Knowledge Management Systems

Knowledge Management Systems Knowledge Management Systems

• Week 2 Schedule• Syllabus Updates (almost)• Class Web site- http://courses.ischool.utexas.edu/Turnbull_Don/20

08/fall/INF_385Q/index.html

• Readings Discussion• Blog accounts setup- http://courses.ischool.utexas.edu/Turnbull_Don/

2008/fall/INF_385Q/blog/

• Topic Review & Selection Discussion

Blog SetupBlog Setup- http://courses.ischool.utexas.edu/Turnbull_Don/2008/fall/

INF_385Q/blog/- Let’s walk through a blog post

• Blog content• Commentary with your own thoughts• Analysis of someone else’s ideas

- Fellow class members- About our class readings- From another web page or blog post

• Recommendations (with explanation & commentary- Links to other web pages or blog posts- Referring to other information sources

• People, meetings, news, software…

• Queries for help or discussion- Ask others for their insights into an issue or problem

Questions to ConsiderQuestions to Consider

• What is KM?• What Does KM Provide?

- Personal- Organizational

• Best Approaches for KM?• Is KM a process?• Who Does KM?

• Contexts:- Culture- Environment- Change- Cooperation

Working KnowledgeWorking Knowledge

• What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Knowledge?

• The Promise and Challenge of Knowledge Markets

• Knowledge Generation• Knowledge Coordination and Codification

• “the only unlimited resource” – Paul Romer

• Book context- 1998 (1997-1996)- Based on consulting experiences- Consulting tool (optimism)

Personal & Organizational KMPersonal & Organizational KM

• The organization is no longer a “black box”• Study & improvement of the processes &

outcomes (but more subtle than Taylorism)• An increased focus on knowledge is the result

of a more abstract, services, information economy- In G8+ countries only? (by definition?)- The cause of outsourcing?

• Mobility of the workforce & lack of organizational stability places more focus on “the value of something once it is gone” (p. x)

• Technology is often thought to replace people

KM is asking questionsKM is asking questions

• What do you need to know?• What would you do better next time?• Who knows what?• How can you work together?• How can you add value to information (with

knowledge)?• How can you measure or manage this

knowledge?

• KM is a framework for asking & analyzing thought as external work.

Tools and KMSTools and KMS

• Information Technology has enabled a promise that knowledge can be managed, captured, measured and transferred.- Speed of Transfer• SIGs and User Groups• Too Fast?

- Measurement of Knowledge?• Quantitative and Qualitative• Decision Making

- Economics of Knowledge• Nobel Prize(s)• Business Process Modeling

Knowledge Boom?Knowledge Boom?

• Who are the Knowledge Wildcatters?• What are the Knowledge Syndicates?• Knowledge De-Regulation?• What was going on before the boom?• Knowledge Vacuum- Noticing lost knowledge because it is gone.- Working to improve organizational performance.

• Driven by Technology?- IT as a means?- IT as a workplace paradigm shifter?

Path to KnowledgePath to Knowledge

• Data• Information – Added Value- Contextualized: purpose data is gathered- Categorized: key components recognized- Calculated: analyzed- Corrected: error free- Condensed: summarized- “the difference that makes a difference” – Bateson

• Knowledge- Action (decisions)- Experience (wisdom)

• What isn’t knowledge?

Types of Knowledge (in Action)Types of Knowledge (in Action)

• Defining knowledge by how it is used- What other ways to identify knowledge?

• Experience- Individuals- Groups- Cultures

• Ground Truth- Situational- Active (evolving)

• Complexity- Plastic- Subtle- Sensemaking - Interpretation

Types of Knowledge 2Types of Knowledge 2

• Rules of Thumb and Intuition- Heuristics- Procedures- “Scripts”

• Goals (shared)• Intuitions (“compressed expertise”)

• How are these different from person to person, from org to org?

Subtle KnowledgeSubtle Knowledge

• Cultural values• Beliefs- Technology fixes- Individual orientation- Group building & consensus

• “Beliefs and Commitment” – Nonaka & Takeuchi- Define the organization

BP Virtual TeamworkBP Virtual Teamwork

- Understanding work over efficiency gains- Distributed culture & understanding

- K originates & resides in people’s minds- K sharing requires trust- Technology enables new K behaviors- K sharing must be encouraged & rewarded- Management support is essential- Use pilot programs for KM introduction to the org- Measure the pilot programs (show success)- Encourage creativity

Knowledge InterpretedKnowledge Interpreted

• Is Knowledge a Product or a Service?• What isn’t Knowledge once interpreted?• That Difference that makes you more

Competitive?• Knowledge is the main difference, the

principle advantage.- Technologies eventually evens out- The changes to culture and individuals don’t.

• Information Technology can enable changes that last beyond their influence. - Networked Knowledge- Networked Organization

Knowledge & TeamsKnowledge & Teams

• Can a large organization be as effective as a smaller one?

• Do larger organizations have a higher percentage of available knowledge?

• Is knowledge more important than speed?• What difference does technology make?- Speed of decision making?- Cultural context for communication?

• Space and Time are less of a constraint- Less focus on mechanics of work, more focus on

knowledge use & creation?

Knowledge MarketsKnowledge Markets

• Economists moving into KM?• Markets Mean Measurement- KM Mutual Fund?- KM Index Fund?

• Political Economy of Knowledge Markets- Organizations- Individual Roles• Buyers• Sellers• Brokers (Gatekeepers)

- Types of costs, perceived value

• Competition

Knowledge EconomyKnowledge Economy

• Value & Pricing (p 31)

- Current Value- Future Value- Current Investment- Future Investment

• Reciprocity• Repute• Altruism• Trust• Signals

Knowledge Market (In)EfficienciesKnowledge Market (In)Efficiencies

• Is there ever a perfect market?• What is the KM equivalent of “Irrational Exuberance”?

(Greenspan, Shiller)

• Incompleteness- Where is the Knowledge?- Who sets the price?

• Asymmetry- One Department, One Person

• Localness- Neighbors- Peers- “Satisficing” (Simon and March)

Knowledge Market PathologiesKnowledge Market Pathologies• Do these naturally occur?• Monopolies

- Technological- Organizational

• (Artificial) Scarcity- Recency- Frequency

• Trade Barriers- IT- Personnel- Culture

• Building Marketplaces- Shopping Time to mingle, browse and famliarize- Cultural Shift to a knowledge market- Technological Shift to doing this with IT

Information as ProductInformation as Product

• “The Age of Also”- Options are Golden Handcuffs- End in Itself

• Prosumption- The Age of User Groups (Teach & Learn at Once)- Society and Consumers (Precision & Repetition)

• Information Presentation- Medium is the Message- Varieties of Literacy

• The Internet Changes Everything?- Empowerment? (Value)- Speed? Expectations

Knowledge GenerationKnowledge Generation

• “Innovation Department”?

• Acquisition

• Rental

• Processes- R & D- Fusion- Adaptation- Innovation

• Resource Allocation

Knowledge CodificationKnowledge Codification

• Identifying knowledge means knowing what you should be doing

• Goals for Codified Knowledge:- Decide business goals needing knowledge- Identify Knowledge in various forms to reach goals- Evaluate Knowledge for Utility and Codification- Resolve Medium for Codification and Access

Types of KnowledgeTypes of Knowledge

• Tacit Knowledge- Internalized- “Not Known”- Serendipitous- Difficult to Capture

• Explicit Knowledge- Externalized- Easily Found- Permanent- Difficult to Process for Utility

Capturing KnowledgeCapturing Knowledge

• Maps

• Narratives

• Surveys

• Measurement as Capture

• Anthropology

• Technology

Coordinating KnowledgeCoordinating Knowledge

• Communities (of Practice)

• Networks

• Knowledge Marketplace Evaluation

• IT R&D

• Knowledge Packet Tracing

Next weekNext week

• Experiment with collaborative technologies- Use blog to discuss the Working

Knowledge chapters 5 & 6- Use the listserv to discuss Working

Knowledge chapter 7 & 8- Counts toward class participation

• Quick review of readings, including the Tiwana article the week after