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Running Head: Knowledge Identification Methods

Knowledge Identification Methods CIS 601 Matthew Mabalot National University

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Knowledge Identification Methods The article Toward More Effective Knowledge Management: An Investigation of Problems in Knowledge Identification discusses the research project that will be done to help understand and develop knowledge identification methods in an organization. Knowledge management systems have been developed throughout the years to share and utilize knowledge in an organization. Knowledge is such an important part of an organization that it needs to be identified and clearly documented in order for it to be useful. The research project consisted of three phases which are surveys, interviews, and case studies. The Knowledge Identification (KI) was researched and different methods were found and studied within organizations to help define knowledge and find the knowledge. The first part of the research was to identify what knowledge an organization already has and what knowledge their employees need to know. The KI was used to find the knowledge and how organizations use methods to find the knowledge. An issue that was discussed was retaining knowledge which was important because if knowledge is lost through an employee then it can become a larger issue in the organization. Determining what knowledge employees already have, is key in identifying the knowledge and development of a knowledge management system. Knowledge refers to facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education (Oxford 2010) that are relevant and valuable to the performance of organizations (Newk-Fon, W., Venable, J., Dell, Peter 2011). The effectiveness of knowledge management reflects on what documented and shared throughout the organization. Knowledge Holders (KH) was discussed in the article to better understand where the knowledge is coming from for example the staff. The staff may have existing knowledge and may need more knowledge to complete their daily tasks. The book Management Information Systems described two kinds

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of knowledge which was tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is information that is stored in the minds of the employees and not yet documented where explicit is knowledge that has been documented. Both types of knowledge exist in the organization it is all a matter of finding it. The KI methods used in the research are Knowledge Sharing Systems, Expert Finding Systems, Organizational Network Analysis, Knowledge Loss Risk Assessment, and ExTra. Knowledge Sharing systems were described as transfer and sharing of knowledge through the intranet which was a central location for sharing information. The research found that Knowledge Sharing Systems failed because of knowledge that was not yet documented for years and are still held by employees as tacit knowledge. The Expert Finding Systems were hard to manager because only the experts would manage it and it was difficult to maintain due to limited resources. The Organizational Network Analysis was also an issue because it focused on identifying who the knowledge holders were but not exactly what knowledge was available. The Knowledge Loss Risk Assessment identified what knowledge should be retrieved and how to obtain the knowledge. The ExTra method was used in a way to transfer knowledge between management who are the knowledge holders. After identifying the five methods of Knowledge Identification the research leaned more on whether or not these methods were effective and if these are the only methods used in organizations today. The research questions consisted of, what problems face Knowledge Management stakeholders? what KI methods are currently used?, what do different stakeholders want from the KI methods?, What do different stakeholders do not want?, and what factors influence the effectiveness of KI methods? The research questions are used throughout the three phases and began with phase one Survey which surveyed 1000 organizations that was delivered to upper

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management. The surveys that were not responded to, will be resent in other rounds of the phase. Phase two Interviews were conducted over the phone and face to face and the results will be used to find patterns within different organizations. Phase three case studies focused on the last three research questions which focused on both staff and management which identifies the KI methods used and how it is effective in developing Knowledge Management. The results that concerning the current methods of KI found that a larger percentage found their methods with significant problems. Some organizations were responded with a positive result on their method of Knowledge Identification. Knowledge management systems provide a big impact on an organization because of its capabilities. The method to find the knowledge can be very difficult to figure out through the research but still needs to be improved on in the years to come. Knowledge in organizations is important because it holds not only what processes are but how processes are done. The only way to store knowledge is to identify the knowledge efficiently. Tacit knowledge needs to be identified within organizations in order to have a successful knowledge management system.

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References

Laudon, K. & Laudon, J. (2012). Management information systems managing the digital firm. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Newk-Fon, W., Venable, J., Dell, Peter (2011). Toward More Effective Knowledge Management: An Investigation of Problems in Knowledge Identification. Retrieved from http://www.pacis-net.org/file/2011/PACIS2011-191.pdf.