Knowledge Management

Dr. Smita Chandra

Librarian
Indian Institute of Geomagnetism
Email: smitac@iigs.iigm.res.in
Ph.: 9930454568

First, what is Knowledge

In

simplest terms, knowledge is the ability of

an actor to respond to a body of facts and
principles accumulated over a period of time.
One way to look at knowledge is as the
apogee of the following continuum
data
information
knowledge
Data = 1 unit of fact; Information = aggregation
of data; Knowledge = potential for action on
information
Data and information have intrinsic properties,
the quality of knowledge depends on the
properties of the agent

Knowledge
The

creation and diffusion of knowledge have become

ever more important factors in competitiveness in
todays knowledge economy.

Being

viewed as a commodity or an intellectual asset, it

possesses some paradoxical characteristics that are
radically different from other valuable commodities.

Use of knowledge does not consume it.

Transfer of knowledge does not result in losing it.
Knowledge is abundant, but the ability to use it is
scarce.
Much of an organizations valuable knowledge walks out
the door at the end of the day.

From industrial era to knowledge

age
Forty-five

years ago, nearly half of all

workers in industrialized countries were
making or helping to make things; today
that proportion is down to 20% (Drucker,
1994; Bart, 2000).
An organization in the Knowledge Age is
one that learns, remembers, and acts
based on the best available information,
knowledge, and know-how. Companies
need to learn from their past errors and
not reinvent the wheel again and again.

KM definition
Knowledge

management is the deliberate

and systematic coordination of an
organizations people, technology,
processes, and organizational structure in
order to add value through reuse and
innovation. This coordination is achieved
through creating, sharing, and applying
knowledge as well as through feeding the
valuable lessons learned and best
practices into corporate memory in order
to foster continued organizational
learning.

KM Objectives
Facilitate

a smooth transition from those

retiring to their successors who are recruited
to fill their positions.
Minimize loss of corporate memory due to
attrition and retirement.
Identify critical resources and critical areas
of knowledge so that the corporation knows
what it knows and does it welland why.
Build up a toolkit of methods that can be
used with individuals, with groups, and with
the organization to stem the potential loss of
intellectual capital.

KM Objectives

Knowledge Assets
There

are two types of knowledge assets

Tacit

knowledge:
That
type
of
knowledge which people carry in their
mind, and is, therefore, difficult to access.

Explicit

knowledge: That type of

knowledge which has been or can be
articulated, codified, and stored in certain
media.

The Two Major Types of

Knowledge
Explicit Knowledge

Tacit Knowledge

Tangible

Intangible

Physical objects, e.g. in

documents or databases

Mental objects, i.e. it's in

people's head's

Context independent

Context affects meaning

Easily shared

Sharing involves learning

Reproducible

Not identically replicated

KM Examples

Larsen

& Toubro : Know Net

Infosys : Learn Once Use Anywhere
paradigm

KM Models
There are some KM Models:
Nonaka/Takeuchi Knowledge Spiral
(1995)
ADAMs Model (2000-01)
The Choo Sense-making KM Model
(1998)
WIIG KM Model

Nonakas four model of

knowledge conversion

Nonakas four models of knowledge

conversion explanation
Socialisation

(tacit to tacit) is the process of learning through sharing experiences

that creates tacit knowledge as shared mental models and professional
skills e.g. expert consensus achieved during medical meetings
Externalization

(tacit to explicit) is the process of conversion of tacit into explicit

knowledge, for example, the translation of clinical trial result into a
recommendation for clinical practice
Internalization

(explicit to tacit) is the process of an individual learning by repeatedly

executing an activity applying some type of explicit knowledge, e.g.,
absorbing the relationship between actions and results as new personal
tacit knowledge
Combination

(explicit to explicit) is the process of enriching the available explicit

knowledge to produce new bodies of knowledge, for example,
combining medical and organizational knowledge into a decision
support system

ADAMs Model (200001)

The Choo Sense-making KM

Model (1998)

WIIGs KM Model

Knowledge Form by WIIG

Model
Public

Knowledge

Sharing

Knowledge

Personal

Knowledge

CONTINUE
The

knowledge which is explicit and can be

learned and shared, called Public Knowledge.

The

knowledge which is an intellectual assets

and held exclusively by employees and shared
during work or embedded in technologies,
called Sharing Knowledge.

The

knowledge which is the least accessible,

but the most complete form of knowledge. Its
usually tacit and used without knowing, called
Personal Knowledge.

Knowledge Types by WIIG

Model
Factual

Knowledge

Conceptual

Knowledge

Expectational

Knowledge

Methodological

Knowledge

Continue
That

type of knowledge which deals with data and

measurements, and directly observable and verifiable,
called Factual Knowledge.

That

type of knowledge which deals with systems,

concepts and perspectives, called Conceptual
Knowledge.

That

type of knowledge which deals with hypothesis,

judgments and expectations held by knowers, called
Expectational Knowledge.

That

type of knowledge which deals with reasoning,

strategies and decision making methods, called
Methodological Knowledge.

KM Life Cycle

Key attributes of KM
Ruggles and Holtshouse (1999) identified the following key
attributes of knowledge management:
Generating new knowledge.
Accessing valuable knowledge from outside sources.
Using accessible knowledge in decision making.
Embedding knowledge in processes, products, and/or
services.
Representing knowledge in documents, databases, and
software.
Facilitating knowledge growth through culture and
incentives.
Transferring existing knowledge into other parts of the
organization.
Measuring the value of knowledge assets and/or impact of
knowledge management.

Terms Used in KM
There are some terms used in KM:
Knowledge architect
Knowledge assets
Knowledge bridge
Knowledge Workers
Knowledge Economy

Knowledge architect
Knowledge

architect is the
staff member who oversees the
definitions of knowledge and
intellectual processes and then
identifies the technological and
human resources required to
create, capture, organize, access
and use knowledge assets.

Knowledge assets
Knowledge

assets, also called

intellectual capital, are the
human, structural and recorded
resources available to the
organization. Assets reside within
the minds of members,
customers, and colleagues and
also include physical structures
and recorded media.

Knowledge bridge
Knowledge

bridge is the
connection that a KM expert
builds between the business
processes and the technological,
sociological, personal, financial,
sales, creative, and customer
oriented functions of the
organization.

Knowledge Workers
Employees

and managers who

contribute significantly to the
intellectual capital of the
company are called knowledge
workers.

Knowledge Economy
The

knowledge economy is a
term that refers either to an
economy of knowledge focused
on the production and
management of knowledge in the
frame of economic constraints, or
to a knowledge-based economy.

The value of Knowledge assets

Knowledge

assets are often

described as the intellectual
capital of an organization
The value of intellectual capital is
often intangible
A popular measure is the difference
between the cost of capital assets
and the cost of replacing them

The value of KM
It

is important to manage knowledge assets because :

Foster innovation by encouraging the free flow of ideas

Improve decision making
Improve customer service by streamlining response time
Boost revenues by getting products and services to market
faster
Enhance employee retention rates by recognizing the value
of employees' knowledge and rewarding them for it
Streamline operations and reduce costs by eliminating
redundant or unnecessary processes

The development of KM
Knowledge

began to be viewed as a competitive

asset in the 80s, around the same time
information explosion started becoming an issue
The trend was fueled by the development of IT
systems which made it simple to store, display,
and archive classified, indexed information
The process received a fillip after Ducker (and
others) stressed the role of knowledge as an
organisation resource and Senge popularized
learning organisations
Seeds of KM may also be found in business
practices like TQM and BPR to which KM is often
compared.

The sources of KM
Today

KM draws from a wide range

of disciplines / practices

Cognitive Science
Groupware, AI
Library and Information Science
Document Management
Decision support systems
Technical writing
Organizational Science
Many more

Organizational Perspectives on
Knowledge Management
Wiig

(1993) considers knowledge management in

organizations from three perspectives, each with
different horizons and purposes:
1. Business Perspectivefocusing on why, where, and to
what extent the organization must invest in or exploit
knowledge. Strategies, products and services, alliances,
acquisitions, or divestments should be considered from
knowledge-related points of view.
2. Management Perspectivefocusing on determining,
organizing, directing, facilitating, and monitoring
knowledge-related practices and activities required to
achieve the desired business strategies and objectives.
3. Hands-on Perspectivefocusing on applying the
expertise to conduct explicit knowledge-related work
and tasks

Why Is KM Important Today?

The

major business drivers behind todays increased

interest in and application of KM lie in four key areas:
1. Globalization of business.
2. Leaner organizations. We are doing more and we
are doing it faster, but we also need to work smarter
as knowledge workers, adopting an increased pace
and workload.
3. Corporate amnesia. We are more mobile as a
workforce, which creates problems of knowledge
continuity for the organization and places continuous
learning demands on the knowledge worker. We no
longer expect to spend our entire work life with the
same organization.
4. Technological advances.

KM today (catch-all?)
There

is a great risk of KM overreaching itself

Everything from organization
learning to business and competitive
intelligence has become fair game to
KM
There are KM components to each of
these but these spaces are best left
to specalized practitioners

The scope of KM
Today

most companies define the

scope of KM as
KM mechanics (tools for information
management)
KM culture (knowledge as a social
activity)
KM systems (knowledge sharing as a
part of an organizations DNA)

KM mechanics
Information

management may well be

considered the first wave of KM (and is still
often considered synonymous with KM)
Information management tries to make the
right information available to the right
person at the right time through a variety of
database driven information applications
Information management tools try to
capture the human experience of knowledge
through the collecting, classifying,
disseminating, searching, indexing and
archival power of information technology

Limitations of mechanical
KM
Reliance

on technology produces
consensual knowledge (over
reliance on best-practices for
instance) and may stifle innovation
The notion that right information is
predictable and flows from historical
data may be flawed
Making information available is not
enough, getting people to use it is
more critical

KM culture
All

knowledge has a social and

evolutionary facet
There is a crying need for subject
knowledge to continuously reexamine and modify
It is important to keep the human
and social elements of
organization involved in all stored
knowledge

KM culture through CoP

Communities

of practice (or thematic

groups) are popular way of injecting KM
culture in an organization
CoPs are for where members share
information and experiences, develop
new insights, assimilate and transform
knowledge
CoPs emphasize shared interests and
work across locations and time zones
(often using technology developed
during KMs first wave)

KM systems
KM

succeeds fully when it is woven into

the fabric of an organization and becomes
intrinsic to an organizations processes
Common practices include
Formal KM leadership
Formal rewards and recognitions for KM
oriented work
Tools and mechanisms that encourage
knowledge sharing
Development of knowledge bases
Intellectual asset management
Metrics to evaluate KM initiatives

KM systems today
In

many ways the systemic approach

is the logical culmination of KM
mechanics and KM culture
Many KM systems are however not
yet robust enough KM metrics (surveys, benchmarking,
cost/benefit studies, service evaluation)
are still an inexact science
Knowledge workers are often KM
resistant (KM is frequently considered an
oxymoron)

Technologies that support

KM

Technologies that support

KM
These technologies roughly correlate to four main stages of the KM
life cycle:
Knowledge is acquired or captured using intranets, extranets,
groupware, web conferencing, and document management
systems.
An organizational memory is formed by refining, organizing, and
storing knowledge using structured repositories such as data
warehouses.
Knowledge is distributed through education, training programs,
automated knowledge based systems, expert networks.
Knowledge is applied or leveraged for further learning and
innovation via mining of the organizational memory and the
application of expert systems such as decision support systems.

All of these stages are enhanced by effective workflow and project

management.

KMs three-tiered view:

Individuals
Helps people do their jobs and save time through better decision making
and problem solving.
Builds a sense of community bonds within the organization.
Helps people to keep up to date.
Provides challenges and opportunities to contribute.
Communities
Develops professional skills.
Promotes peer-to-peer mentoring.
Facilitates more effective networking and collaboration.
Develops a professional code of ethics that members can follow.
Develops a common language.
Organizations
Helps drive strategy.
Solves problems quickly.
Diffuses best practices.
Improves knowledge embedded in products and services.
Cross-fertilizes ideas and increases opportunities for innovation.
Enables organizations to stay ahead of the competition better.
Builds organizational memory.

THE THREE MAJOR COMPONENTS

OF KM
Some

critical KM challenges are to

manage content effectively,
facilitate collaboration, help
knowledge workers connect and find
experts, and help the organization to
learn and make decisions based on
complete, valid, and well interpreted
data, information, and knowledge.

KM in Libraries

Libraries have a long history

Librarians

have been managing

knowledge
for about 2,500 years

Library

at Alexandria established in 283

BC
Capture
But

and store the worlds knowledge

Tradition is not enough

While they all make varying use of
corporate libraries and information
systems, few knowledge workers
feel that these groups can be relied
on for more than a modest amount
of their information needs.
James

McGee and Lawrence Prusak

Managing Information Strategically
(1993)

Explicit Knowledge
Books,

publications, reports
Photos, diagrams, illustrations
Computer code, decision-support
systems
Presentations, speeches,
lectures
Stories, lessons learned,
recordings
Laws, regulations, procedures,
policies

Tacit Knowledge
Awareness
Skills
Mental

models
Expertise
Judgement
Wisdom
Corporate memory
The Thinker - Rodin

Transferring
Knowledge
Conversations,

discussions, dialogue
Questions & answers
Knowledge extraction
Advice, briefings, recommendations
Mentoring, teaching, examples
Presentations, lectures, stories
Documents, books, manuals
Education, training, demonstration
Meetings, workshops, conferences

Organizing Knowledge
Epistemology
Cognitive

approaches
Automated methods
Classification systems
Thesauri, taxonomies
Interdisciplinary issues
Linguistic issues

Storing Knowledge
Assets
Information

technology infrastructure
Systems for archiving and managing
knowledge
Interface for entry and administration
Data warehouse, distributed databases
Information repository, records
management
Knowledge repository, knowledge map
Digital libraries, traditional libraries

Retrieving Knowledge
Assets
Access

to knowledge
Browser interface
Search engine
Extraction tools
Manipulation tools
Assembly tools
Retrieval system

Maintaining Knowledge
Assets
Content

integrity
System and content security
Access to content
Service standards
Migrate technology
Life cycle management

Migrating Knowledge
Assets
Paper
Punch

cards
Paper tape
Magnetic tape
Computer disks
Floppy disks
Tape cassettes
Diskettes
CD-ROMS

How Can Libraries Improve

Their Services Through KM?
Creating

an organizational culture of
sharing knowledge
Creating an organizational culture of
sharing expertise
Change their values
Focus on creating and using
intellectual assets (tacit, explicit and
potential knowledge)
Restructure their functions
Expand their roles and
responsibilities

KM Concerns/Challenges for
libraries
Changing Environment
Multiple Formats of Information
Changing user needs (e.g. aimed at
improving learning outcomes)
Organizational structures that call
for quality services
Changing roles of librarians due to
changes in information formats,
delivery models and technologies.

Applying KM

Knowledge Creation
Knowledge of the librarys:
operation
users and their needs
collection
facilities
technologies available
Knowledge Capturing and
Acquisition
Develop ways their internal
knowledge (e.g. type of reference

Knowledge capturing and

acquisitions
Identify peoples expertise and share through:
Collating internal profiles of librarians
Standardizing routine information-update reports.
Accessing external information such as online

databases
Establishing links or networking with other
libraries and institutions
Attending training programmes, conferences,
seminars and workshops
Subscribing to listserves and online virtual
communities of practice
Buying knowledge products or resources in the
form of manuals, reports, etc.

Skills Librarians Bring to KM

Indexing
Abstracting
Taxonomy,

controlled vocabulary
development
Quality filtering of information
Grant planning writing
Networking and community outreach
Needs assessment
Project management
Webpage development

Continued
Graphical
Database

design
development and
maintenance
Usability testing and evaluation
Curriculum development
Teaching and training
Statistical analysis
Project and program evaluation
Compiling literature
Writing for publication

Skills and competencies

needed
IT

literacy
A sharp and analytical mind
Innovation and enquiring
Enables knowledge creation, flow
and communication within the
organization.

THANK YOU