2. SO…
Exploiting knowledge is NOT a
technology issue…
If you spend more than one
third of your budget on
technology then it’s a
technology project...
Knowledge implies a knower;
the rest is information...
3. We need to avoid KM
Mumbo-Jumbo…for
example...
"We need to use a knowledge ecology paradigm to
synergistically decouple the informatic elements in the
emerging strange attractors in your company's marketplace
by deconstructing the knowledge worker and empowering
them to become an adaptive learner in a virtual workplace
within a chaotic and non-deterministic universe of data
derived economic value."
4. Information Management
1. Policies, guidelines,
authoritative sources
2. Policies for physical data stores
3. Improved information access
Knowledge Management
4. Intellectual assets linked to strategic direction
5. Knowledge management culture
6. Identify experts
7. Capture tacit knowledge and insight
8. Collaborative environment and culture
9. Extend KM to partners and customers
5. The Changing Organisational Environment
20th Century
Functional departments in
single locations
9 to 5, Monday to Friday
working
Hierarchical management
structures with fixed roles
Emphasis on intra-
organisational working
Organisationally structured
training and development
21st Century
Geographically distributed
individuals with remote and
mobile working
24/7 society
Flatter management
structures, matrix
management, multi-tasking
and project team based
Greater emphasis on
partnership and alliances
Personally tailored training
and development
6. What is an Organisation?
“And if you really think deeply about it, you discover
that every organisation and every institution, without
exception, has no reality save in your mind. It’s not
in buildings. Those are manifestations of it. It’s not
its name, it’s not its logo, and it’s not some fictional
piece of paper called a stock certificate. It’s not
money. It is a mental concept around which people
and resources gather in pursuit of common
purpose”.
Dee Hock: Founder & Former CEO of Visa International
7. Managing knowledge…
is not a new problem!!!
“An immense and ever-increasing wealth of knowledge
is scattered about the world today; knowledge that
would probably suffice to solve all the mighty difficulties
of our age, but it is dispersed and unorganised. We
need a sort of mental clearing house for the mind: a
depot where knowledge and ideas are received, sorted,
summarised, digested, clarified and compared.”
H.G. Wells:
The Brain: Organisation of the Modern World: 1940
8. Here is the Third Wave view!
“It’s not about an encyclopaedia that
captures everything that anybody ever
knew. Rather, it’s about keeping track of
those who know the recipe and nurturing
the culture and the technology that will get
them talking.”
Ward, Adrian:
Workers Frontier International
9. Differentiating between
Data, Information
& Knowledge
Data is facts, pictures or numbers
presented without a context
Information is organised data presented
in context
Knowledge is information in context
together with an understanding of how to
use it
10. Defining Knowledge & Knowledge
Management: The KPMG Model
Knowledge: The information contained
within the organisation about customers,
products and services which is contained
within people’s minds or filed in analogue or
digital format.
Knowledge Management: A systematic
attempt to use knowledge within an
organisation to improve overall performance.
Are these definitions valid?
11. Explicit & Tacit Knowledge
Data
Knowledge
Information
1, 2, 1, 4
Name # # # # #
Smith, J. 1 2 1 4 0
XXXXXX X X X X 0
XXXXXX X X X X 0
KNOW
HOW
SKILLS
EXPERIENCE
TRAINING
EDUCATION
ETC
Tacit
Tacit
Explicit
Explicit
The Knowledge in Knowledge Management - http://home.att.net/~nickols/Knowledge_in_KM.htm
12. Davenport & Prusak’s
33% KM Rule
Resource management
Organisational culture
Information technology
What about the missing 1%?
INNOVATION
INNOVERSITY
13. How should organisations approach KM?
Questions an organisation must ask
itself...
How should an organisation new to KM get started?
How do you create a culture favourable to KM?
How do you measure and reward progress?
How do you manage knowledge content
systematically?
How do you create a KM architecture which
encourages the flow of knowledge?
What level of human resources do you need to invest
in KM?
How do you sustain impetus in KM?
14. Knowledge Management:
Critical Success Factors
• Leadership
• Trust
• Collaboration
• Information & Communication
Technologies
• Human Resource Management
• Organisational Culture
15. Semiology
The theory of signs and symbols
“What is important in a text is not what it
means but what it does and incites to do. What
it does: the charge or affect it contains and
transmits. What it incites to do: the
metamorphoses of this potential energy into
other things.”
Jean-Francois Lyotard
18. THE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT BURGER
Strategic Management
Meeting core
business objectives
ICT Management
Users define
technologies rather
than technology
defining the user
Knowledge Management
Learning to trust people’s
‘know-how’
Beer
&
Burgers?
It’s for Everyone
Organisational Culture as
“Snakes & Ladders”
19. In conclusion...
KM is NOT a definitive theory OR a
universal paradigm...
It offers a way of developing and
understanding:-
community; meaning; learning and identity
which improves:-
knowledge creation, sharing, storage and
transfer within an organisation
20. It started as a...
It may have started as a fad
but it is attempting to become
rigorous, however, it may be nonsense:-
The Nonsense of Knowledge Management
http://informationr.net/ir/8-1/paper144.html
21. Essential Reading
Brooking, Annie F. (1999) Corporate Memory: Strategies for
Knowledge Management London: Thomson
Collison, C. & Parcell, G. (2001) Learning to Fly: Practical
Lessons from One of the World's Leading Knowledge
Companies Oxford: Capstone
Davenport, Thomas H.& Prusak, Laurence (1998) Working
Knowledge: How Organisations Manage What They Know
Harvard: Business School Press
Wenger, E. et al (2002) Cultivating Communities of Practice: A
Guide to Managing Knowledge Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business
School
http://www.knowledgeboard.com
