An Introduction to Knowledge Management:

Lecture 1
Master of Computer Science Course: Technology / Knowledge Management

Knowledge and competitiveness

Knowledge itself remains the paramount

resource and thus the key to economic progress (Burton-Jones, 2000) Knowledge is the most sought-after remedy to uncertainty (Davenport and Prusak, 1998)

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Properties of knowledge

is , in a strict sense, only created by individuals; is perpetually

expandable; can be stored in heads, technical repositories (ie books, databases, etc) can be stored systematically is often in summary form ie precodified can, in principle, be shared can be forgotten, ignored, not used

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What is knowledge management?

One of the hottest buzzwords in the corporate world (FT,

1999) A concept as vague as it is widespread (Roberts, 2000) The systematic management of knowledge processes by which knowledge is identified, gathered, shared and applied (FT, 1999) The systematic and organised attempt to use knowledge within an organisation to improve performance (KPMG, 1999)

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Some knowledge concepts

Explicit knowledge Tacit knowledge Stickiness Absorptive capacity Thin and thick knowledge (Holden, 2002)

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Explicit knowledge

Knowledge which can be articulated in formal

language including grammatical statements, mathematical expressions, specifications, manuals and so forth [and] thus can be transmitted across individuals formally and easily (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Key properties of explicit knowledge: codification and transferability

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Tacit knowledge

Personal, context-specific, and therefore hard to

formalize and communicate (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) Key properties of tacit knowledge: embeddedness in social systems, values, cultural behaviour and practices; needs a domain expert

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Stickiness

Stickiness refers to the difficulty associated with

codifying knowledge, i.e. turning it into explicit transmittable information. Readers will doubtless have encountered the problem of stickiness on occasion, when trying to get a thought down on paper (Burton-Jones, 2000).

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Absorptive capacity

Whereas stickiness slows down the export of

knowledge, absorptive capacity affects how easily the recipient can understand it. Prior knowledge of a particular knowledge domain or subject tends to make it easier to understand new information that is related to that knowledge domain. (Burton-Jones, 2000).

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Thin knowledge and thick knowledge

Thin knowledge:The minimum amount of

knowledge assumed by a knowledge user to be necessary for a specific objective ie to support a decision.

Thick knowledge: Knowledge which is very rich,

very wide-ranging, and is arcane ie requires specialist knowledge to be understood (Holden, 2002)
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Knowledge work (leveraging of knowledge)

Generation: acquisition and creation Codification and storage Distribution and transfer Implementation

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Knowledge generation: acquisition and creation

Acquisition of external knowledge (mergers,

consultants, recruiting, patent acquisition) Setting up of interdisciplinary project teams that incluse suppliers or customers Brain-storming

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Codification and storage

Manuals, databases, case studies, market
reports; the language in which or about which is classified and codified and available in, say, a company documentary resource centre The knowledge in the heads of employees

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Distribution and transfer

Provision of the right knowledge to the right
person at the right time IT applications (Internet or Intranet), (but in which languages?) Transfer of knowledge among, say, employees by training programmes

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Implementation
The key task of knowledge management: the
application of knowledge in a locally appropriate format

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Four dimensions of knowledge management

Decision support Organisational learning Knowledge sharing Networking in conjunction with systematic (computer- based) approaches and standardised routines to maximize value of human interaction
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Organizational learning: assumptions and challenges

Firms (i.e. people in firms) must learn from a
multiplicity of environments and distribute the accumulated knowledge throughout their networks Two problems: changing peoples mindsets and their behaviour

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Organizational learning: three key challenges

The learning is not just the acquisition of

information, but the becoming of a part of a community The critical interface is the community boundary Knowledge transfer entails acts of negotiation

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Networks and organisational learning

These days firms do more and more projects
in teams, in which members share their networks (i.e. access to resources) The sharing of networks is a key form of organisational learning and negotiation through YOU as a team member

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A network approach to negotiation

Negotiation serves to clarify: (a) who is going to share with whom which
mutually held resources and (b) the degree of access to those resources and degree of compensation or indebtedness under given circumstances
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On other words ...

Networking is a kind of negotiating

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Factors constraining knowledge transfer: KPMG survey 1999

423 companies in Europe and USA: lack of time to share knowledge (62%) failure to use knowledge effectively (57%) difficulty capturing tacit knowledge (50%) also: lack of user uptake, failure to integrate

knowledge management systems, lack of training, lack of time to learn and understand benefits

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Other constraints
Lack of knowledge policy in 80% of 470 companies surveyed

by the British Institute of Management (Sunday Times, 2000) 90% of 4,500 scientists, engineers and managers in North America, Europe and Asia did not have access to learning benefits (Sunday Times, 2000) Lack of trust; different cultures, vocabularies, frames of reference; lack of time, problem of rewards, lack of absorptive capacity (Davenport and Prusak, 1998)

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Success and failure

British Petroleum: operating costs of BP Venezuela are

reduced by a team of eight, using knowledge management techniques, from $70m to $40m in seven weeks (Dixon, 2000) GM tries to transplant Japanese production know-how: 170,000 workers laid off in 125 factories in US, Canada, Mexico, Singapore and Japan; $2bn loss of production per week to the US (Tackney, 2000)

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Contrasting approaches to promote knowledge sharing: Novo Nordisk

1997: The Facilitator concept 14 managers in pairs facilitate NN units world-wide

in order to (a) ensure conformity with company standards and policies and (b) to act as catalysts for leveraging knowledge and best practices This is the diffusion technique)

(Holden, 2001)

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Contrasting approaches to promote knowledge sharing: Sulzer Infra

Development of corporate university to make the

company a knowledge-based organisation Organisation of intensive seminars, attended by 100+ managers from all over Europe to promote networking. This is the integrative approach

(Holden, 2001)

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Knowledge management: international issues

Language and cultural barriers make the distinction

between tacit and explicit knowledge problematical International (cross-cultural) knowledge-sharing and collaborative learning involves translation (literal and metaphorical) Need for a new kind of knowledge worker

(Holden, 2001)

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