To compete successfully in today’s economy, organizations have to treat the knowledge that contributes to their core competencies just as they would any other strategic, irreplaceable asset. Knowledge Management is fundamentally about managing intellectual assets in a way that provides the company with a competitive advantage. Although Knowledge Management has a lot to offer, implementing a KM program isn’t as simple as purchasing a shrink-wrapped package of software. A successful KM implementation requires long-term commitment from senior management; leadership that is attentive to the corporate culture; committed, trained employees and managers; and the appropriate use of information technology.
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
• Appreciate the application of Knowledge Management in large organizations
• Appreciate the implications of embracing Knowledge Management as an organizational theme
• Understand the responsibilities of knowledge leaders, including the chief knowledge officer (CKO)
• Appreciate how a Knowledge Management initiative is primarily one of corporate culture change
• Recognize the exposure to risk associated with a Knowledge Management initiative
Knowledge Management involves rethinking how management relates to employees. At issue is how to reward the mentors and other knowledgeable employees for the incremental value they create in the company through sharing their knowledge. In many regards, the basic principles of Knowledge Management go against human nature, in that employees, as well as managers, are naturally reluctant to give up their hard-won advantages. This reluctance to share the real core of information isn’t limited to business but is also prevalent in academia, which is established around KM principles. Researchers often offer statistical summaries and generalizations instead of raw data, and the technical details of leadingedge technologies are rarely published in a timely manner unless tenure or significant funding is at stake.
• Understand the significance of the increased overhead on knowledge workers associated with a Knowledge Management project
• Understand the applicability of Business to Employee (B2E) management in a knowledge-management initiative
• Appreciate the concerns of knowledge workers, including decreased job security
• Appreciate methods of developing and maintaining knowledge worker loyalty
• Understand how to encourage the formation of communities of practice
• Understand the importance of education in enhancing knowledge workers’ effectiveness and the value they add to the corporation
Knowledge workers are central to the operation of a knowledge organization. Not only do they represent the greatest potential for multiplying the value of a company, but they also represent the greatest risk to value loss. Furthermore, managing knowledge workers is challenging because of the competing goals of encouraging knowledge sharing thorough communities of practice while maintaining control over the general direction of the corporation through information hiding and filtering. For knowledge workers who represent a positive value multiplier, providing consistent supportive feedback through the corporation’s touch points, investing in knowledge worker education when economically feasible, and maintaining the processes associated with knowledge worker loyalty all maximize the value that the knowledge worker can bring to the corporation.
• Understand the knowledge management life cycle—its phases and their related issues • Appreciate the role of standards in the Knowledge Management process • Appreciate the significance of establishing a Knowledge Management infrastructure
The Knowledge Management life cycle is perhaps best described as a web of interrelated phases. Each phase is associated with issues that must addressed by supporting mechanisms and can be enabled by information technology. Most of these issues revolve around economics, accessibility, intellectual property, the underlying infrastructure, and the commitment and active role of management in setting policy. In addition, the issues regarding the information itself need supporting mechanisms, such as establishing and enforcing standards, utilizing the contribution of knowledge workers, and managing the overall process.
• Appreciate the range of available technologies that can support a Knowledge Management initiative • Understand the significance of selecting or developing a controlled vocabulary as part of a Knowledge Management initiative • Understand what differentiates traditional tools and applications from so-called Knowledge Management tools • Appreciate the technological infrastructure needed to support a successful Knowledge Management initiative • Recognize the potential of disruptive information technologies to change the future of Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management, as a business strategy, is independent of technology. However, the appropriate technology, applied judiciously to the proper phase of the K life cycle, can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the KM process. Although there are no shrink-wrapped KM tools per se, virtually any information technology can be useful at some phase of the KM life cycle. Some technologies, such as groupware, are especially attractive as potential enablers for the KM process. As in the general information technology industry, the challenges on the horizon are predominantly related to integration, both at the systems level and at the human-computer interface. In this regard, technologies that fit seamlessly and unobtrusively with the workflow of knowledge workers and managers hold the greatest potential for enabling the business of Knowledge Management.
Evaluate the technology solutions that can potentially enable the Knowledge Management process • Appreciate the power of the request for proposal in gathering information internally and in specifying and evaluating the solutions offered by vendors • Establish criteria for evaluating developers and vendors in the Knowledge Management market
Technologic solutions to Knowledge Management can be evaluated as part of a nine-phase process that revolves around the RFP. Inside the corporation, the RFP serves as a working document that management and knowledge workers can use to specify their KM needs. For vendors, the RFP serves as the basis for their responses. The RFP also provides the knowledge organization with a standard with which proposals can be evaluated objectively. Finally, the RFP and the top vendor’s proposal are folded into the negotiated contract to make the vendor’s responses legally binding. In searching for a technologic solution to KM challenges, the RFP is central to setting expectations both within the organization and with the selected vendors and developers that will implement the solution.
Do not believe what you have heard.
Do not believe in tradition because it is handed down many generations.
Do not believe in anything that has been spoken of many times.
Do not believe because the written statements come from some old sage.
Do not believe in conjecture. Do not believe in authority or teachers or elders.
But after careful observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and it will benefit one and all, then accept it and live by it.
• Appreciate the economic value of Knowledge Management to knowledge workers, managers, customers, and other major stakeholders • Appreciate the economic risks associated with a Knowledge Management initiative • Understand the methods of assessing the economic contribution of intangibles to corporate value
The bottom line in assessing the value of Knowledge Management is whether it can provide significant, measurable return on the corporation’s investment. In the absence of industry-wide proof that a KM approach is economically rewarding, and since ROI and benchmarking techniques cannot provide meaningful assessments, the balanced score card can be used to assess value and plan for future activity. However, the balanced scorecard technique is fraught with uncertainties resulting from the variability in how indicators, metrics, and objectives are assigned. Finally, when dealing with intellectual capital, issues such as information life span and time value of information have to be considered.
After reading this chapter you will be able to
• Recognize the internal predictors of a successful Knowledge Management initiative
• Develop a practical Knowledge Management implementation plan
• Appreciate and recognize the risks involved in Knowledge Management
• Appreciate the significance of proper timing in implementing a Knowledge Management initiative
• Predict the likely future of the Knowledge Management industry and how it will affect your organization
Knowledge Management begins with a practical implementation plan that adequately addresses people, process, and technology challenges, whether working with vendors and developers or shifting the corporate culture to embrace the concept and reality of a knowledge organization. An insightful and capable senior manager can recognize and appreciate predictors of a successful KM initiative and manage the potential risks involved. As long as stakeholder expectations are managed in a way that avoids the hype that kills other business innovations, the prospects for a successful KM implementation, and for the KM industry as a whole, look exceptionally bright. The great danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.
