Chapter 5:

Knowledge Management
 Outline
 What is knowledge
 Types of knowledge
 Important Dimensions of knowledge
 Knowledge Management
 Knowledge management value chain
 Types of knowledge management system
 Knowledge management solutions
 Knowledge Management Mechanisms
 Knowledge Management Technologies
 Knowledge Management Infrastructure
 What is Knowledge
• Knowledge refers to interconnected information on what something
is, why something happens, and how to do something .
 What: definitions of concepts and relationships, taxonomies
 Why: understanding cause-effect relationships
 How-to, know-how: analysis/synthesis; methods, procedures for
generating new knowledge
• Knowledge acquisition is incremental (what in layers, why with
imperfect accuracy, starting from know-how and learning what/why
in the process)
• Knowledge is never complete, or 100% correct, can be incoherent
and controversial… is messy.
 Knowledge Types

 Source view:
 Theoretical (science, theories) vs. Experiential knowledge (personal,
learned by doing)

 Communication view:
 Explicit
 can be communicated to others
 definitions, taxonomies, theories, procedures, cases
 Tacit
 difficult to communicate
 experiential, analytical & synthesizing skills
 Sharing and capturing tacit knowledge is one of main goals
before knowledge management and knowledge support systems.
 …
• Tacit Knowledge
- A knowledge that is embedded with the knower
- Highly contextual knowledge
- Unstructured as compared to explicit knowledge
- Difficult to verbalize and codify on knowledge repositories
- It contains the largest part of our knowledge
- As Polanyi Said “We know more than we can say”
• Explicit knowledge
- Knowledge that can be verbalized and codified
- Knowledge that we find in books, databases
- Structured compared to tacit knowledge
- Easy to store in databases and documents
- It is easily accessible to everyone
- Knowledge that is detached from the Knower
- Some Researcher label it as Information
- The Issue is not resolved among philosophers and scholars
- The smaller part of our knowledge
 Knowledge Types – Capital View
 Human Capital
 Knowledge in employees’ mind

 Structural Capital :
 Knowledge embedded in organizational artifacts
 Knowledge representations in documents (patents, problem solving
descriptions – different documents than reports; Accenture case)
 Invented work procedures/processes (Pharmaceutical co.)
 Knowledge embedded in technology (any), production floor
design, products
 Innovation Potential (e.g., educational facilities)
 …
 Knowledge is a firm asset.
 Intangible
 Creation of knowledge from data, information, requires organizational resources
 As it is shared, experiences network effects
 Knowledge has different forms.
 May be explicit (documented) or tacit (residing in minds)
 Know-how, craft, skill
 How to follow procedure
 Knowing why things happen (causality)
 Knowledge has a location.
 Cognitive event
 Both social and individual
 “Sticky” (hard to move), situated (enmeshed in firm’s culture), contextual (works
only in certain situations)
 Knowledge is situational.
 Conditional: Knowing when to apply procedure
 Contextual: Knowing circumstances to use certain tool
 Knowledge Management
• Knowledge management can be defined as:-
 Performing the activities involved in discovering capturing ,
sharing, and applying knowledge so as to enhance, in a cost-
effective fashion the impact of knowledge on the unit’s goal
achievement.
 Set of business processes developed in an organization to
create, store, transfer, and apply knowledge

• The term knowledge resources refers not only to the knowledge

currently possessed by the individual or the organization but also
to the knowledge that can potentially be obtained (at some cost if
necessary) from other individuals or organizations.

• Knowledge management systems (KMSs) use various hardware and

software applications to facilitate and support knowledge management
(KM) activities.
 What is KM?
• Knowledge management (KM) is a process that helps organizations
identify, select, organize, disseminate, and transfer important information and
expertise that are part of the organization’s memory or knowledge assets and to
help the organization compete.
• Knowledge management, or KM, is the process through which organizations
generate value from their intellectual property and knowledge-based assets.
• Knowledge management is purported to increase innovativeness and
responsiveness.

• Knowledge-creating company - whose sole business is continuous innovation.

That means
- consistently creating new business knowledge,
- disseminating it widely throughout the company, and
- quickly building the new knowledge into their products and services
 Knowledge-creating companies exploit two kinds of knowledge.
- explicit knowledge, which is the data, documents, and things written down
or stored on computers.
- tacit knowledge, or the “how-tos” of knowledge, which resides in workers.
 Knowledge management value chain
 Next Figure, illustrates the value-adding steps in the knowledge management
value chain.
 Each stage in the value chain adds value to raw data and information as
they are transformed into usable knowledge.
 Knowledge Acquisition

 Knowledge Storage

 Knowledge Dissemination

 Knowledge Application

• information systems activities are separated from related management

and organizational activities,
- with information systems activities on the top of the graphic and
- organizational and management activities below.
 …
• Knowledge management involves both information systems activities and a
host of enabling management and organizational activities.
 …

 Knowledge acquisition
• Documenting tacit and explicit knowledge
 Storing documents, reports, presentations, best practices
 Unstructured documents (e.g., e-mails)
 Developing online expert networks
• Creating knowledge
• Tracking data from TPS and external sources

 Knowledge storage
• Databases
• Document management systems
• Role of management:
 Support development of planned knowledge storage systems.
 Encourage development of corporate-wide schemas for indexing documents.
 Reward employees for taking time to update and store documents properly.
 …
 Knowledge dissemination
• Portals, wikis
• E-mail, instant messaging
• Search engines
• Collaboration tools
• A deluge of information?
 Training programs, informal networks, and shared management
experience help managers focus attention on important information.
 Knowledge application
• To provide return on investment, organizational knowledge must become
systematic part of management decision making and become situated in
decision-support systems.
 New business practices
 New products and services
 New markets
 Types of Knowledge Management Systems
 Knowledge management systems (KMSs) are systems that enable
individuals and organizations to enhance learning, improve performance, and,
hopefully, produce long-term sustainable competitive advantage.
- KMS is a system that use of information technology to help gather, organize,
and share business knowledge within an organization.
 Three major types of knowledge management systems
1. Enterprise-wide knowledge management systems
 General-purpose firm-wide efforts to collect, store, distribute,
and apply digital content and knowledge
2. Knowledge work systems (KWS)
 Specialized systems built for engineers, scientists, other knowledge
workers charged with discovering and creating new knowledge
3. Intelligent techniques
 Diverse group of techniques such as data mining used for various
goals: discovering knowledge, distilling knowledge, discovering
optimal solutions
Figure shows the knowledge management system applications for each of
these major categories.
 …
• The three types of KMS can be broken down further into more specialized types of
knowledge management systems.
 Knowledge Management Solutions
• Knowledge management solutions refer to the variety of ways in which
KM can be facilitated
 KM processes
 KM systems
 KM mechanisms and technologies
 KM infrastructure
 Knowledge Management Processes

.
Discovery
• Combination
• Socialization

Sharing Application
• Socialization • Direction
• Exchange • Routines

Capture
• Externalization
• Internalization
 Knowledge Discovery

• Knowledge discovery may be defined as the development of new tacit or

explicit knowledge from data and information or from the synthesis of prior
knowledge

 Combination: enabling the discovery of new explicit knowledge

 Socialization: enabling the discovery of new tacit knowledge

 Knowledge Capture
• Knowledge capture is defined as the process of retrieving either explicit or
tacit knowledge that resides within people, artifacts, or organizational
entities.

• Knowledge captured might reside outside the organizational boundaries,

including consultants, competitors, customers, suppliers, and prior
employers of the organization’s new employees
 Externalization involves converting tacit knowledge into explicit
forms such as words, concepts, visuals, or figurative language
 Internalization is the conversion of explicit knowledge into tacit
knowledge. It represents the traditional notion of “learning”
 Knowledge Sharing

• Knowledge sharing systems support the process through which explicit or

implicit knowledge is communicated to other individuals

• It may take place across individuals, groups, departments or organizations

• Discussion groups or chat groups facilitate knowledge sharing by enabling

individuals to explain their knowledge to the rest of the group
 KM Application

• Mechanisms and technologies support knowledge application systems by

facilitating routines and direction.
 Direction refers to the process through which individuals possessing the

knowledge direct the action of another individual without transferring to that

person the knowledge underlying the direction

 Routines involve the utilization of knowledge embedded in procedures, rules,

and norms that guide future behavior

 Knowledge Management Systems

• Knowledge management systems are the integration of technologies and

mechanisms that are developed to support KM processes
 Knowledge Management Mechanisms

• Mechanisms facilitating direction include traditional hierarchical

relationships in organizations, help desks, and support centers
• Mechanisms supporting routines include organizational policies,
work practices, and standards
• KM mechanisms are organizational or structural means used to
promote KM
• Examples of KM mechanisms include learning by doing, on-the-job
training, learning by observation, and face-to-face meetings
 Knowledge Management Technologies
• Technologies that support KM include
 Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies encompassing those used for knowledge
acquisition and case-based reasoning systems
 Electronic discussion groups
 Computer-based simulations
 Databases
 Decision support systems
 Enterprise resource planning systems
 Expert systems
 Management information systems
 Expertise locator systems
 Video conferencing and
 Information repositories encompassing best practices databases and lessons learned
systems
 KM Processes, Mechanisms, and Technologies
.
 Knowledge Management Infrastructure

- In an organizational context, knowledge management

infrastructure includes five major components:

• Organizational Culture
• Organizational Structure
• Communities of Practice
• Information Technology Infrastructure
• Common Knowledge
 …
 Organizational Culture
• Organizational culture reflects the norms and beliefs that guide the behavior
of the organization’s members
• Attributes of an enabling organizational culture include
 understanding of the value of KM practices
 management support for KM at all levels
 incentives that reward knowledge sharing and
 encouragement of interaction for the creation and sharing of knowledge

 Organizational Structure
• Hierarchical structure of the organization affects the people with whom
individuals frequently interact, and to or from whom they are consequently
likely to transfer knowledge
• Organizational structures can facilitate KM through communities of practice
• Organization structures can facilitate KM through specialized structures and
roles that specifically support KM
 …
 Information Technology Infrastructure
• The IT infrastructure includes data processing, storage, and communication
technologies and systems
• One way of systematically viewing the IT infrastructure is to consider the
capabilities it provides in four important aspects:
 Reach
 Depth
 Richness
 Aggregation

 Common Knowledge
• Common knowledge also refers to the organization’s
 cumulative experiences in comprehending a category of knowledge and activities and
 the organizing principles that support communication and coordination

• Common knowledge helps enhance the value of an individual expert’s knowledge

by integrating it with the knowledge of others
 Physical Environment

• Physical environment includes

 the design of buildings and the separation between them

 the location, size, and type of offices

 the type, number, and nature of meeting rooms

 Knowledge Management Infrastructure

.
 Overview of Knowledge Management Solutions

KM Processes
.
Combination Socialization Internalization Externalization Exchange Direction Routines

Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge

KM Systems Discovery Capture Sharing Application
Systems Systems Systems Systems

KM Mechanisms Analogies and metaphors Decision support systems KM Technologies

Brainstorming retreats Web-based discussion groups
On-the-job training Repositories of best practices
Face-to-face meetings Artificial intelligence systems
Apprenticeships Case-based reasoning
Employee rotation Groupware
Learning by observation Web pages
…. …

Organization Organization IT Common Physical

KM Infrastructure Culture Structure Infrastructure Knowledge Environment
 Top Reason’s for Adopting KM

1. Creating easy access and visibility to organizational

knowledge
2. retaining expertise of personnel,
3. increasing customer satisfaction,
4. improving profits or increasing revenues. KM is clearly
suited to capturing both internal (employees’) and external
(customers’) knowledge.
End!