Amity Business School

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KM
What is Knowledge? Need for KM. Importance of Knowledge sharing. Understanding the difference between knowledge, data and information Managing Knowledge for organizational effectiveness

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Amity Business School

Knowledge Management MBA, Semester-2 Teena Bagga

Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom

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What is Knowledge?

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Knowledge is information with decision-making and action-directed utility and purpose. Knowledge is defined by some as a justified true belief (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995) Different from data & information, Knowledge is at the higher level in a hierarchy with information at the middle level, and data to be at the lowest level. Knowledge can be defined as the understanding obtained through the process of experience or appropriate study. Knowledge can also be an accumulation of facts, procedural rules, or heuristics.
A fact is generally a statement representing truth about a subject matter or domain. A procedural rule is a rule that describes a sequence of actions. A heuristic is a rule of thumb based on years of experience.
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What is Knowledge?
Intelligence implies the capability to acquire and apply appropriate knowledge.
Memory indicates the ability to store and retrieve relevant experience according to will. Learning represents the skill of acquiring knowledge using the method of instruction/study.

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What is Knowledge?

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Experience relates to the understanding that we develop through our past actions. Knowledge can develop over time through successful experience, and experience can lead to expertise. Common sense refers to the natural and mostly unreflective opinions of humans.
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By knowledge we mean human understanding of a subject matter that has been acquired through proper study and experience. Knowledge is usually based on learning, thinking, and proper understanding of the problem area. Knowledge is not information and information is not data. Knowledge is derived from information in the same way information is derived from data. We can view it as an understanding of information based on its perceived importance or relevance to a problem area. It can be considered as the integration of human perceptive processes that helps them to draw meaningful conclusions.

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Need for KM?

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Knowledge management (KM) may simply be defined as doing what is needed to get the most out of knowledge resources. In general, KM focuses on organizing and making available important knowledge, wherever and whenever it is needed. KM is also related to the concept of intellectual capital.

Most vital resource of todays enterprise is Knowledge Collective knowledge residing in the minds of the organizations employees, customers, and vendors Many benefits to learning how to effectively manage organizational knowledge
Leveraging core business competencies Accelerating innovation and time to market Improving cycle times and decision making Strengthening organizational commitment Building sustainable competitive advantage

Intellectual Capital: Human vs. Structural Capital

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Need for KM?

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Human capital The body of knowledge the company possesses Knowledge in the minds of Microsoft and Yahoos software developers, researchers, academic collaborators, business managers, Also, knowledge in the minds of vendors and customers Structural capital Everything that remains after the employees go home Copyrights, customer files, business process software, databases, software manuals, trademarks, organizational structures, In other words, organizational capability Intellectual capital is abundant but there are still no standard tools to manage it as an asset!
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Increasing Domain Complexity Intricacy of internal and external processes, increased competition, and the rapid advancement of technology all contribute to increasing domain complexity. Example: New product development now typically requires not only brainstorming sessions by freethinking product designers but also partnership of interorganizational teams representing many various functional subunits (finance, marketing, engineering, ) Accelerating Market Volatility The pace of change, or volatility, within each market domain has increased rapidly in the past decade. Market and environmental influences can result in overnight changes in an organization.

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Need for KM?

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So, what does this mean?

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Intensified Speed of Responsiveness The time required to take action based upon subtle changes within and across domains is decreasing. Rapid advances in technology is continually changing the decision-making landscape. Decisions must be made and implemented quickly otherwise the window of opportunity closes. Diminishing Individual Experience Because trends change so rapidly, a decision-makers experience may not be relevant to the decision that needs to be made (even when the individual has been with the organization for years).

Faced with increased complexity, market volatility and accelerated responsiveness, todays younger manager feels less adequate to make the difficult decisions faced each day. KM is important for organizations that continually face downsizing or a high turnover percentage due to the nature of the industry.

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KM

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Knowledge Management Systems

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Knowledge is first created in the peoples minds. KM practices must first identify ways to encourage and stimulate the ability of employees to develop new knowledge. KM methodologies and technologies must enable effective ways to elicit, represent, organize, re-use, and renew this knowledge. KM should not distance itself from the knowledge owners, but instead celebrate and recognize their position as experts in the organization. KM 80% - Organizational culture & human factors 20% - Technology To effectively apply Artificial Intelligence, we must understand Human Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction
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Information technology facilitates sharing as well as accelerated growth of knowledge. Information technology allows the movement of information at increasing speeds and efficiencies. Today, knowledge is accumulating at an ever increasing rate. It is estimated that knowledge is currently doubling every 18 months and, of course, the pace is increasing... Technology facilitates the speed at which knowledge and ideas proliferate Bradley [1996] Knowledge management mechanisms are organizational or structural means used to promote KM. The use of leading-edge information technologies (e.g., Web-based conferencing) to support KM mechanisms 14 enables dramatic improvement in KM.

KMS

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Types of Knowledge

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Knowledge management systems (KMS): the synergy between latest technologies and social/structural mechanisms. Latest Technology+ Social/Structural Mechanisms=KMS KM systems classification are based on observations on the KM systems implementations:
Knowledge Discovery Systems. Knowledge Capture Systems. Knowledge Sharing Systems. Knowledge Application Systems.

epistemology n. The branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity. Epistemology is a very old field with a long history. There are many classifications and characterizations of types of knowledge, e.g.: individual, social, causal, conditional, relational and pragmatic; embodied, encoded and procedural etc. We must know what knowledge is, if we wish to manage it effectively!

One of the primary differences between traditional information systems and KM systems is the active role that users of KM systems play on building the content of such systems.

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Subjective/Objective View of Knowledge

According to the subjective view, reality is entirely dependent on human perception, and is socially constructed through interactions with individuals.

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Procedural vs. Declarative Knowledge

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Knowledge has no existence independently of social practices and human experiences. Knowledge is not an independent object. Knowledge has no single location. Knowledge is viewed as an ongoing accomplishment, which continuously affects and is influenced by social practices. Knowledge is State of Mind Knowledge is Practice

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1. Declarative knowledge (or substantive knowledge) focuses on beliefs about relationships among variables. e.g., all other things being equal, greater price charged for a product would cause some reduction in its number of sales Can be stated in the form of logical propositions, expected correlations, or formulas relating concepts represented as logical symbols and/or mathematical variables. Often characterized in KM circles as know-what. 2. Procedural knowledge focuses on beliefs relating procedures or processes: sequences of steps or actions to desired (or undesired) outcomes. e.g., the procedure that should be followed in a government organization in deciding on whom to ward the contract for a particular area (e.g., information system development Often characterized in KM circles as know-how.

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Tacit vs. Explicit Knowledge

Explicit knowledge refers to knowledge that has been expressed into words and numbers

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Tacit vs. Explicit Knowledge ABS

We often convert explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge
e.g., when an individual reads a book and learns from it (but not by rote memorization, which would still be explicit knowledge)

e.g., basic principles for stock market analysis as in a textbook Such knowledge can be used by investors to make buy/sell decisions Can be shared formally and systematically in the form of data, specifications, manuals, drawings, audio or videotapes, computer programs, patents, etc.

Tacit knowledge includes insights, intuitions, and hunches, that are not verbalized or documented
e.g., stock market analysts who make recommendations to investors concerning likely short-term and long-term market trends within some industry, based on years of observation Difficult to express and formalize, Therefore often difficult to share (cant tell somehow how to do it!)
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We can sometimes convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge

e.g., when an individual with lots of tacit knowledge writes a book formalizing that knowledge Often a difficult conversion that requires hard efforts !

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General vs. Specific Knowledge

General knowledge is possessed by a large number of individuals and can be transferred easily across individuals
e.g., headache is one symptom of brain hemorrhage

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Technically vs. Contextually Specific Knowledge

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Technically specific knowledge is deep knowledge about a specific area.

Includes tools and techniques for solving problems in that area. Often acquired via formal training + experience in the field. e.g., knowledge about computer hardware possessed by an engineer

Specific knowledge, or idiosyncratic knowledge, is possessed by a very limited number of individuals, and is expensive to transfer e.g., how to operate on a patient suffering a stroke

Contextually specific knowledge refers to the knowledge of particular circumstances of time and place in which work is to be performed.
e.g., the detailed knowledge that design engineers possess about the characteristics of the particular design group in which they are working Cannot be acquired through formal training.
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