Knowledge Management

CE00543-M

Data, Information and

Knowledge I

Dr Alan Eardley
Lecture plan

Definition of KM terms and concepts

Tacit and explicit forms of knowledge
Organisational learning concepts
Advantages of and reasons for KM
Ways of using knowledge in organisations

Knowledge Management Introduction

Data, Information and
Knowledge

From KM Knowledge The New Big Thing???

systems Knowledge Management
Mid-1990s - Date

From MIS Information

Era 2
focus
1980s

From DP Era 1
Data
systems focus
1970s

Knowledge Management Introduction

Data, Information and knowledge

Wisdom
Understanding Understanding
principles behind patterns
Knowledge

Understanding
patterns of relationships
Information
What do the higher levels
enable us to do?
Understanding
relationships between things
Context
Data

Knowledge Management Introduction

Relation between Data, Information,
Knowledge and Wisdom (Liebowitz 2003)

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Summary of Definitions of KM

Capturing, storing & sharing knowledge and

experience of individuals & groups in an
organisation & making this knowledge
available to others, to their advantage
The process of systematically & actively
managing & leveraging the stores of
knowledge in an organisationthe process of
transforming information & intellectual assets
into enduring value

Knowledge Management Introduction

Summarised Definitions of KM

systematic and disciplined actions that an

organization can take to obtain the greatest
value from the knowledge available.
(Davenport & Prusak 1998)
Effective KM typically requires a combination
of organisational, social, and managerial
initiatives along with the use of appropriate
technology

Knowledge Management Introduction

Summarised Definitions of KM

The process of lowering the transaction costs

associated with the creating, sharing & applying
knowledge and developing improved strategies
to support these activities
Prusak and Matson (2006)

Knowledge Management Introduction

Knowledge in this context includes

The experience & understanding of the people in

the organization
Intellectual capital, or
Tacit knowledge
How does this relate to human capital?
Information artefacts (e.g. documents & reports)
available inside & outside the organization
Explicit knowledge, in
Knowledge resources

Knowledge Management Introduction

Advantages of applying KM

Knowledge guides humans in their use of

information so that they make better judgments,
better decisions and are more effective
Some organisations learned the value of
knowledge the hard way when they lost access
to it through bad reorganisation or downsizing
Other organisations have become more
innovative and adaptable through applying their
knowledge & innovating
(Eardley and Uden 2011)

Knowledge Management Introduction

Innovative organisations
Strike a balance between knowledge stored or
embedded in documents, records etc., (explicit)
& knowledge held by staff (tacit)
They know where their knowledge is held, and
How to access and share it
Treat technology as an enabler to assist humans
in delivering optimum business performance
People often need encouragement to share
knowledge

Knowledge Management Introduction

Reasons for Knowledge
Management

In the emerging economy, a firm's only

advantage is its ability to leverage and utilize its
knowledge.
Larry Prusak,
Executive Director of the IBM
Institute for Knowledge-Based Organizations (IK
O)
Knowledge management is a strategy
supported by technology that can show a
quantifiable, and sometimes substantial, return
on investment.
Greg MacSweeney,
The Knowledge Management Payback
Knowledge Management Introduction
Reasons for Knowledge
Management

The best single lesson I ever learned was to

maximize the intellect of the company. You need
to gather the knowledge of individuals, share
those ideas and celebrate the sharing. That, in
the end, is how a company becomes great.
Jack Welch, (former Chairman & CEO of General Electric)

Knowledge Management Introduction

Tacit Knowledge

What the knower knows

Derived from experience = expertise
Embodies beliefs and values
Quickly actionable knowledge, and therefore
the most valuable (?)
The most important basis for the generation
of new knowledge?
The key to knowledge creation lies in the
mobilization and conversion of tacit
knowledge (Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995)

Knowledge Management Introduction

Explicit Knowledge

Represented by some artefact

A document, database item or video
Typically created with the goal of
communicating with another person
Provides information in context
Needs to be accessed in a systematic way
Both tacit & explicit of knowledge are important
for organizational effectiveness
= Organisational Learning (Senge 2007)

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The knowledge conversion
process

According to Nonak and Takeuchi a process for

converting tacit and explicit knowledge exists:
Socialisation (tacit to tacit)
Externalisation (tacit to explicit)
Combination (explicit to explicit)
Internalisation (explicit to tacit)
See Figure 1 Knowledge Conversion

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Knowledge Management Introduction
Exercise in Knowledge
Conversion
Learning to cook a meal. Form groups (e.g. of four)
1. Discuss your favourite meals and agree
on one meal. Write a description of it
2. Write down the detailed recipe for this
meal what is in it and how to prepare it
3. Pass the recipe to another group
4. Discuss within the group how the meal would
be prepared
5. Could you prepare the meal this evening?

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Knowledge conversion and learning

How does this apply to students learning process?

Socialisation

Externalisation

Combination

Internalisation

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References

Davenport T. H. and Prusak L. (1998) Working Knowledge: How

Organizations Manage What They Know, Harvard Business School
Press, Boston
Eardley, W. A. and Uden, L. (2011) Innovative Knowledge
Management: Concepts for Organizational Creativity and
Collaborative Design. IGI Publishing, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Nonaka I. and Takeuchi H. (1995). The Knowledge Creating
Company, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Senge P. (2007) The Fifth Discipline. (3rd Ed.) Doubleday. New York
Liebowitz (2003), Basic Knowledge Concepts- Data, Information,
Knowledge and Wisdom, Accessed on 7th March, 2010. Available at
http://www.trainmor-knowmore.eu/FBC5DDB3.en.aspx
Prusak and Matson (2006), Knowledge Management and
Organization Learning, Oxford University Press

Knowledge Management Introduction