you share knowledge?
 What does your social network look like?
 Questionnaire
 Self-report results (that you did online)
 An alternative way of determining your profile…
 See handout
4
MBTI and Jungian Types
 Four Dimensions:
 Introverted vs. Extroverted - - source of energy
 Judging vs. Perceiving - - source of inputs
 Sensing vs. Intuiting - - ways of perceiving
 Thinking vs. Feeling - - ways of judging
 **gender correlation**
 16 Type Profiles
5
MBTI Type Distribution
– general population
Sensing Intuiting
T F F T
ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ
J
12% 14% 2% 2%
Introverted
ISTP ISFP INFP INTP
P 5% 9% 4% 3%
ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

P
4% 9% 8% 3%
Extroverted
ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ
J
9% 12% 3% 2%
6
Overview of lecture
 Feedback on MBTI (online questionnaire

 Alternative way of arriving at your type
 Explanation of the dimensions
 Correlation with career choice
 Role of organizational culture
 Maturity models
 Case studies
 Research study
7
Knowledge Management &
Change Delivery
 Imagine the following:
 3 groups of 10 individuals are in a park at lunch time
with a rain clouds threatening
 Group 1: someone gets up and says ‘get up and follow
me… authoritarian
 Group 2: someone says ‘here’s the plan – each one
stands up, marches in the direction of the apple tree,
maintaining a distance of 2 feet apart….’ micromanager
 Group 3: a few people say ‘it’s going to rain – why
don’t we go over to that apple tree – we will stay dry and
have fresh apples for lunch…’ grassroots
 Group 4: someone tells a story about the time…
From: John Kotter (1996) Leading Change. Boston: Harvard School Press. 8
A Springboard Story
In June 1995, a health care worker in Kamana, Zambia logged

on to the Centre for Disease Control Web Site in Atlanta and
found the answer to a question on how to treat malaria.
 This serves as an illustration of low-cost knowledge sharing across
organizations, across distances and across cultural barriers.
 Stephen Denning used this story to catalyze senior management at the
World Bank to rethink their mission – no longer just a bank but a
knowledge broker. and to help them to envision - - what would it be
like…..if we ignited organizational change and become a Knowledge
Culture company
From: Stephen Denning (2001) The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action
in Knowledge-Era Organizations. Boston, MA: Butterworth-Heineman.
9
From Steven Denning himself:
 http://www.stevendenning.com
 http://www.stevedenning.com/WatchAVideo
.htm
10
What is culture?
 Corporate culture is the set of understandings (often unstated!) that

members of a community share in common. These shared
understandings consist of our norms, values, attitudes, beliefs and
paradigms. (V. Sathe)
 Culture is the integrated pattern of human behaviour that includes
thought, speech, action and artifacts and depends on man’s capacity for
learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations.
(Webster’s)
 A pattern of basic assumptions
 That has worked well enough to be considered valid
 Is therefore taught to new members as a correct way to think,
perceive and feel in relation to problems.
 Unspoken “rules of the game”
 What is done and what is NOT done
 How you fit in with respect to the organization

11
KM almost always triggers
organizational change
 Corporate culture is a key component of ensuring that
critical knowledge and information flow within an
organization
 The strength and commitment of a corporate culture is at
least as important as the communication technologies
implemented for knowledge sharing
 Traditionally, knowledge flowed or was shared vertically – needs to
be horizontal as well
 Organization needs to recognize and reward knowledge sharing
rather than knowledge hoarding behaviours
 Communications technology is an enabler of knowledge sharing
12
Three Myths about KM:
1. Build it and they will come

 People rarely take the time to learn new tools
 Technology does not always give them what they
want/need
 People often don’t know what knowledge they need
2. Technology can replace face-to-face
 Only if you ignore valuable tacit knowledge
3. First you have to create a learning culture
 It is very hard and takes a very long time to change
culture - - focus on changing behaviours then culture
13
Maturity Models
 Good frameworks for understanding current

culture of an organization
 And the stages of how change is introduced
 Can better identify the obstacles and enablers in
order for the organization to attain the next level
14
Stages of Organization Maturity •Culture adapts strategically
•Operation model changes
dynamically based on
Agile environmental changes
•Professionals compete to work
for corporation
•Cohesive corporate culture and operation model

•Corporate strategy drives operational tactics
Managed •Corporate leadership team coaches & empowers
local leaders
•Employees recruited & retained based on strategic
direction
•Similar local cultures
• Local decision making based on corporate strategy
Organized •Local leadership linked to corporate leadership team
•Corporate operation model pushed down to local level
•Stable employee base
•Multiple local cultures, leadership structures and

operation models
Ad hoc
• Local decision making
•Employee turnover high except in preferred classes of
employees
•Non-cohesive culture
•Decision making in-flight
Chaotic
•Leadership structure vague
•Operation model undefined
•Employees evaporating 15
Forrester Group:
KM Maturity model
Assisted Self-Service Organic
•Employees codify with •Employees codify on •KM happens in the
help from journalists their own without help background – it is
embedded in business
•Employees find info with •Employees find info •Info provided when
the help of librarians using search engines needed (JIT, JET)
•KSO •Push technologies •Personalized KM

Typical
initiatives •Yellow Pages •Customized KM
•Communities of
Practice
16
APQC Evolution of a Best
Practice
Good Local best Industry

Good idea
practice practice Best Pract.
•BP candidate •Has impact •Recognized by •Recognized by
•unproven within comp comp experts outside experts
•intuitive •technique, •shown to be best •Acknowledged
•need to analyze method that approach for some as state-of-the-art
•Used successfully improves or all parts of the by industry
on one or a few performance organization
assignments •Used by other •Available for reuse
groups on throughout
different company
assignments
17
KM Maturity Model …
Example:
Institutionalization
Adoption
Trial
Commitment
Understanding
Awareness
Contact
Time
18
Community of Practice
Lifecycle
Knowledge taxonomist
Value of
content Maturing Stewardship
created
Coalescing
Transformation
Knowledge
Potential journalist Knowledge archivist
Community maturity
and productivity
19
Some Minimum Requirements
KM Barriers Possible Solutions
Lack of time & meeting places Seminars, e-meetings
Status & rewards to knowledge Establish incentives, include in
owners performance evaluations, role
models
Lack of absorptive capacity Hire for openness, educate
Not-invented-here syndrome Non-hierarchical approach
based on quality of ideas not
status of source
Intolerance for mistakes and Accept and reward creativity,
need for help, lack of trust collaboration, no loss of status
for not knowing everything
Lack of common language: Common set of key words,
not just English vs Spanish but standard formats, translators,
engineer-speak vs manager- knowledge journalists and
speak knowledge editors 20
Some Initial Steps to Creating
a Knowledge Culture
 Knowledge journalist to begin interviewing to document
projects, best practices. Lessons learned
 KM Awareness Get-Togethers (e.g. informal Project
Manager Breakfasts)
 Newsletters to publicize KM initiatives and good KM role
models
 KM Pilot Projects leveraging ongoing efforts
 KSO,
 intranets,
 KBS,
 DMS,
 People or expertise finders …. 21
Other Best Practices
 Encourage a knowledge-friendly culture

 Cannot be imposed top-down
 Culture evolves over a long period of time through the
way in which individuals work with one another
 Adapt the selection criteria and standards used to
evaluate performance
 Positive role models
 Create opportunities for people to get to know one
another and learn from one another
 Focus on connecting people rather than capturing
knowledge
22
Knowledge Management &
Change Delivery
 Imagine the following:
 3 groups of 10 individuals are in a park at lunch time
with a rain clouds threatening
 Group 1: someone gets up and says ‘get up and follow
me… authoritarian
 Group 2: someone says ‘here’s the plan – each one
stands up, marches in the direction of the apple tree,
maintaining a distance of 2 feet apart….’ micromanager
 Group 3: a few people say ‘it’s going to rain – why
don’t we go over to that apple tree – we will stay dry and
have fresh apples for lunch…’ grassroots
 Group 4: someone tells a story about the time…
23
Case Study 1
 Virtual organization- over 100 members

 All involved in economic regional development
work across Canada
 E.g. Youth employment, tourism, etc.
 Each area/branch had its own “local” culture
 Resistance to top-down implementation of KM
system – instead used:
24
Three Myths about KM:
1. Build it and they will come

 People rarely take the time to learn new tools
 Technology does not always give them what they
want/need
 People often don’t know what knowledge they need
2. Technology can replace face-to-face
 Only if you ignore valuable tacit knowledge
3. First you have to create a learning culture
 It is very hard and takes a very long time to change
culture - - focus on changing behaviours then culture
25
Case Study 2
 The organization is an international aid agency

working to end poverty and injustice as well as
responding to emergencies
 Offices around the world
 Work closely in partnership with communities
 Wants to become a learning organization
 First: we situated the organization on the maturity
models to assess its “organizational readiness”
26
General maturity model •Culture adapts strategically
•Operation model changes
Agile dynamically based on
environmental changes
•Professionals compete to
work for corporation
•Cohesive corporate culture and operation

Managed model
•Corporate strategy drives operational tactics
•Corporate leadership team coaches &
empowers local leaders
•Employees recruited & retained based on
strategic direction
Organized •Similar local cultures
RESULT • Local decision making based on corporate strategy
•Local leadership linked to corporate leadership team
•Corporate operation model pushed down to local level
•Stable employee base
•Multiple local cultures, leadership structures and
Ad hoc operation models
• Local decision making
•Employee turnover high except in preferred
classes of employees
•Non-cohesive culture
Chaotic •Decision making in-flight
•Leadership structure vague
•Operation model undefined
•Employees evaporating
Forrester Group model
RESULT
Assisted Self-Service Organic

•Employees codify with •Employees codify on •KM happens in the
help from journalists their own without help background – it is
embedded in business
•Employees find info with •Employees find info •Info provided when
the help of librarians using search engines needed (JIT, JET)
•KSO •Push technologies •Personalized KM
•Yellow Pages •Customized KM
•Communities of Practice
APQC model
RESULT
Good Local best Industry

Good idea
practice practice Best Practice
•BP candidate •Has impact •Recognized by •Recognized
•unproven within org org experts by outside
•intuitive •technique, •shown to be best experts
•need to analyze method that approach for •Acknowledge
•Used successfully improves some or all parts d as state-of-
on one or a few performance of the the-art by
assignments •Used by other organization industry
groups on •Available for
different reuse throughout
assignments company
Community of Practice Lifecycle
RESULT
Value of
content Maturing Stewardship
created
Coalescing
Transformation
Potential
Community maturity
and productivity
KMM (Infosys) model
RESULT
5.Sharing
Commitment
4.Convinced
3.Aware
2.Reactive
1.Default
Time
H. Gruber & L. Duxbury
 In-depth study of R&D dept of a high tech

company
 Looked at link between organizational culture
and knowledge sharing
 Variables of openness, trust, top management
support and the reward structure of the
organization
 Interviewed 30 employees
32
How is explicit knowledge
shared?
 Database (LotusNotes) 55%
 Intranet 40%
 Face to face* 28%
 Shared drive 25%
 * where is it? How do I get it? Who should

I go see? types of questions
33
What makes it harder to share
explicit knowledge?
 Hard to find on intranet 45%
 Hard to find in databases 38%
 Missing explanation for retrieval 25%
 Different systems – no standards 25%
 Information is not where it should be 25%
 Tools difficult to use 25%
 Difficult to access database 25%
34
How could you make it easier
for people to share?
 Training for knowledge retrieval 60%
 Define a knowledge strategy
 Categorize in standard way 33%
 Standardize technology 33%
 Create project websites 25%
35
How is tacit knowledge shared?
 How shared?
 Face to face 90%
 Informal personal networks 25%
 What makes it harder?
 Attitude (knowledge is power) 45%
 Don’t know who expert is 33%
 Don’t know if the knowledge exists 33%
 Lose knowledge when people leave 25%
36
How could you make it easier
to share tacit knowledge?
 Recognize the value of tacit know 33%
 Improve relationships within org 33%
 Increase opportunities for people
within different parts of the org to
interact 33%
37
What would your dept look like
with a k-sharing culture?
 Communication and coordination between groups
emphasized (45%)
 Experts would not shield knowledge (33%)
 Sharing of knowledge would be encouraged at all
levels of the hierarchy (25%)
 The organization would value sharing knowledge
(25%)
 Reward and recognition
 In corporate objectives
38
Wish list?
 Standardize on tools
 Increase the number of social events
 Workshops for knowledge sharing with
experts and other groups
 State knowledge sharing as an org goal
 Enhance trust
 Increase communication across projects
39
Lessons Learned:
 Provide information about the skills and experience

of employees to overcome problems arising from
the absence of personal relationships
 Provide support mechanisms – feedback for
effective knowledge sharing to take place
 Active knowledge transfer requires a bidirectional
communication channel
 Develop common goals and mutual trust
 KM is an evolutionary process that must be
embedded into organizational culture
40
Lessons Learned /2
 The introduction of new

communication/information technologies that
are capable of enhancing knowledge sharing
can be used to initiate a knowledge culture
 Externalize tacit knowledge
 Build up a permanent organizational memory
 Include all members in participatory
development of content, rules, goals
41
Lessons learned /3
 “we have to move to a transparent

organization. This means all kinds of
information and knowledge is shared across
the whole organization. Everyone can find
out what everyone else is doing. Any kind of
information that influences me and my
project have to be made available to
everyone else.”
42
Conclusions
 Research shows that an environment that truly

supports sharing of knowledge has the following
characteristics:
 Reward structure – recognition for knowledge sharing
with peers
 Openness/transparency – no hidden agendas
 Sharing supported– communication and coordination
between groups
 Trust – shared objectives
 Top management support – upward & downward
communication
43
Next:
 The KM Toolkit
44
and Practice
Lecture 6: Knowledge Acquisition and

Application
Overview
 Personal (Individual) knowledge acquisition and

application
 Personalization and Profiling
 Cognitive Styles and MBTI
 Bloom Taxonomy of Learning Objectives
 Group profiling – segmentation
 Organizational knowledge acquisition and
application (OL) – knowledge repositories
2
Overview

application
3
What does “personalization”
mean??
 Opposite of personalization = generic
 one-size fits all
 mass communications
 Beyond (“trivial”) customization
 segmentation
 manual adjustments e.g. desktop
 use of personal names instead of ‘addressee’
4
Personalization and Profiling
new technologies of internet, intranet, extranet,

groupware, CBT and so on greatly facilitate the
capture of user profiles - their actions leave
behind digital artifacts or footprints
it is thus easier to observe what they do and -
track, scan, model
“push technologies” – e.g. personalized email
alerts based on your interests
5
Keeping Track in the Networked
World: Footprints and Breadcrumbs
 ALL online transactions - and actions - leave behind

digital traces (footprints) which we can see, collect,
analyze and act on
 ATM banking transactions
 Web browsing
 Communicating with wireline and wireless
telephones….
 We leave breadcrumbs so we can find out way back
to places of interest (e.g. bookmarks)
6
User Profiling Approaches
Sign up or subscription – ask users

Approaches based on observation and
deduction
Content Affinity Groups
Data Mining
User Modeling
 Real-time
 Usage history
 Model of online behaviour
7
Affinity Groups
 Group together based on characteristics of

content (e.g. document mapping based on
key words) ….OR:
 Affinity groups: group together based on
similarities between users accessing that
content
 e.g. Amazon.com
8
OnLine Behaviour
In a store (such as a supermarket) studies

show that 90% of people turn right instead of
going straight or left
What is the equivalent behaviour(s) in
cyberspace?
Similar to GPS systems that show where you
have been, in what sequence, how often, how
long you stayed
9
Overview

application
10
Group profiling methods
Segmentation
Categorize users based on easily obtained information
A good compromise between individual personalization
and mass customization
Default profiles can be used as a starting point and later,
personalization used to refine these profiles further
E.g. demographic profiling
E.g. Cognitive styles and MBTI
11
Demographic profiling
 Based on where you live – your postal code

 Derive segments
 Develop a profile
 You have a lot in common with your neighbours!
 Ex : Polk Data, CompuSearch
 Integrate other data e.g. Statistics Canada
 Do you provide your postal code at the checkout
counter???
12
Cognitive Styles and MBTI
 Cognitive differences
 We all have preferred habits of thought that influence
how we make decisions, how we interact with others and
how we prefer to learn
 These are neither good nor bad
 They emerge early in our lives and tend to remain fairly
stable through the years
 People tend to choose professions that reward or
correspond to their preferred cognitive styles
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is an example of a
widely used tool to assess cognitive styles
13
Managing Diversity
 Generally, managers have two responses:

 Comfortable clone syndrome – hire, work with,
talk to people like themselves
 Creative abrasion – value a variety of thinking
styles and deliberately designs a full spectrum of
approaches into the organization and work teams
 Understand yourself
 Create whole-brained teams
CAVEAT: do not take labeling too far!

14
Some Issues
Privacy
Amount of elapsed time, number of actions before
stable pattern is established
Level of detail required (cost-effectiveness)
 How much personalization?
 One way if to look at a hierarchy of learning objectives
(Bloom)
15
Bloom’s Hierarchy of Learning
Objectives
 Conceptual systems theory that describes
progressively complex levels of learning
achievement – as evidenced by learner behaviours
 Prerequisite structure
 Need to master lower level before moving up to the next
level
 E.g. your course objectives
 Good model for knowledge acquisition
B. Bloom (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain

16
Bloom: Cognitive Learning
Objectives (continued)
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
17
Evaluation
Synthesis •Define
•Memorize
Analysis •Repeat
Application •Record
•List
Comprehension •Recall
•Name
Knowledge •Relate
18
Evaluation •Restate
•Discuss
Synthesis •Describe
•Recognize
Analysis •Explain
Application •Express
•Identify
Comprehension •Locate
•Report
Knowledge •Review
19
•Translate
•Interpret
Evaluation •Apply
•Employ
Synthesis •Use
Analysis •Demonstrate
•Dramatize
Application •Practice
•Illustrate
Comprehension •Operate
Knowledge •Schedule
•Sketch
20
•Compose
•Analyze
Evaluation •Differentiate
•Appraise
Synthesis •Calculate
Analysis •Experiment
•Compare
Application •Contrast
•Inventory
Comprehension •Question
Knowledge •Solve
•Examine
21
•Distinguish
•Plan
•Propose
Evaluation •Design
Synthesis •Formulate
•Arrange
Analysis •Assemble
•Construct
Application •Create
Comprehension •Collect
•Set up
Knowledge •Organize
•Manage 22
•Judge
Evaluation •Evaluate
•Rate
Synthesis •Value
•Revise
Analysis •Score
Application •Select
•Assess
Comprehension •Prioritize
•Justify
Knowledge •Debate
23
Example: Course Objectives
1. Use a framework and a clear language for intellectual

capital and organizational memory concepts
2. Model the flow, sharing and leveraging of intellectual
assets
3. Identify some of the principal cultural characteristics that
are necessary to encourage organizational learning and
innovation
4. Describe the links between individual and organizational
learning
5. Monitor, value, categorize, report intellectual capital
24
Overview

application
25
Learning Organizations
 “places where people continually expand their

capacity to create the results they truly desire,
where new and expansive patterns of thinking are
nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and
where people are continually learning how to learn
together”
(P. Senge, The Fifth Discipline)
26
What is a Learning Organization?
 A learning organization is an organization skilled at

creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge,
and at modifying its behavior to reflect new
knowledge and insights.
 New ideas are essential if learning is to occur
 Sometimes they are created from scratch (flash)
 At other times they come from outside the organization
 Triggers for organizational learning but by themselves,
ideas do not bring about organizational learning: needs
to be accompanied by changes in the way that work gets
done – otherwise, no potential for improvement
27
Management: Building Blocks
 Learning organizations are skilled at 5 main

activities:
1. Systematic problem solving e.g. use scientific approach
2. Experimentation with new approaches
3. Learning from their own experience & past history
(lessons learned, project reviews)
4. Learning from the lessons learned and best practices of
others (benchmarking, networking)
5. Transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently
throughout the organization (training, lunch and
learns…)
28
Steps Leading to a Learning
Organization
 Foster an environment that is conducive to learning
 Time for reflection, analysis, to think about strategic
plans, dissect customer needs, assess current work
systems and invent new products
 Open up boundaries and stimulate the exchange of
ideas – destroy the silos & ivory towers with
conferences, meetings, project teams
 Create learning forums: programs or events
designed with explicit learning goals e.g. study
missions, committees, symposiums, etc.
29
Lessons Learned and
Knowledge Inventories
 Whenever an exceptional situation occurs –
opportunities for best practices (creative
innovations) and lessons learned to be drawn
from them
 Need to be captured, described and preserved to
be accessible again when needed
 Continued learning of employees, communities
and of the organization
30
Case Study: NASA Lessons
Learned
 NASA* “Better Mechanisms Needed for Sharing
Lessons Learned
 “NASA needs to do better in capturing, disseminating
and utilizing knowledge”
 Assessment noted lack of access to and process for
lessons learned
 Recommendation was for continuous collection,
verification, storage and dissemination of project
knowledge and lessons learned - - “must become a core
business process within the agency’s program and
project management environment”
*Technical report AIC-00-005, Rand, Dec 2000
31
NASA (continued)
 Lessons Learned Collection

 Structured and unstructured processes such as
mishap reporting, accident reporting, project
critiques, written forms and meetings
 Positive and negative experiences – can learn
from both
32
NASA (continued)
 Lessons Learned Verification

 Verify correctness and applicability of lessons
submitted
 Domain/subject matter experts may be involved
 Determine relevance of lesson learned
 Projects – department – program – organization as a
whole
33
NASA (continued)
 Lessons Learned Storage

 Incorporate into knowledge base
 Store in such a way as to allow users to identify
applicable information
 Categorize – codify
 Describe how it can be used, when it can be used
(and when it can’t), who can use…
34
NASA (continued)
 Lessons Learned Dissemination

 Distributed and used by people
 Revision – reformatting – multimedia
 Lessons can be ‘pushed’ (automatically delivered
to users) or ‘pulled’ (user must manually search
for it)
 With or without assigned priorities
35
NASA (continued)
 KM situation
 Lessons are not routinely identified and shared by
program and project managers
 LLIS is not being used (27% surveyed didn’t know it
even existed! Another estimated it took him 2 weeks to
sift through and find a good lesson)
 There is little incentive to share knowledge
 Somewhat knowledgeable about lessons generated in
their own areas, little knowledge of any outside their area
 Usually done very informally
 E.g. after each launch, team discusses what went well, what
could have been improved - not captured
36
NASA (continued)
Agency-wide LLIS not consulted because

“its lessons cover so many topics that it is
difficult to search for an applicable lesson…
You have to weed through all the irrelevant

lesson to find the “jewels”…
There should be better categories to find

relevant lessons.”
37
NASA (continued)
 58% of managers reported they did not like to use the LLIS
system – want only “good” content (e.g. best practices)
 No communities to help with the content – just LLIS
 Cultural barriers: lack of trust, intolerance for mistakes, lack
of time to share knowledge, lack of perceived benefits –
senior management are not role models
“Until we can adopt a culture that admits frankly

to what really worked and what didn’t, I find
many of these tools to be suspect.”
And speaking of culture…
38
Next…
 The Role of Organizational Culture
39
and Practice
Lecture 5: Knowledge Sharing and

Communities of Practice
Recap: KM Cycle Processes
 Knowledge Capture
 Knowledge Creation & Contribution
 Knowledge Codification & Refinement (inc. Sanitize) &
Reconstruction (e.g. synthesis)
 Selectively filter contributions
 Knowledge Modeling
 Knowledge Sharing & Pooling
 Knowledge Organization &Access
 Knowledge Learning &Application
 Knowledge Evaluation & Re-Use OR Divest
2
Overview
Knowledge Sharing
 Communities of Practice
 Building blocks
 Types of communities
 Roles and Responsibilities
 Directories of Experts
 Yellow pages
 Skill mining
 Mapping the Flow of Knowledge

 Organizational networks and Sociograms
3
What is a Community of
Practice (CoP)?
 Traditionally, we have shared

knowledge through ‘word of
mouth’ (e.g. master to apprentice)
 While socializing comes ‘naturally’
to us, there are fewer opportunities
in today’s much larger, much more
global companies
It was easy to do in the past:
coffee/smoker cliques, water cooler conversations…..
4
But:
In Today’s Working Environment
Multi-lingual
Multi-site Multi-cultural
More More &
Global Faster
KM
More More
Mobile Connected
5
Practice (CoP)?
 Definition of “Community”
 “A group of people having common interests:
the scientific community, the international
business community”
 Similarity or identity: a community of interests
 Sharing, participation, fellowship
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3rd Ed. 1996.
6
Community Definition
(continued)
 “The body of people in a learned occupation:
“the news spread rapidly through the medical
community”
 Common interests
 Agreement as to goals
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
7
Community Definition
(continued)
 The word has been in the English language since
the 14th century
 Comes from the Latin
 “The quality of holding something in common”
 A sense of common identity and characteristics
 More direct, more immediate and more significant
relationships than in formal organized societies
 Sharing of common goals, values, identities;
participatory decision-making
8
What is a virtual community?
 “social aggregations that emerge from the

Net when people carry on those public
discussions long enough, with sufficient
human feeling, to form webs of personal
relationships”
(The Virtual Community, Howard
Knowledge is social Rheingold, 1993)
as well as individual
9
What is a Practice?
 A customary way of operation or

behaviour
 Translating an idea into action
 The exercise of a profession
 Knowledge of how something is
customarily done
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
“There can be no knowledge Knowledge is dynamic
without a knower” in nature
10
Practice in the KM World?
 “A group of individuals informally bound together by
shared expertise and passion for a joint enterprise”
(Snyder and Wenger)
 Peers in the execution of real work. What holds them

together is a common sense of purpose and a real
need to know what each other knows” (John Seely
Brown)
 “Focused on the more professional nature of work.

It’s trying to find a better way of doing work” (From
the field….) 11
Putting the pieces together
 The term “community” suggests that CoPs are

not constrained by typical geographic, business
unit or functional boundaries but rather by
common tasks, contexts and interests.
 The word “practice” implies knowledge in
action – how individuals actually perform
their jobs on a day-to-day basis as opposed to
more formal policies and procedures that
reflect how work should be performed.
Lesser & Prusak, IBM Institute for KM
12
Community of Practice
A group of people
 informally bound together
 by shared expertise
 and passion for a joint enterprise
Source: Etienne Wenger

13
Dimensions of Practice as the
property of a community
Joint enterprise
Mutual engagement Shared repertoire
14
Joint enterprise
What is the “work” of community members?

e.g. KM practitioners
Heterogeneous
Complementary
15
What are the accepted objectives
of the community?
Negotiated consensus
Joint enterprise Mutual accountability
What is the “work” of community members?

e.g. KM practitioners
Heterogeneous
Complementary
16
What are the accepted objectives
‘Knowledge is local, of the community?
sticky and contextual”
Negotiated consensus
Joint enterprise Mutual accountability
What is the “work” of community members? Artifacts: routines, tools, stories,

e.g. KM practitioners ways of doing things, language,
concepts, history, discourse
Heterogeneous
Complementary Shared virtual space
17
How are Communities of
Practice Different?
Purpose Membership Glue Duration
Community Exchange Self select Passion, As long as the
of Practice knowledge identification interest lasts
with group
Work Group Deliver All under Job & Until
product manager common goal restructured
Project Accomplish Assigned or Project Project
Team specific task selected milestones completed
and goal
Informal Pass on Friends & Mutual need As long as
networks business business reason exists
information acquaintances
(excerpt from “Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier, by Etienne Wenger)
18
A Community of Practice
Experts, Members Lurkers*

Mentors
*LPP – Legitimate peripheral participant 19

Multiple Communities
Lurker in one,
mentor in
another
Overlapping
Communities
A community Knowledge brokers

waiting to
happen
20
Multiple Communities
Boundary objects
Artifacts: tools, documents, models shared by CoP's.
Discourses: a common language that can be shared across CoPs
Processes: shared processes, routines, procedures that
facilitate coordination of and between CoPs
21
The Value Added by
The help drive strategy
They start new lines of business
They solve problems quickly
They transfer best practices
They develop professional skills
They help companies recruit and retain talent
Source: Etienne Wenger

22
Benefits of
 For the organization

 Help drive strategy
 Solve problems quickly
 Diffuse best practices
 Cross-fertilize ideas, increase
opportunities for innovation
 Build organizational memory
23
CoP Benefits (continued)
 For the community

 Develop professional skills
 Develop a common language
 Improve continuously
 LEARN
24
CoP Benefits (continued)
• For the individual

• Help people do their jobs & save time
• Building a sense of community bonds
within organization
• Helps people to keep up to date
• Provides challenges and
opportunities to contribute
25
Why are CoPs important now?
 Knowledge increasingly recognized as a strategic

intellectual asset
 Cannot be left to chance – need to actively,
systematically organize, and disseminate
knowledge
 CoPs are a good way of doing this
 CoPs need librarians, archivists,
taxonomists….”knowledge stewards”
26
A Paradox of Management
Although communities of practice are

fundamentally informal and self-organizing,
they benefit from cultivation.
How to cultivate them:
 identify potential communities of practice that will
enhance the company’s strategic capabilities
 provide the infrastructure that will support them
and enable them to apply their expertise effectively
 use nontraditional methods to assess their value 27
Community Building Blocks
 Collective identity
 Community type
 Community roles and responsibilities
 Community membership
 Collaborative work environment
28
Community Types
 Helping Communities
 Provide a forum for community members to help each
other solve everyday work problems
 Best Practice Communities
 Develop and disseminate best practices, guidelines and
procedures for members’ use
 Knowledge Stewarding Communities
 Organize, manage, and steward a body of knowledge
from which members can draw
 Innovation Communities
 Create breakthrough ideas, knowledge & practices
29
Community Roles and
Responsibilities
 Functional sponsor
 Believes in and promotes the value of knowledge
sharing and community membership
 Core team
 Community Leader
 Community Facilitator
 Logistics Coordinator
30
Community Core Team
 Use their knowledge of the discipline to

judge what is important, groundbreaking and
useful
 Enrich information by summarizing,
combining, contrasting and integrating
information into the knowledgebase
 Establish a taxonomy for the knowledgebase
31
How Knowledge Workers Spend their Time
Other
22 %
60%
18 %
Production
Research &
Validation
EDS 1996
32
How do we find information
online?
Phase I : on-line search Phase II : off-line search
Succeed Fail
5% 10%
Fail Succeed
95% 90%
45 minutes spent on-line: After phoning for help, they

find what they are looking
Searching: 5 min. for 90% of the time in less
Surfing: 40 min. than 5 min
33
Directories of Experts
 Research shows that even in companies with well-

developed KM infrastructures, people still turn first
to other people as they seek solutions to problems
and knowledge
 Knowledge flows are primarily through people
 What knowledge flows?
 Direct answer to question
 Metaknowledge
 Help in reformulating the problem…..
34
Skill Mining
 Similar to data mining

 Purpose is to identify who within an
enterprise has the expertise required to help a
knowledge worker with a specific issue
 Manual – Knowledge Support Offices
 Automated – Abuzz, Autonomy, Dataware
 Tends to be better suited to ‘hard’ or
technical skills
35
Yellow Pages – Expert
Network Example
Trading strategy Intelligence analysis
Investment strategy Economic forecasting
Portfolio theory Technical analysis
Portfolio selection Company analysis
Securities selection Industry and competitive

analysis
36
Yellow Pages Activity
 See handout
FOR INSTRUCTORS: you can develop a list of about

20 items such as: “knows how to fix a lawnmower”,
“can name 3 types of potatoes”, “has run a marathon.”
Draw a line next to each item. Ask students to find
someone in the class who has this type of “expertise”.
This is a method of developing yellow pages.
37
Social Network Analysis
(SNA)
 SNA is a diagnostic method for collecting and
analyzing data about patterns of relationships
among people in groups
 Can identify patterns of interaction such as average
number of links between people in an organization or
community, the number of subgroups, information
bottlenecks, knowledge brokers
 Can help to improve knowledge flow, identify key
brokers and hoarders
 E.g. 6 degrees of separation
38
SNA (continued)
 Example: if your goal is to build a more cohesive

knowledge network so people can access and
interact with one another more quickly, more
easily:
 How well do you know and understand the skills and
experiences of other members?
 Is the type of knowledge held by this other person
important to the work that you do?
 Do you find it easy to access other people when you need
help?
39
Knowledge Flow Analysis Example: Finding Hidden Experts
Rosa and Thomas are

`hidden` experts
Orphaned database
40
SNA (continued)
 Based on the results of the analysis, you may decide

to:
 Reorganize
 Introduce new specific roles e.g. moderator to assist in
knowledge transfer
 Technologies to support expertise location, virtual
meetings, as well as face-to-face meetings
 Introduce a shared goal they can work towards or theme
of interest for discussion
 Self-awareness may be enough (“yikes – I am a
knowledge black hole!)
41
Mapping the Flow of
Knowledge
Portal
Jack Sue
Knowledge request
Knowledge response
42
Sociogram Example
 Draw a sociogram of a community you belong to:

 Family
 Friends
 Peers – e.g. have you exchanged knowledge with anyone in this
class? How? (email, conversation, phone) for what purpose?
(assignment) with anyone outside the class on the topic of
CoPs/KM? Who?
 Hobby groups
 Interest groups
43
Next:
 Knowledge Acquisition and Application
44
and Practice
Lecture 4: Knowledge Capture and

Codification
Overview
 For tacit knowledge
 Knowledge Codification
 For explicit knowledge
 Organizing knowledge in a knowledge taxonomy
2
KM Cycle Step 1:Knowledge
Capture and Codification
Tacit Knowledge Capture & Codification
 Ad Hoc Sessions,
 Roadmaps,
 Learning History
 Action Learning,
 Storytelling
 Learn from Others, Guest Speakers,
 Best Practice Capture
 Interviewing to elicit tacit knowledge
3
Approaches to Knowledge
 How to describe and represent knowledge
 Depending on the type of knowledge
 E.g. explicit knowledge is already well described but
may need to abstract/summarize it
 Tacit knowledge on the other hand may require
significant analysis and organization before it can be
suitably described and represented
 Tools range from linguistic descriptions and
categories to mathematical formulations and
graphical representations
4
Tacit Knowledge Capture
Techniques
 Tacit Knowledge Capture
 Ad Hoc Sessions, Roadmap, Learning History,
Storytelling, Interviews, Action Learning, Learn from
Others, Guest Speakers, Relationship Building, Systems
Thinking
 Tacit Knowledge Codification
 Proficiency Levels and Knowledge Profiles
 Abstract Concept Representation (mental models)
 Concept hierarchies (associative or semantic networks)
5
Learning History
 Useful to capture tacit knowledge

 A retrospective history of significant events in an
organization’s recent past, described in the voices
of people who took part in them
 Researched through a series of reflective
interviews, transcribed in Q&A format
 Systematic review of successes and failures
“Those who cannot remember the past
are condemned to repeat it”
George Santanya
6
Learning History Questions
 What was your role in the project/initiative?

 How would you judge its success?
 What would you do differently if you could?
 What recommendations do you have for other
people who might go through a similar process?
 What innovative things were done or could have
been done?
7
Learning History
Documentation
 Record and transcribe interviews
 Analyze data to identify like themes and sub-
themes as well as quotes to be used
 Document key themes and validate quotes
(e.g. make sure they are not anonymous nor
taken out of context)
 Summarize and publish
8
Learning History Template
Theme Title
Part 1
Overview of the Theme
_________________________________________________
Part 2
Commentary, conclusions and quotes representing

potential questions to be asked key responses to
that relate to the adjacent quotes interview questions
__________________________________________________
Part 3
Brief summary of quotes, additional questions to provide more clarity to theme
9
Storytelling
 An organizational story is a detailed narrative of

management actions, employee interactions and
other intra-organizational events that are
communicated informally within the organization
 Conveying information in a story provides a rich
context, remaining in the conscious memory longer
and creating more memory traces than information
not in context
 Can increase organizational learning, communicate
common values and rule sets
10
What’s the Moral of the Story?
 Fables are short fictional folk tales used to

indirectly tell truths about life
 They have a level of meaning beyond the surface
story
 They are an excellent example of what
organizational stories should be like – except
they would tell truths about life working in
company X…
 Some examples:
11
The Chicken and the Jewel
 A chicken, scratching for food for herself and her chicks,

found a precious stone and exclaimed, “If your owner had
found you and not I, he would have taken you up and put
you in your first jewelry. But I have found you for no
purpose. I would rather have one kernel of corn rather than
all the jewels in the world.”
The ignorant despise what is precious

only because they cannot understand it
12
The Crow and the Pitcher
 A crow, perishing with thirst, saw a pitcher, and hoping to find water, he
flew to it with delight. When he reached it, he discovered to his grief
that it contained so little water he could not possibly get at it. He tried
everything he could think of to get to the water, but all his efforts were
in vain. At last, he collected as many stones as he could carry and
dropped them one by one into the pitcher, until the brought the water
within his reach and saved his life.
Necessity is the mother of invention
13
The Donkey and His Shadow
 A traveler hired a donkey to convey him to a distant place. The day

being intensely hot, and the sun shining in its strength, the traveler
stopped to rest, and sought shelter from the heat under the shadow of the
donkey. As this afforded protection for one, and as the traveler and the
owner of the donkey both claimed it, a violent dispute arose between
them as to which of them had the right to the shadow. The owner
maintained that he had let the donkey only, not his shadow. The traveler
asserted that he had, with the hire of the donkey, hired his shadow also.
The quarrel proceeded from words to blows, and while the men fought,
the donkey galloped off.
In quarrelling about the shadow,

we often lose the substance.
14
Try it out….
 Form groups of 3-5

 Try to write the moral of the story from one
of the three fables handed out
 Write these down and read out your results
when it is your group’s turn
NOTE TO INSTRUCTORS: provide students with paper or
electronic versions of any fable from Aesop – you can an use the
following – remove the morals from the slides you provide to students
15
The Man & His 2 Sweethearts
 A middle-aged man, whose hair had begun to turn gray,

courted two women at the same time. One of them was
young, and the other well advanced in years. The elder
woman, ashamed to be courted by a man younger than
herself, made a point, whenever her admirer visited her, to
pull out some portion of his black hairs. The younger, on
the contrary, not wishing to become the wife of an old man,
was equally zealous in removing every gray hair she could
find. Thus it came to pass that between them both he very
soon found that he had not a hair left on his head.
Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.

16
The Farmer & the Stork
 A farmer placed nets on his newly-sown land and caught a

number of cranes, which came to pick up his seed. With
them he trapped a stork that had fractured his leg in the net
and was earnestly beseeching the farmer to spare his life. “I
am no crane but a stork, a bird of excellent character – look
at my feathers – they are not the least like those of a crane!”
The farmer laughed aloud and said, “It may be all you say, I
only know this: I have taken you with these robbers, the
cranes, and you must die in their company.”
Birds of a feather flock together

17
The Oak & the Reeds
 A very large oak was uprooted by the wind and

thrown across a stream. It fell among some reeds,
which it thus addressed: “I wonder how you, who
are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed by
these strong winds.” They replied, “ You fight and
contend with the wind, and consequently, you are
destroyed; while we on the contrary bend before the
least breath of air, and therefore remain unbroken
and escape.”
Stoop to conquer
18
The Hawk, the Falcon and the
Pigeons
 The pigeons, terrified by the appearance of a

falcon, called upon the hawk to defend them.
He at once consented. When they had
admitted him into their shelter, they found
that he made more havoc and slew a larger
number of them in one day than the falcon
could pounce upon in one whole year.
Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease

19
The Fox and the Goat
 One day, a fox fell into a deep well and could find no means
of escape. A goat, overcome with thirst, came to the same
well and seeing the fox, inquired if the water was good. The
fox lavishly praised the water as excellent beyond measure
and encouraged the goat to descend. Thinking only of his
thirst the goat jumped in. The fox then informed him of the
difficulty they were both in and suggested they could escape
if he ran up the goat’s back to escape and then help the goat
out afterwards. The goat agreed. The fox got out and ran off
as fast as he could, leaving the goat behind in the well.
Look before you leap

20
Best Practice Capture
 Best practices and lessons learned can be said to be two

different sides of the same coin: BPs look at successes and
LLs look at failures
 They are both described in the same manner using metadata
such as:
 Date prepared
 Point of contact : Name, organization, contact information
 Members who participated in the development of the best
practice
 Problem statement
 Background (Note any research that was conducted, summary of
significant findings, root cause identification)
 Best Practice Description (Models, business rules, use graphics
whenever possible) 21
Lessons Learned & Best
Practices Capture
Situation
Observer
Date
What went wrong?

Lessons Learned
What went right?

Best practices
22
CIDA: Example of a Best
Practice in Forestry
Best Practice: Bolivia:
Emerging best practices for combating illegal activities in the forest sector
B2: Simplifying norms and reducing their number
The Bolivian government in reforming its timber concession policies decreed

that the concession fee would be $ 1 per hectare per year. This contrasted
sharply with previous complex norms that mandated timber concession fees
based on species types, volumes and quality of timber, which left much room to
interpretation, misclassification and disguised measurement errors. The new
rule is singular, simple and clear: a concession covering 100,000 hectares must
pay $ 100,000 in concession fees per year. There is no room for interpretation
or modification based on doubtful criteria. Monitoring compliance and
prosecution is extremely easy, as the evidence is transparent. While the
economic soundness of charging a uniform fee for timber concessions of
differing commercial value is questionable, the new norm has the undeniable
advantage of diminishing the incidence of corruption or arbitrariness in
determining concession fees
23
CIDA: Example of KM
Lessons Learned
Appoint a DG of KM and Change Management.
Use existing web and intranet infrastructures to support KM and

communities.
Most communities of practice already exist – increase their exposure,

help them get set up and give them the required resources.
Identify short, mid-term and long-term business (not KM) goals for each
community.
Biggest obstacle encountered was lack of senior management support.
Need to create awareness and shared understanding so employees

clearly see the benefits of KM
Supervisors can be good role models to help all CIDA realize that
knowledge sharing is expected of everyone.
24
Knowledge taxonomies
 Concepts are the building blocks of

knowledge and expertise.
 Once key concepts have been identified and
captured, they can be arranged in a hierarchy – a
knowledge taxonomy
 graphically represent knowledge in a way that
reflects the logical organization of concepts
within a particular field of expertise or for the
organization at large
25
Knowledge taxonomies – con’t
 A taxonomy is a classification scheme that

 groups related items together
 names the types of relationships concepts have to
one another
 Is developed through a consensus of key
stakeholders
 Is often multifaceted to represent the complexity
of organizational knowledge
26
Example - Facets
27
Tacit Knowledge Capture Activity
 Form pairs
 Take on role of knowledge journalist or subject matter
expert and then switch
 Topic suggestions: How did you decide on what to do for
your undergraduate degree? Whose advice did you seek?
How would you advise someone to make this decision?
 Write down 3-4 key interview questions you used
 Try to identify at least one best practice or lessons learned
from the experience using the BP/LL template handout
28
Interviews
 With subject matter experts, stakeholders,

process performers, customers – anybody
that can shed new light on a topic or issue
 Used to gather knowledge for the community
and its knowledge base
Gather good stories!!
29
Interview Plan
 Initial contact (phone, email, face-to-face)

 Explanation of interview purpose, format,
duration, confidentiality of information
 Establishing credibility and rapport
 Ice-breaking
 Professionalism (boundaries)
30
Types of Interview Questions
 Closed questions
 Can be answered with a yes or no
 Used to validate (sometimes to “provoke” a
reaction)
 Open questions
 Require explanations as answers
 Used to elicit knowledge
31
Group Activity: How to interview
 Form pairs
 Take on the role of knowledge manager or
subject matter expert and then switch
 What are some of your best practices or lessons
you learned (easy or hard way) on writing a good
resume when seeking a job?
 Write down some questions you asked
 What was easy about interviewing/being
interviewed? What was hard?
32
Interview Questions
Interviewer #1 Interviewer #2
Q1: Q1:
Q2: Q2:
Q3: Q3:
33
Summary: Tacit Knowledge
 Tacit Knowledge Capture Techniques
 Ad Hoc Sessions, Roadmap, Learning History
 Storytelling, Interviews, Action Learning,
 Learn from Others, Guest Speakers,
 Best Practice capture
 Tacit Knowledge Codification Techniques
 Mental models
 Concept hierarchies, semantic networks
 Best practices, lessons learned
34
Next week:
 Knowledge Sharing and Communities of

Practice
35
and Practice
Lecture 3: Selected Knowledge

Management Models
Week 3: Knowledge
Management Models
 KM Models
 Choo, Weick
 Nonaka and Takeuchi
 K. Wiig
 Boisot
 Beer and Bennet & Bennet
 EFQM - European Foundation for Quality Model
 Inukshuk Model
2
Choo and Weick KM Model
 Knowing Organization Framework (Choo, C.W.

1998) – 2nd edition 2006
 Model of KM that stresses sense making, knowledge
creation and decision making
 How to select information elements that could feed into
the organizational actions
 Organizational action results from the concentration and
absorption of information from the external environment
into each successive circle.
 Each circle has an outside stimulus or trigger
3
Choo’s KM Model
Streams of
experience
1 Sense
Making Shared meanings
Shared meanings
3
Knowledge Decision
Creating Making
New knowledge,
new capabilities
2 Goal-directed adaptive
behavior
External
Information Next
& Knowledge knowing
cycle
4
Choo’s KM Model/2
1. Meaning is socially constructed as information is filtered

through the sense making behaviour
2. Individuals create new knowledge about the external world
through the transformation of their individual knowledge
into shareable knowledge and information
3. A threshold is reached at some specific point when the
organization as a whole is prepared to act in a rational
manner and choose an alternative based upon the
organizations goals, objectives & strategy
4. Start the next cycle when the action chosen changes the
external environment and impacts ongoing decisions
related to the original choice
5
Choo’s KM Model/3
Streams of
experience
1 Sense
Shared meanings
3
Knowledge Decision
Creating Making
New knowledge,
new capabilities
behavior
External
Information Next
& Knowledge knowing
cycle
6
Sense Making
 Attempts to make sense of the information

streaming in from the external environment
 Priorities are identified and used to filter the
information
 Common interpretation is constructed by
individuals from the exchange and
negotiation of information fragments
combined with their previous experiences
7
Sense Making (con’t)
 Karl Weick: theory of sense making to

describe how chaos is transformed into
sensible and orderly processes in an
organization through the shared
interpretation of individuals
 Loosely coupled systems where individuals
construct their own representation of reality
 Compare current with past events
8
Weick Theory of Sense Making
 Sense making process in an organization

consists of four tightly integrated processes:
 Ecological change
 Enactment
 Selection
 Retention
9
Ecological Change
 A change in the environment external to the

organization disturbs the flow of information
to the participants
 This triggers an ecological change in the
organization
 Organizational actors enact their
environment by attempting to closely
examine elements of the environment
10
Enactment
 People try to:

 Construct
 Rearrange
 Single out
 Demolish
 Many of the objective features of their
surroundings, make it less random, more orderly,
by literally creating their own constraints or rules
 This clarifies the data & issues to be used for the
selection process
11
Selection & Retention
 Individuals attempt to interpret the rationale for the

observed and enacted changes by making selections
 The retention process furnishes the organization
with an organizational memory of successful sense
making experiences
 Can be reused in the future to interpret new changes &
stabilize individual interpretations into an organizational
view of events and actions
 Reduces uncertainty and ambiguity associated with
unclear, poorly defined info
12
Choo’s KM Model/4
Streams of
experience
1 Sense
Shared meanings
3
Knowledge Decision
Creating Making
New knowledge,
new capabilities
behavior
External
Information Next
& Knowledge knowing
cycle
13
Knowledge Creating
 Transformation of personal knowledge

between individuals
 Dialogue
 Discourse
 Sharing
 Storytelling
14
Knowledge Creating (con’t)
 Directed by a knowledge vision of AS IS (current)

and TO BE (future)
 Widens the spectrum of potential choices in
decision making through new knowledge and new
competences
 The result feeds the decision making process with
innovative strategies that extend the organization’s
capability to make informed, rational decisions
 Choo draws upon the Nonaka & Takeuchi model
for a theory of knowledge creation
15
Choo’s KM Model/5
Streams of
experience
1 Sense
Shared meanings
3
Knowledge Decision
Creating Making
New knowledge,
new capabilities
behavior
External
Information Next
& Knowledge knowing
cycle
16
Decision Making
 Rational decision making models used to identify

and evaluate alternatives by processing the
information and knowledge collected to date
 Variety of decision making theories
 Theory of games and economic behaviour
 Chaos theory, complexity theory, emergent theory
 Bounded rationality theory
 Garbage can theory
17
Bounded Rationality Theory
 First proposed by H. Simon a limited or

constrained rationality:
 The capacity of the human mind for formulating
and solving complex problems is very small
compared with the size of the problems whose
solution is required for objectively rational
behaviour in the real world - - or even for a
reasonable approximation to such objective
rationality (Simon, H.A 1957, p. 198)
18
Bounded Rationality Theory/2
 When confronted with a highly complex world, the

mind constructs a simple mental model of reality
and tries to work within that model
 Even though the model may have weaknesses, the
individual tries to behave rationally within it
 Individuals can be bound in a decisional process by:
 Limited in intelligence, skills, habits and responsiveness
 Availability of personal information and knowledge
 Values and norms which may be different from the org.
19
Bounded Rationality Theory/3
 This theory has long been accepted in

organizational and management sciences
 Characterized by individuals’ uses of:
 Limited information analysis, evaluation, and
processing
 Shortcuts and rules of thumb (heuristics)
 “Satisficing” (good enough, 80/20 rule, not
necessarily optimization)
20
The Nonaka-Takeuchi Model
of Knowledge Management
“In an economy where the only certainty is

uncertainty, the one sure source of lasting
competitive advantage is knowledge.”
I. Nonaka
The problem is that few managers understand how to

manage the knowledge-creating company
Focus on ‘hard’ or quantifiable knowledge
See KM as information processing machine
21
Nonaka & Takeuchi/2
 The authors studied successful Japanese companies

to try to identify how they achieved creativity and
innovation
 Found it was more than mechanistically processing
objective information
 Depending on highly subjective insights
 Slogans, metaphors, symbols
 Holistic model of knowledge creation and management
of “serendipity”
22
Nonaka & Takeuchi:
The Spiral of Knowledge
 Knowledge creation always begins with the
individual
 Brilliant researcher has an insight that leads to a new
patent
 Middle manager has intuition of market trends and
becomes the catalyst for an important new product
concept
 Shop floor worker draws on years of experience to come
up with a process innovation that saves $$$$
 In each case, an individual’s personal knowledge is
translated into valuable organizational knowledge
23
The Basis for the Nonaka –
Takeuchi Model
 Making personal knowledge available to others in
the company is at the core of this model of KM
 It takes place continuously
 It takes place at all levels of the organization
 Individual
 Groups
 Company-wide
 Can be unexpected
 E.g. home bread-making machine innovation
24
Explicit vs. Tacit Knowledge
Explicit Knowledge
Tacit Knowledge
files
80-85% 15-20%
active passive 25
Nonaka and Takeuchi Model
Tacit Explicit
Tacit
Explicit ..
26
Nonaka & Takeuchi – the
Knowledge Spiral Model
Tacit Explicit
Socialization Externalization
Brainstorming Capturing
Tacit Coaching Sharing
Explicit Internalization: Combination:

Understanding Systemizing
Learning Classifying
27
Tacit to Tacit Transformation
 Individual to individual(s)
 Apprenticeship  Imitation
 Mentoring  Practice
 Observation  Brainstorming
 Shadowing  Coaching
Apprentice may learn from the master, but the knowledge

remains tacit & is not leveraged across the organization
28
Tacit to Explicit
Transformation
 Able to articulate the knowledge, know-how

 Can be written, videotape, audiotape format
 Often need intermediary to capture this
knowledge – a journalist, a workshop…
 It now exists in a tangible form
 It can now be more easily shared with others and
leveraged throughout the organization
29
Explicit to Explicit
Transformation
 Can combine discrete pieces of tangible

knowledge into a new form
 E.g. a synthesis in the form of a report, a
comparative evaluation, a new database
 Simply a new combination of existing
knowledge – no new knowledge is created
It is easiest to convert from the same type of knowledge – tacit
to tacit and explicit to explicit – harder to change the type
30
Explicit to Tacit
Transformation
 As new knowledge is shared throughout the

organization, employees now begin to
internalize it
 They use it, broaden it, extend it and reframe
their own existing tacit knowledge base
 They learn – they do their jobs differently now
31
The KM Spiral
 First we learn something through socialization (e.g. being

apprenticed to a master)
 Next we translate this into a tangible format that can be
more easily communicated to others (externalization)
 This knowledge is then standardized using templates, coding
rules etc (new combination)
 Finally, team members enrich their own tacit knowledge
bases by adding new knowledge and skills (internalization)
 They then share this new knowledge tacitly (back to
socialization and the spiral continues)
Tacit to Explicit and Explicit to Tacit are the key steps

32
From Metaphor to Model
 Externalization (tacit to explicit) and Internalization (explicit

to tacit) both require a high degree of personal commitment
 Involves
 Mental models
 Personal beliefs and values
 Re-inventing yourself as well as the organization
 Metaphor is a good way of expressing the “inexpressible”
 Slogans, symbols
 Fables, stories, allegories
 analogies
 Models – final step, no contradictions, consistent, systematic, logical
 “two ideas in a single phrase”
33
From Chaos to Concept
 How to structure metaphors, models and analogies

in an organizational KM design
 1st principle:
 Built-in redundancy – make sure there is shared
overlapping information
 Easier to articulate
 Easier to share
 Easier to internalize
 Can be done with internal competing groups, built-in
rotational strategy and free access to company
information via single integrated database or k-base
34
From Chaos to Concept (con’t)
 Need to orient ensuring chaos created by the

inevitable discrepancies in meaning that occur
 Provide a conceptual framework that helps them make
sense of their experiences
 Conceptual umbrella for key concepts
 Domain ontology – categorization of the organization’s
knowledge base
 Standards set by the company re. strategic value of
knowledge
35
Recommended Solutions
Tacit Explicit
Recommendations Recommendations
Tacit 1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
Recommendations Recommendations
Explicit 1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
36
K. Wiig KM Model
 For knowledge to be useful and organized it

must be organized
 Organize knowledge differently depending
on what knowledge will be used for
 In our minds, we store knowledge as a
semantic network with multiple links
 We choose the appropriate perspective
depending on the cognitive task at hand
37
Semantic Network Example:
Four Perspectives on a Car
38
Commute
39
Maintain
40
Vacation
41
Driving
42
K. Wiig KM Model/2
 Organize knowledge so that it can be

accessed and retrieved using multiple paths
 Useful dimensions to consider:
 Completeness
 Connectedness
 Congruency
 Perspective and purpose
43
Completeness
 How much of the relevant knowledge is available

from this source?
 Human mind
 Knowledge base
 We need to know that it is there
 May be complete in the sense that all that is available
about the subject is there but no one knows it is there &
therefore cannot make use of it
44
Connectedness
 There are well-understood and defined

relations between the different knowledge
sections
 There are very few knowledge items that are
totally disconnected from the others
 The more connected the knowledge base, the
greater its value
45
Congruency
 A knowledge base is congruent when all facts,

concepts, perspectives, values, judgments and
associative and relational links between the mental
objects are consistent
 There are no logical inconsistencies, no internal conflicts,
no misunderstandings
 Consistency in concept definitions
 Needs to be constantly ‘fine-tuned’
46
Perspective and Purpose
 When we ‘know’ something, we often know

it from a particular perspective or for a
specific use in mind
 We organize much of our knowledge using
perspective and purpose
 Just-in-time knowledge retrieval
 Just-enough – on-demand basis
47
Degrees of Internalization
1. NOVICE: Ignorant or barely aware:
Not aware of what the know or how it an be used
2. BEGINNER: Know that the knowledge exists:
Aware of where the knowledge is and where to get it but cannot
reason with it
3. COMPETENT: Knows about the knowledge:
Can use and reason with the knowledge, given external knowledge
bases such as books, people to help
4. EXPERT: Knows the knowledge:
Holds the knowledge in memory, understands where it applies,
reasons with it without outside help
5. MASTER: Internalizes knowledge fully:
Has deep understanding with full integration into values, judgments,
& consequences of using that knowledge
48
Hierarchy of Knowledge
Knowledge
Explicit Embedded Tacit

Coded, accessible Coded, inaccessible Un-coded, inaccessible
Passive Active Passive Active Passive Active
Library Experts Products Info systems Isolated Habits

books, KBs Technols. Services facts, Skills
manuals recent Proced.
memory knowledge
49
Three Forms of Knowledge
 Public Knowledge
 Explicit, taught and shared routinely, generally available
in the public domain
 Shared Expertise
 Proprietary knowledge assets exclusively held by
knowledge workers and shared in their work or
embedded in technology, often communicated by
specialized languages & representations.
 Personal Knowledge
 Least accessible but most complete, tacit knowledge in
people’s minds, used non-consciously in work, play and
daily life. 50
Four Types of Knowledge
 Factual
 Facts, data, causal chains
 Conceptual
 Perspectives, concepts, gestalt e.g. social constructivist
view of learning
 Expectational
 Judgments, hypotheses, predictions
 Methodological
 Reasoning, strategies, methods, techniques
51
Wiig’s KM Matrix
Knowledge Type
Knowledge Factual Conceptual Expectat. Methodol.
Form
Public measure stability When supply Look for

reading balance > demand, temperatures
price drops outside norm
Shared forecast Market is hot A little water Check for
analysis in the mix is past failures
ok
Personal ‘right’ Company Hunch that What is the
texture, color track record the analyst is recent trend?
wrong
52
Boisot KM Model
 The more easily data can be structured and

converted into information, the more
diffusible it becomes
 The less data that has been so structured
requires a shared context for its diffusion, the
more diffusible it becomes
53
Boisot KM Cycle/2
explicit codified
tacit uncodified
abstract
concrete
undiffused diffused
54
Complex Adaptive System KM
Models
 Key processes include:

 Understanding
 Creating new ideas
 Solving problems
 Making decisions
 Taking actions to achieve desired results
55
Models/2
 Based on 8 emergent properties:
1. Organizational intelligence
2. Shared purpose
3. Selectivity
4. Optimum complexity
5. Permeable boundaries
6. Knowledge centricity
7. Flow
8. Multidimensionality
56
Models/3
Organizational
Intelligence
Shared Multi- Knowledge Optimum

Purpose dimensionality Centricity Complexity
Flow Selectivity Flow
Permeable Barriers
creativity complexity change

57
EFQM overview
 How can KM be used to achieve

organizational goals?
 KM is positioned as an organizational enabler
 KM is used to achieve organizational goals and
not KM-oriented goals
 Never a good idea to do KM for KM’s sake!
58
EFQM components
People Key
Performance
Results
Policy &
Leadership Stategy Processes (people,
customer,
Partnerships society)
& Resources
Enablers Results
59
Inukshuk model
 Developed to help Canadian government

departments manage their knowledge better
 An Inukshuk is used to mark paths by First
National people
 Derived from quantitative research and a review
of existing models
 Uses the SECI (Nonaka and Takeuchi) model for
the process piece and emphasizes the role played
by people
60
Inukshuk components
Measurement
Tacit Knowledge Explicit Knowledge

Socialization Externalization
Internalization Combination
Leadership
TECHNOLOGY
CULTURE
61
Recap: Knowledge
Management Models
 Choo, Weick - - sensemaking of external, knowledge
creation, decision making
 Nonaka and Takeuchi - - internal knowledge spiral –
knowledge transformations
 Wiig – knowledge organized as a semantic network for
multiple perspectives - typology
 Boisot - - degree of abstractness of knowledge, extent to
which knowledge has been/can be diffused
 Beer and Bennet & Bennet - - organization as a viable
system, organizational intelligence, extent to which
organization is permeable to knowledge flows
 Inukshuk model:
62
Next:
 Knowledge Capture and Codification
63
and Practice
Lecture 2: The Knowledge

Management Cycle
Overview
 Major KM Cycles
 Knowledge-Information Cycle (ACIIC
Knowledge Economy)
 Meyer and Zack KM Cycle
 Bukowitz and Wiliams
 McElroy KM Cycle
 Wiig KM Cycle
2
KM Cycle Processes
 Knowledge Creation
 Knowledge Codification
 Knowledge Sharing
 Knowledge Access
 Knowledge Application
 Knowledge Re-Use
3
Knowledge-Information Cycle*
 The ability to manage knowledge is

becoming ever more crucial in the
knowledge economy
 Where creation and diffusion of knowledge are
increasingly important factors in competitiveness
 Knowledge is a commodity now
 Embedded in products, especially hi-tech products
 Embedded in the tacit knowledge of highly mobile
employees
* Australian Centre for Innovation and International Competitiveness www.aciic.org.au
4
Knowledge Economy & the
Knowledge- Information Cycle
 Some paradoxes of knowledge:
 Using knowledge does not consume it
 Transferring knowledge does not lose it
 Knowledge is abundant, but the ability to use it
is scarce
 Producing knowledge resists organization
 Much of knowledge walks out the door at the
end of the day
5
Knowledge -Information Cycle/2
 Need to systematically identify, generate, acquire,

diffuse, and capture the benefits of knowledge that
provide a strategic advantage
 Clear distinction must be made between
information – which is digitizable, and knowledge –
which exists only in intelligent systems
 Knowledge-information cycle looks at how information
is transformed into knowledge and vice versa via
creation and application processes
6
Knowledge-Information Cycle/3
7
Knowledge-Information Cycle
Processes
 Establish appropriate information management systems and
processes
 Identify and locate knowledge and knowledge sources
within the organization
 Code knowledge (translate knowledge into explicit
information) to allow re-use economies to operate
 Create networks, practices, and incentives to facilitate
person-to-person knowledge transfer where the focus is on
the unique solution
 Add personal knowledge management to the organizational
repertoire (“corporate memory”)
8
M. Zack KM Cycle
9
Zack KM Cycle/2
10
Zack KM Cycle/3
 The Meyers Zack model is an information-

processing model
 Adapted to knowledge content
 Refinement step is a crucial one
 Also – the notion of renewal
 Based on notion of an information asset
11
KM Cycle Processes
 Knowledge Codification and refinement
 Knowledge Re-Use
12
McElroy KM Cycle
Individual &
Group
Learning
Formulate Codified Knowledge
Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Claim
Claim Claim Claim Evaluation
Formulation
Information
Acquisition
13
McElroy KM Cycle/2
Information about:
•Surviving knowledge claim
•Falsified knowledge claim
•Undecided knowledge claim
Knowledge Organizational
Production Knowledge
14
McElroy KM Cycle/3
 Organizational knowledge is held collectively in

both individuals and groups
 Knowledge use either meets or fails to meet
business expectations
 Matches lead to reuse
 Mis-matches lead to adjustments in business
processing behaviour (learning)
 Clear step where knowledge is evaluated and a
conscious decision is made as to whether or not it
should be incorporated into organizational memory
15
KM Cycle Processes
 Knowledge Codification & Refinement
 Knowledge Evaluation & Re-Use
16
Bukowitz and Williams
ASSESS
GET
BUILD/SUSTAIN
USE Knowledge
LEARN CONTRIBUTE OR: DIVEST
17
Bukowitz and Williams /2
 Get: seeking out information

 Tacit and explicit
 Being selective when faced with information
overload
 Use: combine content in new and interesting
ways to foster innovation in the organization
 Learn: learning from experiences
 Creation of an organizational memory
18
Bukowitz and Williams/3
 Contribute: motivate employees to post

what they have learned to a knowledge base
 Link individual learning and knowledge to
organizational memory
 Assess: evaluation of intellectual capital
 Identify assets, metrics to assess them and link
these directly to business objectives
19
Bukowitz and Williams/4
 Build and Sustain: allocate resources to

maintain knowledge base
 Contribute to viability, competitiveness
 Divest: should not keep assets that are no
longer of any business value
 Transfer outside the organization e.g.
outsourcing
 Patent, spin off companies etc.
20
KM Cycle Processes
 Knowledge Codification & Refinement
21
Wiig KM Cycle
 Processes by which we build and use knowledge

 As individuals
 As teams (communities)
 As organizations
 How we:
 Build knowledge
 Hold knowledge
 Pool knowledge
 Apply knowledge
 Discrete tasks yet often interdependent & parallel
22
Wiig KM Cycle/2
•Personal experience
•Formal education and training
Build Knowledge •Intelligence sources
•Media, books, peers
Hold Knowledge •In people

•In tangible forms (e.g. books)
•KM systems (intranet, dbase)

Pool Knowledge
•Groups of people- brainstorm
•In work context

Use Knowledge •Embedded in work processes
23
Wiig KM Cycle/3


Pool Knowledge
•In work context

24
Building Knowledge
 Learning from all kinds of sources to:

 Obtain Knowledge
 Analyze Knowledge
 Reconstruct (Synthesize) Knowledge
 Codify and Model Knowledge
 Organize Knowledge
25
Obtaining Knowledge
 Create new knowledge

 Research and development projects
 Innovations, experimentation, trial and error
 Reasoning with existing knowledge
 Hire new people
 Import knowledge from existing sources
 Elicit knowledge from experts
 Acquire from manuals, books, other documents
 Transfer people between departments
 Observe the real world
26
Analyzing Knowledge
 Extract what appears to be knowledge from

obtained materials
 Analyze transcripts, reports about new concepts
 Listen to explanation and select key concepts
 Abstract extracted material
 Identify patterns to describe, estimate
 Create explicit relations between knowledge
elements (e.g. causal, correlation, contribution nets)
 Verify that extracted content is correct through
observation
27
Reconstruct (Synthesize)
Knowledge
 Generalize analyzed materials to obtain broader
principles
 Generate hypotheses to explain observed behaviour
in terms of causal factors
 Establish conformance between new and existing
knowledge (validity, coherence)
 Update total knowledge pool by incorporating new
knowledge
 Discard old, false, outdated, no longer relevant
knowledge
28
Codify and Model Knowledge
 Represent knowledge in our minds by building

mental models
 Model knowledge by assembling declarations and
relational statements into a coherent whole
 Document knowledge in books and manuals
 Encode knowledge into knowledge bases
(computerized KBS tools)
29
Organize Knowledge
 Organize new knowledge for specific uses

 E.g. sequence for diagnostics, help desk, FAQs
 Organize new knowledge according to an
established framework
 Categorize according to organizational standards
 Taxonomy, ontology, official list of key words,
attributes, linguistic/translation guidelines….
30
Building Knowledge -
Examples
 Market research
 Focus groups
 Surveys
 Competitive intelligence
 Data mining on customer preferences
 Synthesis of lessons learned (what worked, what
didn’t) – generate hypotheses
 Validate using customer satisfaction questionnaire and
interviews
 Document as training manual for marketing to this
specific target market
31
Wiig KM Cycle/4


Pool Knowledge
•In work context

32
Holding Knowledge
 In people’s minds, books, computerized knowledge

bases, etc.
 Remember knowledge – internalize it
 Cumulate knowledge in repositories (encode it)
 Embed knowledge in repositories (within procedures)
 Archive knowledge
 Create scientific library, subscriptions
 Retire older knowledge from active status in repository (e.g. store
in another medium for potential future retrieval – cd roms, etc.)
33
Holding Knowledge -
Examples
 Company owns a number of proprietary methods
and recipes for making products
 Some knowledge documented in the form of
research reports, technical papers, patents
 Other tacit knowledge can be elicited and
embedded in the knowledge base in the form of
know-how, tips, tricks of the trade
 Videotapes of specialized experts explaining various
procedures
 Task support systems
34
Wiig KM Cycle/5


Pool Knowledge
•In work context

35
Pooling Knowledge
 Can take many forms such as discussions, expert networks

and formal work teams
 Pooling knowledge consists of:
 Coordinating knowledge of collaborative teams
 Creating expert networks to identify who knows what
 Assembling knowledge – background references from

libraries and other knowledge sources
 Accessing and retrieving knowledge
 Consult with knowledgeable people about a difficult problem,

peer reviews, second opinions
 Obtain knowledge directly from a repository – advice,
explanations
36
Pooling Knowledge -
Examples
 An employee realizes he or she does not have the
necessary knowledge and know-how to solve a
particular problem
 She contact others in the company who have had
similar problems to solve, consults the knowledge
repository and makes use of an expert advisory
system to help her out
 She organizes all this information and has subject
matter experts validate the content
37
Wiig KM Cycle/6


Pool Knowledge
•In work context

38
Using Knowledge
 Use established knowledge to perform routine tasks, make

standard products, provide standard services
 Use general knowledge to survey exceptional situations,
identify problem, consequences
 Use knowledge to describe situation and scope problem
 Select relevant special knowledge to handle situation,
identify knowledge sources
 Observe and characterize the situation, collect and organize
information
 Analyze situation, determine patterns, compare with others,
judge what needs to be done
39
Using Knowledge (con’t)
 Synthesize alternative solutions, identify options, create new

solutions
 Evaluate potential alternatives, appraise advantages and
disadvantages of each, determine risks and benefits of each
 Use knowledge to decide what to do, which alternative to
select
 Rank alternatives & test that each is feasible, acceptable
 Implement selected alternative
 Choose and assemble tools needed
 Prepare implementation plan, distribute it, authorize team to proceed
with this solution
40
Using Knowledge - Examples
 Expert mechanic encounters a new problem

 Gathers info to diagnose and analyze
 Synthesizes a list of possible solutions with the
tools he knows are available to him
 Decides on the best option and uses it to fix the part
 Non-routine tasks are approached in a different way

than familiar, standard ones
41
KM Cycle Processes
 Knowledge Codification & Refinement (inc. Sanitize) &
Reconstruction (e.g. synthesis)
 Knowledge Modeling
 Knowledge Sharing & Pooling
 Knowledge Organization &Access
42
Five Critical Knowledge
Functions for each KM Cycle Step
 Type of knowledge or skill involved
 Securities trading expertise
 Business use of that knowledge
 Increase the value of a retirement fund portfolio
 Constraint that prevents knowledge from being fully
utilized
 Expert will retire at the end of the year with no successor
 Opportunities, alternatives to manage that knowledge
 Elicit and codify knowledge before person retires
 Expected value-added of improving the situation
 Valuable knowledge is not lost to organization
43
Group activity
 In small groups, discuss the following:

 What knowledge object would you want next
year’s class to have? To re-use?
 Go through the KM processes and see how you
would capture and make available to them
 What would you have liked to have known
before coming to our program? Anything
unexpected? Surprises? Things you had to
discover….?
Can continue discussion online…
44
Some topics from previous
classes….
 Workload
 Student life in a new city
 State of the profession - - wiki
 Alumni, recent graduates, job statistics
 Course information – satisfied with information that was
mailed out, that is on the website
 Specific course information
 tailored so students coming from diverse background (work, undergrad
degree, technological know needed for course, theoretical content etc.
 provide demographic info on the incoming class
45
Next:
 Selected knowledge management models
46
Theory and Practice
Week 1: Introduction
1
Week 1: Introduction to
Knowledge Management (KM)
 Key KM concepts and their definitions
 Tacit and explicit knowledge
 Knowledge in action
 Knowledge to create value
Write down your definition of knowledge management-

this will not be collected but you will refer back to your
definition in later classes
2
Introduction
 When asked, most

company executives
say their greatest asset
is knowledge held by
their employees
 They also state they
have no idea how to
manage this knowledge
3
From physical assets to
knowledge assets
 Knowledge has now become more valuable
that physical “things”
 SABRE reservation system vs. airplanes
 Now – customer bill of rights, vouchers for
delayed flights – customer satisfaction (and
revenues) at an all-time low
4
Interdisciplinary Nature of KM
5
The 3 Generations of KM
 1st Generation:
 “if we only knew what we know” IT
 2nd Generation:
 “if we only knew who knows about….” PEOPLE
 3rd Generation:
 “if we could only organize our knowledge….”
CONTENT
6
Today’s Working Environment
Multi-lingual
Multi-site Multi-cultural
More More &
Global Faster
KM
More More
Mobile Connected
7
Increasing Complexity
 Today’s work environment is more complex due to

an increase in the number of subjective knowledge
items we need to attend to everyday
 Filtering over 200 emails, faxes, voicemail messages on
a daily basis – how to prioritize?
 Having to “think on our feet” as expected response time
has greatly decreased as well
 KM is a response to the challenge of trying to manage
this complexity amidst information overload
 A “science of complexity”
 Knowledge and entropy production have an inverse relationship
8
Hiring Scenario
 You have been asked to hire an assistant

 What sorts of things would you require from
human resources?
 What questions would you ask HR?
 What would you require from all applicants?
9
Applicant Information
 Curriculum vitae (resume)

 References
 Test results (e.g. language, aptitude)
 …..
10
Hiring Scenario Continued
 You have selected 3 of the applicants to go to

the next stage – the interview.
 Write down 3-4 questions that you would ask
of the candidate during the interview.
11
Applicant Information
 Previous experience
 Reason why they are applying
 Role-playing or decision simulation
 Request they demonstrate bilingualism
 ……
12
13
Explicit vs. Tacit Knowledge
Tacit Knowledge
Explicit Knowledge
files
80-85% 15-20%
active passive 14
The ubiquitous “shared drive”
 All organizations have them

 They tend to be chaotically organized, if at all
 Organizing principles tacit
 Organize for me but what about others?
15
Shared Drive Organization:
Which one would you choose?
Folders: Folders:
•Sarah •Project Apollo
•Peter OR: •Task force on KM
•Robert … one for •Proposal … one for
each collaborative
each employee project
A B
16
Next challenge: Preserving
valuable knowledge
 Organizational “amnesia” or forgetting
The cost of lost knowledge: NASA loses film of first moon

landing:
Once upon a time we put a man
on the moon – today we can no The original film of man’s first steps
longer do so. The blueprints for the on the moon have been lost. The
Saturn booster are no longer at original tapes, although nowhere
NASA – the only rocket with enough near the standard of normal tv
thrust to send a manned payload on transmission, would still be of far
its way. The original Apollo work- better quality than the video we have.
force is long since retired … some NASA simply filed them away. And
documents endure but they are as personnel retired or died, the
devoid of meaning (Petch, 1998) location of the tapes was forgotten.
17
Concept Analysis
A method to better understand (and

ultimately define) complex, subjective
and value-laden concepts
18
What is Knowledge
Management?
• KM is the systematic, explicit and deliberate building, renewal and
application of knowledge to maximize an enterprise’s knowledge-
related effectiveness and returns from knowledge assets (K. Wiig)
• KM is the process of capturing a company’s collective expertise

wherever it resides: in databases, on paper, in people’s heads – and
distributing it to wherever it can help produce the biggest payoff.
(Hibbard)
• KM is getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time
so they can make the best decision (Petrash)
19
More KM Definitions
 It is the attempt to recognize what is essentially a human asset buried

in the minds of individuals, and leverage it into an organizational asset
that can be accessed and used by a broader set of individuals on
whose decisions the firm depends. —Larry Prusak
 KM applies systematic approaches to find, understand and use

knowledge to create value (O’Dell)
 KM is the explicit control and management of knowledge within an

organization aimed at achieving the company’s objectives (van der
Spek)
 KM is the formalization of and access to experience, knowledge, and

expertise that create new capabilities, enable superior performance,
encourage innovation and enhance customer value (Beckman)
20
A Concept Analysis Exercise
 What key attributes need to be present in a

definition of Knowledge Management?
 What are some good examples?
 What are some good “non” examples?
21
KM is:
 A management philosophy that takes systematic

and explicit advantage of knowledge to make the
organization act more intelligently
 Knowledge is used/applied for both operational and
strategic purposes
 Ways to find, analyze, categorize critical
knowledge areas to make sure appropriate
knowledge is available when and where needed
22
KM is NOT….
 KM is NOT power, it is how you use it that

matters!
 KM is not archiving all existing explicit
knowledge
 A set of isolated techniques without a common
framework
 a different label for IT, HR or training
 A command and control system for knowledge
23
Some examples
 Here are some examples of concepts

analyzed by previous classes
 Today – we will divide into smaller groups
and try out the concept analysis technique
24
The concept “digital library”
 Synonyms, antonyms (not just a website, nor a webcast, nor

a database, nor a…)
 Perspective of:
 An organization that provides resources - - people
 A collection of digital objects - - content
 A technology - - container
 Information-seeking different? (location-independent)
 Subset of a traditional library? (electronic extension of a library)
(1) an organized collection of digital information.

(2) supports creation, maintenance, management, access to and
preservation of digital content
(3) information stored in digital format available over a network
25
The concept “being green”
 Examples  Examples
 Recycling  Awareness
 Composting  Regulations
 Carpooling  Acting locally
 Bicycles  Using alternative energy
 Carpooling sources
 Conservation of resources  Sustainable transportation
 Pollution control  Develop green technologies
 Political action  Kyoto protocol
 Decrease carbon footprint  Recycle reduce reuse slogan
26
 Negative Examples  Negative Examples

 Companies claiming to be  Ethanol gas
green fraudulently  Paperless offices
 waste  Promotion campaign
 Excessive consumption  Getting mileage out of
 Short-term oriented claiming to be green
 Laissez-faire attitude  Plastic bags
 Carbon tax credits  One-time use only
 Carbon offsets  Climate change
 SUVs  Greenhouse effect
27
 Attributes
 Reduce the use of non-renewable resources
 A lifestyle or state of mind that involves making a choice to act towards
sustainability
 Local vs. global and individual vs. group
 Communal resources and consumption
 Attitude of an individual, organization or community that is conscientious of
the environment and dictates their choices and actions
 Way of thinking about waste reduction, awareness of consumption at the
individual, corporate and community level – scalable anywhere in between
 Collaboration
 Social phenomenon
 Social and political components
28

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Knowledge Management in

Theory and Practice

Lecture 13: Future Challenges for KM

 Metrics must address not only the information itself

 Five models identified:

 A heavily technical approach to information

 The absence of overall information

 Management of information by individual

 The definition of information categories and reporting

 Can evolve directly from feudalism or monarchies

 An approach to information management based on

 Companies will no longer simply innovate new products but

 Bit map display computer screens

 Xerox PARC never became a dominant

 Focus is on interrelationships between

 Anthropologists used to study work practices

Most ideas generated by employees are lost to the company

 Formal office procedures have almost

 A next generation KM application must:

 In simpler times it made sense to direct

 Set strategy and communicate it in a compelling

 Measurement and valuation will become

Knowledge Management must come out of

 Access to information is only a small part of

 Since the downsizing craze of the late 80’s early

Need to re-connect the knowledge flows – up/down & across

 To facilitate communication across

 Freer information flow means that more people have access

It is all about…..virtual communication

 KM has at one extreme ‘hard’ IT and at the

 Need a more flexible approach to copyrigth

 Need strategic management of intellectual assets

 Need a copyleft or Creative Commons Agreement,

 Energy economy dealt largely with objects

 The advent of information technology has

 Codified knowledge still requires access to

1. Key KM concepts and their definitions

Lecture 12: The KM Team

 Would together possess the following knowledge,

 TFPL – is a British company specialized in

 Publish a skills map for KM – available at:

1. Business and strategy

 Able to learn efficiently and effectively – curiosity

TFPL Skills Map 2000

 Understands the business

 Chief Knowledge  Knowledge synthesizer

Designing information systems

Managing information systems

 Designing and producing information

 Organizational information & KM policy

 Government KM policy analysts

Organizations concerned primarily with information content.

Organizations concerned primarily with

Organizations concerned primarily with

Organizations concerned primarily with information

Information functions in organizations that are not

 Design and management of information systems,

B. Application of information technology -

C. Research and information-gathering, synthesis,

D. Records Management, Document Management

B. Governmental agencies involved in information

F. Agencies involved in policy formulation/decision-

H. Law firms, medical practices, pharmaceutical